Has anyone got any great idea's for Kamo Kamo? So far, I have treated them to the same ideas as courgettes, marrows, zucchini's etc. Regards, Jo

Can someone tell me what kamo kamo is? Never heard of this and am fascinated by the different fruit and veg you have over in NZ. Am learning so much about your country from this site.

Jane

There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the kamokamo. On a Maori Glossary website it is listed as a marrow or squash. It looks like a fat short courgette with pronouced ribs and it tastes quite like a courgette also. Some I have grown are fat and round like a melon or baby pumpkin and others are more cylindrical like they're supposed to be. Jo

To see a photo of the kamokamo go to www.vegetable.co.nz.

We use to feed them to the cows. Not one of my favourites as far as pumpkins go.?:-(

Can I use KamoKamo as a replacement for Chayotes (Chokos).

I think Chayotes are a gourds, but I am not sure what Kamokamo really are? Are they a squash? which means they are related to zucchini.

They are of the marrow family and very scuptious when they are young and fresh .
I cut them up and microwave them , mash with butter and pepper. Picked very fresh and small I cut in half slice into the
vege in a chequered pattern then put garlic , butter and black pepper , cook them in the oven till soft .

I can't help but smile everytime I see this thread.

I lived for 11yrs in Whangarei - and the suburb I lived in was "Kamo".

Whenever I log on - I smile to myself - sorry............. small things amuse small minds.

Ex-Kamo - now Palmy Raewyn

I LOVE kamokamo , although I didn;t ever see it around when I lived in Auckland but am enjoying it again back here in Hawkes Bay.
I panfry slices of kamokamo in garlic butter and let them caramelise a bit and then sprinkle with parmesan and salt and peppper to serve. Delicious. I do chokos the same way

My littlies used to love kamokamo mashed up with potato, lots of butter (for me!) and salt and pepper. Yum!

Thanks everyone, I now know what to do with them, I saw them for sale at the produce store, and did want to try them.
Ruth

Ruth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks everyone, I now know what to do with them,
> I saw them for sale at the produce store, and did
> want to try them.
> Ruth

I have heard there is a pickle recipe for kamokamo. Anyone have any ideas?
sylv

Can someone please set the record straight....

I have been in a debate with a friend over a Kamo Kamo, and a large courgette......

She says a large courgette is a Kamo Kamo, I have tried to tell her they are 2 different vegetables, however from the same family as such....I have said that a large courgette is a marrow, which she agrees and says that a Kamo Kamo is also a large marrow....

This has been frustrating me as I grow courgettes every year, and have explained to her they have never turned into a Kamo Kamo...otherwiswe I wouldnt be buying them lol....

Kamo kamo is one of my favourite veges - it's a bit more robust and less watery than courgettes. I often cook them sliced up and sauteed in a pan then deglazed with wine vinegar and finished off with some honey and salt and pepper - sort of sweet and sour.
This was originally a recipe from The Listener but I can't find the exact recipe and couldn't tell you the quantities.

Ruth, chayote are choko.

Kamo. If you blink you'll miss it. That's what my dad used to say everytime when we drove through Whangarei. Kamo means blink. Kamo kamo, blinking.

And no way are they like a courgette -- if you overcook a courgette it goes to mush, but cook the kamo kamo the same time as a potato then you get the true flavour of them. Most people we know cooked them like courgettes and they tasted very much like courgettes, in fact, I thought they were courgettes, what gave them away was the fact that they were round. They just need to be cooked a bit longer than courgettes, whatever way you decide to cook them. But at the end of the day, it is a matter of taste...

Hoana

We love love loooove kamo kamo!!! Being a maori family we were brought up on them. My kids and I love kamo kamo in our bacon bone boil up...lotsa lotsa butter .

To save buying them this year, we decided to grow our own. LOL they have been very successful, they're all over the place, we might be able to sell them ourselves!!LOL. I just don't when to pick them???! HELP!!!

Marie

Tossing this into the forum. I googled this so it must be right.

KUMI KUMI:
Kumi kumi are stocky in shape with heavy ribbing. Immature kumi kumi are about the size of a tennis ball, have a nutty flavour, a speckled green soft skin with white-green flesh and are used like courgettes. Mature kumi kumi have a speckled green hard skin, are about the size of a netball, have a deep white flesh and are used like buttercup squash. Originally called kamo kamo by the Maori and considered particularly good for the hangi. Available December to April.

