Marrow (vegetable)

Amarrowis the maturefruitof certainCucurbita pepocultivars used as a vegetable. The immature fruit of the same or similar cultivars is calledcourgette(in Britain, Iran, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand) orzucchini(in North America, Japan, Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany and Austria).Like courgettes, marrows are oblong, greensquash, but marrows have a firm rind and a neutral flavour, making them useful as edible casings for mincemeat and other stuffings.They can be stored for several weeks after harvest (like pumpkins and otherwinter squash), to be processed for food when required.They are a vegetable used inGreat Britainand areas with significant British influence, though their popularity is waning in favor of immaturesummer squashlike courgette.
Giant marrows are grown competitively in theUnited Kingdom, where the term "marrow" is often restricted to the striped, thick-skinned cultivar.
In a culinary context, marrows are avegetable; usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, marrows arefruit, a type ofbotanical berry, being the swollenovaryof themarrow flower. Marrows, like allsquash, have their ancestry in the Americas.
According to theOxford English Dictionary, the first mention of vegetable marrows dates to 1822,zucchini to 1929,and courgettes to 1931.However, the wordzucchinihad already appeared in newspapers by 1916.Before the introduction ofCucurbitaspecies from the New World,marrowsignified the immature, edible fruits ofLagenaria,a cucurbitgourdof African origin widely grown since antiquity for eating when immature and for drying as watertight receptacles when grown to maturity.
Marrows are commonly cultivated in the British Isles, and the term "marrow" for the plant and for the fruit is current there, especially for the striped, thicker-skinned cultivar. However, both in North America (since the 1920s) and in Britain (since the 1960s), thinner-skinnedimmature marrowshave gained popularity due to their tender skin and distinct flavour. Hedrick (1928) in his bookThe Vegetables of New York, describes the "English Vegetable Marrow" as "one of the earliest forms of marrow squash grown, but has never been exceedingly popular in this country".
The fashion in Britain for eating immature marrows, called "courgettes" in British English, is relatively recent. Sudell (1966)does not mention courgettes, although he has a section on "vegetable marrow", noting both trailing (vining) and bush types and saying "cut when young". Witham Fogg (1966)wrote "CourgettesThese are really very tender baby marrows which have long been popular in France. ... Cooked and eaten with butter they form a very palatable dish." He devotes a page and a half to marrows and less than half a page to courgettes, which he clearly regards as something new to Britain.
The heaviest marrow on record weighed 116.4 kg (256 lb 9.8 oz) and was grown by Vincent Sjodin (UK) for entry in the CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championships, held at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern, Worcestershire, UK, on 23 September 2021.
Marrows, like zucchini,are low in food energy (approximately 71 kJ or 17 kcal per 100 g fresh marrow) and contain useful amounts offolate(24μg/100 g),potassium(261mg/100 g) andprovitamin A(200IU[10RAE]/100 g).
Members of the plant familyCucurbitaceae, which includes zucchini, marrows, pumpkins and cucumbers, can contain toxins calledcucurbitacins. These are chemically classified assteroids; they defend the plants from predators, and have a bitter taste to humans. Cultivated cucurbitaceae are bred for low levels of the toxin and are safe to eat. However, ornamental pumpkins can have high levels of cucurbitacins, and such ornamental plants can cross-fertilise edible cucurbitaceae – any such cross-fertilised seeds used by the gardener for growing food in the following season can therefore potentially produce bitter and toxic fruit. Also, dry weather conditions or irregular watering can stress the plant and favour the production of the toxin, which is not destroyed by cooking.
In August 2015, a 79-year-old German man and his wife ate a marrow grown by a neighbour. The couple noted the unusually bitter taste. Shortly afterwards they were both admitted to aHeidenheimhospital, apparently with symptoms of a gastrointestinal infection. The wife, who had eaten a smaller portion, survived, while the husband died. Toxicological analysis of the meal confirmed the presence of cucurbitacin.
"The Marrow Song", also known as "Oh! What a Beauty", was a British song published on 16 December 1952, with words and music byEdrich Siebert.The innuendo-laden song was recorded forDeccabyBilly Cottonand his Band with vocals byAlan Breezeand The Bandits on 1 December that year, under the title "The Marrow Song (Oh What a Beauty)".As well as being issued on a single in January 1953, it was included on Cotton's 1955Saucy SongsEP.In 2013, the recording was featured in a UK television advertisement for theCo-operativesupermarket.The song was performed in the 1969 filmKes.This version of The Marrow Song is used at several points in the 2024 video gameThank Goodness You're Here!Marrows also play an important role in the 2005 animated filmWallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. In this film, the character of Gromit is devoted to growing a large marrow. The marrow is eventually destroyed when he uses it to lure the Were-Rabbit. The marrow also appears in the video game based on the film; Gromit can control the marrow's growth by adjusting factors such as soil pH, greenhouse temperature, and water flow, as well as by purchasing fertilizers to increase its size.
Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot often expresses his desire to retire and grow marrows, accomplishing his dream briefly inThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd.