Italian Grandma Gina 

Fried Zucchini 

Wonderful Broken English

In Italy, Zucchini is served in a variety of ways: fried, baked, boiled, or deep fried, alone or in combination with other ingredients. At home and in some restaurants, it is possible to eat the flowers, as well, deep-fried, known as fiori di zucca .

The Zucchini, like all squash, has its ancestry in the Americas. However, the varieties of squash typically called “Zucchini” were developed in northern Italy in the second half of the 19th century, many generations after the introduction of cucurbits from the Americas in the early 16th century.

The word Zucchini and this culinary variety of C. pepo arose independently and simultaneously in 19th-century Tuscany and northern Italy.

Zucca is the Italianword for pumpkin/squash and Zucchino/zucchina (zucca + ina = little) are diminutive forms, becoming zucchini/zucchine in the plural. Zucchino, the masculine form (zucchini in the plural), is the first form to be documented in writing. An Italian dictionary called lo Zingarelli 2015, Zanichelli Editore, gives both forms, as does the Devoto-Oli published by Le Monnier, but the Accademia della Crusca, the most important research institution on Italian language, defines zucchino as the preferable form. The Treccani, Istituto dell’Enciclopedia italiana, another linguistic authority, gives zucchina as the main Italian word, and the masculine form as Tuscan dialect.

Enjoy Grandma Gina as she explains in her wonderful  broken English how to make this wonderful dish in this priceless video below. You will enjoy both the recipe and her adorable language dynamic. You just don’t hear this broken English any more. She resembles so many people that we grew up with. Enjoy and watch this…. 

Wonderful Video Below