Chayote

Chayote is a pear-shaped, thin-skinned fruit of a vine in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, first cultivated in Mesoamerica between southern Mexico and Honduras, with the greatest diversity of cultivated forms still found in that region. Although botanically a fruit, chayote is used as a vegetable, with a mild flavor and crisp texture when raw, and is commonly boiled, stuffed, mashed, baked, fried or pickled, or eaten raw in salads and salsas. Beyond the fruit itself, chayote's root, stem, seeds and young leaves are also edible, with the root eaten like a potato and the shoots and leaves used in stir-fries and salads in parts of Asia.