Kiaora,
My wife is from Whakatane and I eat the kamokamo every chance I get to when I'm there. I recieved some seeds and hope to grow some out in Cal. I don't even like vegies but I love kamokamo !

I'm growing Kamo Kamo for the first time this season.
I bought my seed from Rareseeds.com (BakerCreek)

It went off like gang busters and now is stalling, I think
it's a little cool here in my northern California coastal
town.

Looking forward to tasting it.

I grew KamoKamo this year in my garden and had a great crop
off one very large and meandering plant.

I'm loving this squash and will be growing it again next season.
Today I roasted the squash and then made soup with it.

Oven roasted:
cut in half, remove seeds, lightly brush with olive oil, season
with salt and pepper and place cut side down in baking dish
at 350F until tender. About 45-60 minutes.

I love them too. I saved seeds from last year's crop and am about to plant the new seedlings into the garden. We eat them when they are small, but they keep well for use over winter if you let them mature on the vine, but I don't think they are quite as nice to eat in their matured form, but of course better than nothing!
Regards,
Dawn.

yum that sounds delicious - Im definitely going to try that.

The best thing about kamo kamo is the creamy taste and texture when steamed and then mashed with butter salt and pepper - having sworn off milk and cream I have started using kamokamo mash as a kind of creamy substitute in things like creamy pasta sauces. Still experimenting - although these little beauties are quite expensive these days!

Found some KamoKamo at the beach car park when I went for a surf this evening. Small ones the size of a large tennis ball. Just looking for the best way to prepare them for eating. I'm so lucky...

Well we tried what I think was kamo kamo tonight.To be honest not very impressed.I think I need advice here.I peeled it and quartered it.It had soft white seeds in a white pith.Is that how they should be? I read of someone saving the seeds but these were very immature ones I think and saving those would have been pointless.I steamed until I deemed it tender and mashed it with butter but it gave out a lot of liquid and didn't really go creamy as I expected it to.It also shrank to almost nothing which is just as well as it was plenty for the two of us!I put it in the oven un-- covered in the hope that some of the excess moisture would evaporate which it did slightly. It wasn't unpleasant to eat,just not much flavour apart from butter,salt and pepper.Do you think I bought one which was too young? I saw a Maori chap yesterday buying one and he was tapping each one as you would a melon.Perhaps I should have asked his advice.

T'was me, Tootsie, who saved the seeds. But in growing my own I can leave one or two to mature well into the season and then I save the seeds. If you wanted to save the seeds from a bought one you would have to wait until April or May when they would then be the size (but not shape) of a football and would be mainly dark green, but yellow on their side which has been growing against the soil.

I use them at various stages of their young age and treat them very much like a courgette when they are extra young, but when they get to about a 15 - 20 cm size I cut them in half, remove the seeds and pithy area around the seeds (don't peel) and in each half put a mix of chopped tomato-red onion-mushrooom-feta cheese-sprinkle of soy sauce-topped with grated cheese, cover and put the halves into microwave oven for however long it takes to cook the kamo kamo. The filling gives them flavour and we love them!

Use them extra small and you can make virtually any recipe which uses courgette - i.e. crustless quiche.
Regards,
Dawn.
Edited to add: Forgot to mention chopped tomatoes (with seeds squeezed out) and you can also add a sprinkling of cream if you have it before you sprinkle with grated cheese. Yum yum yum......y.......u........m........



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2012 09:21AM by Dawn.

Thanks for you reply Dawn. Still not clear if mine was one suitable for mashing.Do you think a more mature one would have been better?If it was a 'masher' should I have left the tiny soft seeds and pith?

I don't mashed them Tootsie, but I would imagine they'd be the same as if you were to mash a courgette (I haven't mashed courgettes either). I think perhaps when they are mature they would be nice mashed with butter s and p. as their consistency would not be as moist as a courgette and you would remove their seeds and pithy stuff and rind first (but then I guess you'd call them a marrow at that stage).
Regards,
Dawn.

I bought my first Kamo Kamo today and are so excited to try it out!