The Courgette Conundrum: Why We’re Failing to Appreciate This Humble Summer Delight

In recent years, the culinary landscape has been dominated by “superfoods” and trendy vegetables touted as miracle workers for our health and wellbeing. Amidst this hype, one humble summer staple has been quietly struggling for recognition: the courgette. Chef Ben Tish’s recipes showcase the versatility of this underrated vegetable.

Courgettes are a staple in Tish’s kitchen, where they’re used in everything from salads to slow-cooked stews and even baked into moist cakes. His enthusiasm for courgettes is evident, but it’s clear that they’re often overlooked by our food culture. This dismissive attitude does a disservice to the variety and depth that courgettes bring to our plates.

Take Tish’s slow-cooked courgettes with preserved lemon and ricotta on toast, for example. This dish showcases the courgette’s gentle sweetness and is also a masterclass in texture and flavor combination. The way the courgettes collapse into a jammy consistency while the preserved lemon adds a salty tang and the ricotta provides a cooling contrast is nothing short of alchemy.

Our culinary expectations contribute to this oversight. We tend to associate summer vegetables with raw salads or quick stir-fries, anything more complex seeming like too much effort. However, Tish’s recipes demonstrate that courgettes can be so much more than just a flash-in-the-pan ingredient.

Another issue is our focus on the “exotic” and the new, rather than valuing what’s available to us right here in our own country. As Tish points out, we grow remarkable varieties of courgette in the UK – but do we give them the recognition they deserve?

The way we think about food and flavor is changing, driven by trends like plant-based eating and zero-waste cuisine. This shift has broadened our understanding of what makes a great dish to include considerations beyond mere taste.

In this new culinary landscape, the courgette’s versatility and mildness make it an ideal candidate for reinvention. Whether we’re looking at Tish’s fritters with cheese and herbs or his slow-cooked stews, there’s a clear sense that courgettes are waiting to be rediscovered – not just as a seasonal curiosity, but as a fundamental component of our culinary identity.

Ben Tish’s passion for the courgette serves as a reminder that even in an era of hyper-specialization and foodie obsessiveness, there’s value in appreciating the humble and familiar. By reevaluating our relationship with courgettes – and the many other underappreciated summer vegetables out there – we can start to build a more nuanced understanding of flavor and texture.

Tish’s love affair with the courgette is a testament to the enduring power of food to bring people together. Whether you’re a seasoned chef or just starting to explore the world of cooking, elevating a simple ingredient into a masterpiece is deeply satisfying.