Zucchini Stuffed with Marrow

[Kibbee Nayee]

I was reading on the Washington Post Outlook section, in an article about how difficult it has proven to be to catch the leader of al Qaeda, that Osama bin Laden's favorite dish is zucchini stuffed with marrow.

I believe that the zucchini being referred to is called "goosa" which is slightly shorter and fatter, and a lighter shade of green, than standard zucchini. My father used to grow it in his garden and I occasionally see it in the basket at Mediterranean Gourmet Market and Mediterranean Bakery. It's easier to core out than zucchini and has a mild, pleasant flavor.

My mother used to stuff it with a nicely seasoned rice, meat and pine nut stuffing not unlike the stuffing for Rima's chicken at Layalina. Then the stuffed goosas were braised in tomato sauce or tomato juice until the rice was done. That was a wonderful meal. But I never had it with marrow.

So....does anyone know of a restaurant that serves this strangely intriguing dish? After all, to catch a terrorist one must eat like a terrorist, right? OK, maybe not, but there's a certain sense of covert danger in eating such food....Hitler liked squab, liver dumplings and caviar, and Stalin loved plov, an Uzbeki rice and meat dish.

Maybe a Rockwell picnic where all dishes must be favorites of criminally insane despots?

[weezy]

Maybe a Rockwell picnic where all dishes must be favorites of criminally insane despots?

Won't we get tired of all the liver, fava beans and a nice chianti?

[ol_ironstomach]

Won't we get tired of all the liver, fava beans and a nice chianti?

Well, one of you won't.

ffffff-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f

[zoramargolis]

I was reading on the Washington Post Outlook section, in an article about how difficult it has proven to be to catch the leader of al Qaeda, that Osama bin Laden's favorite dish is zucchini stuffed with marrow.

I believe that the zucchini being referred to is called "goosa" which is slightly shorter and fatter, and a lighter shade of green, than standard zucchini. My father used to grow it in his garden and I occasionally see it in the basket at Mediterranean Gourmet Market and Mediterranean Bakery. It's easier to core out than zucchini and has a mild, pleasant flavor.

My mother used to stuff it with a nicely seasoned rice, meat and pine nut stuffing not unlike the stuffing for Rima's chicken at Layalina. Then the stuffed goosas were braised in tomato sauce or tomato juice until the rice was done. That was a wonderful meal. But I never had it with marrow.

This may reflect some confusion on the part of the article's author--large zucchini and similar mature summer squashes are often called "marrow" or "vegetable marrow" in British-influenced recipe books.

[Kibbee Nayee]

This may reflect some confusion on the part of the article's author--large zucchini and similar mature summer squashes are often called "marrow" or "vegetable marrow" in British-influenced recipe books.

Interesting, Zora, and according to Wikipedia, you are right that "marrow" is sometimes a name for squash.

The specific reference from the Washington Post Outlook section this past Sunday was ... "Bin Laden's first wife recalls that his favorite dish was zucchini stuffed with marrow." It was written by Peter Bergen, the Director of National Security Studies at the New America Foundation and the author of "The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda,"

So....I don't know how to interpret this. Peter Bergen is American, but he has a degree from Oxford. Peter Bergen is quoting Osama bin Laden's first wife, Najwa Ghanem, who was Syrian (and also Osama bin Laden's first cousin).

Anyway, the type of zucchini I'm referring to, goosa, would taste absolutely spectacular with bone marrow, since it goes so well with other meat accompaniments. I have a hard time envisioning it with other squash -- why go through the effort to core it out and then re-stuff it with something similar to what you cored out of it?

[Kibbee Nayee]

This may reflect some confusion on the part of the article's author--large zucchini and similar mature summer squashes are often called "marrow" or "vegetable marrow" in British-influenced recipe books.

Interesting, Zora, and according to Wikipedia, you are right that "marrow" is sometimes a name for squash.

The specific reference from the Washington Post Outlook section this past Sunday was ... "Bin Laden's first wife recalls that his favorite dish was zucchini stuffed with marrow." It was written by Peter Bergen, the Director of National Security Studies at the New America Foundation and the author of "The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda,"

So....I don't know how to interpret this. Peter Bergen is American, but he has a degree from Oxford. Peter Bergen is quoting Osama bin Laden's first wife, Najwa Ghanem, who was Syrian (and also Osama bin Laden's first cousin).

Anyway, the type of zucchini I'm referring to, goosa, would taste absolutely spectacular with bone marrow, since it goes so well with other meat accompaniments. I have a hard time envisioning it with other squash -- why go through the effort to core it out and then re-stuff it with something similar to what you cored out of it?

[zoramargolis]

Interesting, Zora, and according to Wikipedia, you are right that "marrow" is sometimes a name for squash.

The specific reference from the Washington Post Outlook section this past Sunday was ... "Bin Laden's first wife recalls that his favorite dish was zucchini stuffed with marrow." It was written by Peter Bergen, the Director of National Security Studies at the New America Foundation and the author of "The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda,"

So....I don't know how to interpret this. Peter Bergen is American, but he has a degree from Oxford. Peter Bergen is quoting Osama bin Laden's first wife, Najwa Ghanem, who was Syrian (and also Osama bin Laden's first cousin).

Anyway, the type of zucchini I'm referring to, goosa, would taste absolutely spectacular with bone marrow, since it goes so well with other meat accompaniments. I have a hard time envisioning it with other squash -- why go through the effort to core it out and then re-stuff it with something similar to what you cored out of it?

Peter Bergen may have been conducting an interview with a translator. Perhaps neither of them are cooks. Stuffed zucchini-marrow may have come through the translation process as "zucchini stuffed with marrow." If the dude does eat meat, the stuffing was most likely minced lamb. Or the squash could have been stuffed with a mixture of sauteed vegetables and aromatics that included a portion of the marrow-squash that was removed in order to fill it with the stuffing. I've made vegetarian stuffed zucchini lots of times that way.