Patty Pan Squash

[shasha]

I made some of these the other night, sauteed them in garlic and sea salt, they were pretty good but some had a distinctly bitter taste...is that typically of these kind of squash?

[Tedeats]

This time of year I love to experiment with squash blossoms. They have been really popular for a while but still seem to be exciting to any guests.

http://bellydujour.com/2006/07/squash...

[shasha]

yikes...I didn't grow them myself, actually got them from freshdirect, maybe it was just a bad batch

[Karen_Schaffer]

No, they shouldn't be bitter, but they can develop bitterness if they've been stressed while growing (not enough water, high heat, etc.). Did you grow them yourself or were they from the market?

Be careful if squash or cukes (closely related) are unusually bitter. It's rare, but occasionally plants can be cross-pollinated from wild cucurbits and the resulting seeds, if grown, can produce ultra bitter (poisonous, really) fruits. It doesn't happen often, but there was a case last summer in Santa Clara. Here's a link from the University of Nebraska:

http://hortparadise.unl.edu/newsrelea...

[toodie jane]

ditto the comment on drought during growing. this applies to all curcurbits (especially cukes). They must not be stressed for water during growth. maybe the heat across the country right now caught the grower by surprise. hard to water enough during these very stressful conditions.

just try again with a new batch in a few weeks.