Fried Gourd

Fried Gourd

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/miscellany_pdf/Misc9recipes.pdf

Platina p. 119 (Book 7)
Scrape off the skin from the gourd and cut it sideways in thin slices. When it is boiled once transfer it
from the pot onto the board and leave it there till it has dried out a little. Then roll it in salt and good
white flour and fry it in oil; when it is done and put on a platter, pour a garlic sauce over it, with fennel blossoms and breadcrumbs so dissolved in verjuice that it looks thin rather than thick. It would not be amiss to pass this sauce through a strainer. There are those, too, who use only verjuice and fennel bloom. If you like saffron, add saffron.

1 1/8 lbs gourd (see p. 152-153)                   1 c flour
1 t salt                                                           enough olive oil to fry: ~1/4” in pan

Peel gourd and slice very thin, boil in water 7 minutes, spread out and let dry for 40 minutes.
Mix flour and salt, dip gourd in it, and fry for ~4 minutes per batch in hot olive oil. See under
sauces for Platina's garlic sauce. (I didn't get the sauce done but the sauces are listed on the referenced web site.)

Here is a picture of the dish I made. I used zucchini instead of the Chinese Gourd that is recommended
in this recipe since when you let a summer squash grow too long it becomes a gourd and I was able to get zucchini. The skin was still tender so I didn't bother to scrape it off or to boil it before frying it. I
didn't get the sauce done on this batch but maybe for the next batch.