Most often used in Mexican cooking, chayote is a pear-shaped fruit with a slightly spiny skin that tastes like cucumber. It’s typically roasted or grilled, and often served as a salad or side with other vegetables.

Chayote is in the Inception stage. It’s considered a premium ingredient that can be found on mostly fine-dining menus.

RockSugar Southeast Asian Kitchen in Los Angeles serves Crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls filled with chayote, shiitake mushrooms, tofu and glass noodles, with sweet-hot chili sauce.

Xoco in Chicago serves Carnitas Caldo, slow-cooked gunthorp pork carnitas, potato-masa dumplings, chayote, roasted serrano chile, greens, arugula and avocado.