Chefs love the female zucchini. Our supplier will tell you why the zucchini Fleur is so popular. In order to understand why, he will need to tell you about the harvest. Read along!

How do these flowers occur on the zucchini plant?

The season of the zucchini starts in January. This is when the plants are seeded. The flowers start to grow after a month. Beautiful flowers start to grow on the plant after one and a half months. This is because of the bumblebees that pollinate the flowers. Flowers grow from the zucchini plant, but zucchinis can also grow from the plant.

There are 2 kinds of flowers, the female and male flower:

  • Zucchini Fleur
    The female flower consists of a small zucchini and an ovary with a flower on it. This flower is called the “Zucchini Fleur”.
  • Zucchini Fioretta
    The male flower consists of a stem and a flower. The flower is called the “Zucchini Fioretta”.

Zucchini Fleur

A fruit hangs from the zucchini plant, from which a flower can grow. The flower opens once when the flower has fully grown. The flower opens very early in the morning and closes around 10 in the morning. This is why the zucchini is harvested early in the morning. The flowers are cut and wrapped afterwards. When the Fleur is cooled and wrapped, it is sent away. If i'ts not cooled, it will decrease in quality. The product has to be good in quality so the chef can make a better product with it!

Zucchini Fioretta

If the flower doesn’t get pollinated, the fruit will fall from the flower. This way, a zucchini grows from the fruit instead of a Zucchini Fleur or flower. The zucchini is very small on day one, around 5-6 centimetres. The zucchini Fleur is as big as a zucchini after a week.

But why do zucchini Fioretta also grow when zucchini Fleur is already growing? This is because it needs consistency. Zucchinis would never grow if all zucchini plants were to be pollinated. The downside of the zucchini fleur is that once the plant has grown, a part of it has to be cut off. New zucchinis can't grow on the plant this way. The advantage of the zucchini Fioretta is that once zucchinis grow on the plant, new ones can still grow after. 

The taste and combination

The zucchini Fleur is very popular with chefs and caterers during springtime. The zucchini Fleur is not sold in supermarkets.

The zucchinis have a very neutral taste, but this is the perfect product for a chef. The zucchini Fleur is filled with other food most of the time. They are either steamed or fried in oil with salmon mousse or risotto as fillings for example. You can also find zucchini Fleur on a pizza, in a pasta or on chocolate.


Would you like more information about this zucchini Fleur? Feel free to contact me, Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.. 

Sources: 

  • Courgettefleur.nl