Partaking of the Spirit of the Gourd

I have wanted to make a dish with pointed gourd or parval for sometime. However, I had searched high and low for the elusive little gourd with no success.

To my delight, I found parval in the frozen food section of a local Mediterranean grocery store several weeks ago. There were several different types of edible gourds. I purchased the pointed gourd and the spicky gourd or kantola because I was feeling adventurous.

I found two gourd recipes online. One recipe was for pointed gourd with potato. And, the other recipe was for roasted spicky gourd. I located all the ingredients and prepared the two dishes. In addition, I designed an invitation to present to my co-workers and friends (tasters). Then, I took my show on the road.

Twelve people were adventurous enough to partake of the spirit of the gourd including myself. We all liked the pointed gourd with potato recipe. Three of the twelve liked the roasted spicky gourd as much as they liked the pointed gourd dish. No one disliked the spicky gourd. However, its appearance and texture put it in the category of interesting.

All in all, I enjoyed the whole process. Thank you all for your support.

Thrift Store Find

I thought it would be nice to partake of the spirit of the gourd by preparing a gourd dish for the attendees of my next gourd jewelry workshop. I went online and found several recipes. The pointed gourd with potato recipe resonated with me. I found all of the ingredients except the pointed gourd. I did find a bitter gourd though. Really, how bitter could it be? Well, it was quite bitter. I had to scrap that dish. Since I have time before my next workshop, I continue my quest for the pointed gourd.

What does all this have to do with a thrift store find you ask? Well, as I was looking around the thrift store the other day a tea set caught my eye. The design of the teapot and two cups looked like the bitter gourd (see photo to left). You know I had to have the set.