And not just any babies, but Fat ones.

Of course I don’t mean HUMAN babies, but Achocha ‘Fat Baby’.

I was thrilled to notice fruits forming recently, but unsure how to tell if they were ready. Some online research indicated anything longer than an inch was probably fine (once they get a bit bigger, the seeds have to be removed before eating).

After rummaging around in my monster vines, I harvested my first few today, at 3 – 4cm long.

A lot of reviews talk about them cooked, but apparently you can eat raw, so I decided to go for the pure experience initially.

I rubbed off the soft spines and cut one in half, noticing that it felt quite watery. After removing a thin slice, this was confirmed on first taste.

The flavour was a touch of moist cucumber, with a hint of mange tout, followed by a lingering astringent aftertaste. Possibly would be better if chilled first, and definitely better eaten with something else.

Apparently once cooked (fried) they taste like green pepper and/or asparagus. I’m hoping they are stunningly delicious because they were very easy to grow, but there’s a reason why some of these outlier veg aren’t more mainstream…