Creole Snake Gourd Salad- Salad Patol

This Creole snake gourd salad or salad patol is a raw salad that is crunchy and refreshing and is the ideal accompaniment to any spicy dish or eaten on its own.

This snake like gourd, hence its name, grows year round all over the Seychelles islands. Although it is used as a vegetable and is also added to fish daube, it is more popular as a raw salad. The snake gourd has a waxy green skin and is often speckled or striped with a lighter shade of green. It has a crunchy, bland and faintly bitter taste, which disappears when cooked.

A superfood

Snake gourd is loaded with various nutrients which provide numerous health benefits. It possesses meaningful amounts of carbohydrates, protein and soluble fiber. It also contains vitamins such as vitamin C, vitamin A, riboflavin, thiamine and niacin. It contains high content of minerals such as magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and iodine. It also has high content of chemical constituents such as carotenoids, flavonoids and phenolic acids. Snake gourd offers fiber that may support digestive health, treat diabetes, detoxify and eradicate cholesterol from the body.

Selection and Storage

Always choose immature ones because the mature ones are very fibrous and cannot be eaten. Look for a firm and smooth exterior. Do not buy if they have wrinkled skin.

Before the advent of box graters/ slicers and other modern slicing equipment the slicing of the gourd was done in the traditional way. In fact, quite a few people still enjoy slicing the gourd in the traditional way. The process takes time but it is always done with patience and love. This is how it is done:

The traditional method of preparing  the snake gourd

Choose firm and immature snake gourds and scrape off the very thin outer skin with a knife and trim the ends.

The one-gourd procedure

Slit the gourd in two lengthwise and use a spoon to removed the seeds and white pith leaving only the outer flesh and an empty cavity where the seeds were. Trim the ends of one of the sides and insert it in the cavity of the other side. You can now start to slice very thinly using a sharp knife. You will end up with semicircular slices.

The two-gourds procedure

If you are going to use two gourds, which would be the case if you are making the salad for 4 persons, you  slit the gourds lengthwise on only one side. You then use a spoon to remove the seeds and white pith leaving only the outer flesh and an empty cavity where the seeds were. Once they have both been cleaned, pick the shorter one and insert it in the cavity of the longer one. If they both the same length, you will need to trim one down so that it can be inserted properly. This allows you to thinly slice both snake gourds together, saving time in a long process!!. This gives you perfectly round slices.

The modern method of preparing  the snake gourd

The modern way to slice the snake gourd is to  use a mandolin or even a box grater. However, you have to make sure that you get very fresh and firm snake gourd because if the flesh is too soft you will not end up with even slices. If your snake gourd is not very firm which can happen if it has been picked over a week ago, then you can revert to the traditional procedure as explained above.

Preparing the salad

This salad can be prepared in two ways. If you want a full flavoured crunchy salad, you leave the thinly sliced snake gourd as is. However, if you want a milder salad with less crunch you may decide to place the sliced snake gourd in some salted water, massage it for a few minutes, and let is rest for about 15 minutes. You can then drain the liquid and using your hand gently squeeze the sliced snake gourd to extract as much moisture as possible. The salt, by means of osmosis, will remove some of the moisture from the snake gourd and render it less crunchy.

I also like to taste the crunch of freshly sliced onion in my salad. However, should you wish  to remove some of the sting from the sliced onion you may decide to add it to the snake gourd , soak and squeeze them together.

Here is the recipe for Creole Snake Gourd Salad- Salad Patol

Did you make this recipe?

I hope you will enjoy preparing this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.
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