All about the delicious zucchini flower

The zucchini bush produces two sorts of flower

The smaller flower with the immature vegetable attached is the female and the flower attached to the long stalk is the male.

The zucchini belongs to the Cucurbita genus along with marrows, edible gourds, pumpkins and squash.

Through evidence found in human remains, scientists have determined that people have been eating vegetables from the Cucurbitaceae family since 7000-5500BC, which makes it one of the oldest vegetable families in existence.

During the 16th century, the zucchini was introduced to Spain and then later to Italy by the conquistadors.

By the 19th century it was widely popular and had acquired its current name "zucchini" which is Italian for little squash.

The zucchini is also referred to as courgette, which is derived from the original French term courge d'Italie.