It’s that time of year again – Choko time!

I realise the choko can be a divisive food, you either love them or hate them! People say they’re flavourless, and have memories of eating overcooked boiled chokoes as kids, and there’s the ongoing story of McDonald’s applied pies. I think they’ve been given a bad rap. You don’t hear the same about zucchinis, which I think really ARE the most flavourless vegetable in the universe.

Chokoes are soooo versatile! They can be used in both savoury and sweet recipes, are packed FULL of nutrition, and are also great RAW, like a cucumber but with a slightly sweet taste. They can be pickled, are great roasted with balsamic vinegar, a terrific addition in a green smoothie (throw a young one in skin and seed included), make a lovely soup, and, much like tofu, take on flavours of other ingredients.

Neville from Under The Choko Tree agrees with me and has sourced a recipe book of chokoes that he found online and saved from obscurity. You can find it here. I’d love to hear what you’re favourite choko recipe is!

If you’ve any idea how to dry the skin to make ‘leather’ please let me know – would love to make jewellery out of them :D.

I recently had some professional photos taken…for various reasons…. and couldn’t resist asking for a photo of me with a choko. If you look closely, you’ll see I also have choko earrings on, gifted to me by Annika Karskens.