The christophene (Sechium edule), also known as chayote, sayote, tayota, choko, chocho, chow-chow, christophine, chouchou, cho-cho, mango squash, vegetable pear, shushu, sousout, chuchu, militon, guisquil, gayota, mirliton, Buddha hand squash, jipang, waluh, su-su,  zucca centenaria,  chavote, xuxu, pipinela, pipinola or merliton, is an edible plant that belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae along with melons, cucumbers and squash and can be found worldwide.

All parts of the christophene:  fruit, the root, stem, seeds, and leaves are all edible.

The fruit does not need to be peeled and can be eaten raw in salads. It can also be boiled, stuffed, mashed, baked, fried, or pickled. Both the fruit and the seed are rich in amino acids and vitamin C.

In Taiwan, chayotes are widely planted for their shoots and the young leaves.

In the Caribbean christophenes are used for instance in stews: “Salt Fish in Coconut Milk“.

• Most information source: Wikipedia.