sayote fruit with coffee cup for scale
This week was our turn to purchase the groceries for our two year old’s daycare. The daycare is a parent’s cooperative which means — partly — that parents can earn ‘parent hours’ by doing certain chores. Buying groceries for about 20 active 2 to 5 year olds was not too much of a hassle, although it did mean we had less fridge space over the weekend. Their meals are meat-free but not dairy free, so we had several jugs of milk and yogurt and cottage cheese containers taking up fridge space. We also did a run to the farmer’s market and came back with more bags of fruits than we normally would have.
While at the market, we came across sayote (or chayote, as they are sold in stores here) . These pear-shaped light green fruit from the sayote vine are commonly sold at Asian and Mexican markets here. I never buy them. What drew me to these particular ones were their size. They were small compared to the large spiny ones sold at the stores. So I bought a few — three, actually, for 60 cents.
one of my mom's many sayote vines
To be frank I was never that fond of sayote. As a child, I could always tell when we were running low on produce and that a market run had yet to be done when this vegetable/fruit made its appearance in a meal. Sayote grew year round on my parents’ property, so there was a constant supply. The fruit and the new shoots are edible. But as a child, I put the sayote fruit in the same flavor bin as cauliflower — innocuous and rather dull, contributing some texture but very little flavor. I know — not a fair assessment — for either the cauliflower or the sayote.
When sauteed, the sayote fruit has a crunchy texture. When it is still young and small, the crunch has a crisp mild sweet taste.
With two of the small sayotes I purchased, I made a quick saute my mom used to make. It turned out well, and our two year old enjoyed it, along with some leftover kale brown rice, for lunch.
sayote guisado and kale brown rice
Clearly this was a food nostalgia moment for me. But a part of me also wanted our daughter to be familiar with another fruit commonly found in some Filipino cuisine. I cook Filipino dishes every so often, but it is just one of many ‘cuisine types’ we cook and eat here. We also regularly go out to eat at different ‘types’ of restaurants. No one in our household is a picky eater, so our food repertoire is varied, usually driven by what seasonal produce we find in our CSA box, what we find at the stores, and what we feel like having.
Nonetheless, I find myself making more of an effort to ensure that she is familiar with certain flavors, dishes and ingredients one finds in Filipino food. I rationalize that — at least, she is exposed to them and they will not be foreign to her when she encounters them during our future trips to the Philippines. I guess I also hope by extension that she will not feel so far removed or so foreign from her Filipino heritage either. Or that by exposing her now to parts of her identity, including the birth/adoptive/cultural aspects, she will eventually achieve some level of comfort when she navigates through those aspects of her identity.
I know — these are weighty outcomes to expect based on such superficial efforts. I mean, what does it really matter if she’s familiar with Filipino dishes, or that I use palm vinegar for adobo or that she’s had patis (fish sauce) and bagoong (shrimp paste) or gets to have rambutan, lansones, or sayote when I find them here?
It is obviously not well thought out on my part. I also know that, especially as she gets older and more independent, she can choose what she likes and doesn’t like, in food or anything else. Clearly I need to continue to think this through. But, just maybe, at least at this point — maybe exposure and offering options is a good starting place.
…oh and that third and last sayote — it will play a starring role in sayote chilaqueles I plan to make later this week.
