If you love fried or stuffed courgette flowers, you will not resist tasting these light and delicious first courses such as vermicelli in Abruzzo sauce or strips with courgette flowers and gorgonzola
Elongated petals of an orange-yellow color and large pistils inside. Pumpkin flowers are one of the most appreciated and used flowers in the kitchen. Perfect for enriching appetizers, first courses and preparing crispy delicious recipes, they grow on both pumpkins and courgettes. But although they are a food that you will surely have met and tasted, maybe you don't really know them thoroughly. Eg, did you know that they have a real sexual identity?
Male or female?
Although it is not easy to distinguish them, courgette flowers can be female or male. Tradition has it that male flowers are perfect for the pan. But this choice is not due to taste, but to a functional choice: the fruit is born from the flowers of the females. In the gardens, therefore, the collection of those flowers that would not produce pumpkins and courgettes was preferred.
How to choose them
To be sure to buy fresh courgette flowers, a good parameter is the pistil color. It must be a beautiful bright yellow, while it is good to be wary of the purchase in case it has a brownish color. In the same way it is better do not buy flowers that appear wilted or with curled ends.
Conservation
One of the courgette moles is their extreme delicacy. To make sure we appreciate them at best, let's not cook them more than two days after purchase: they would wilt. Once taken, let's keep them with the stem in the water, will last up to a few days. The female flowers should instead be kept attached to the pumpkin until the moment of cooking.