Fat Baby

Fat Baby is a type of Achocha / Caigua which is native to the Andes region of South America.

This variety produces lots of small, plump fruits that are about 5–8 cm long. They are covered in soft, fleshy spines that makes them look quite exotic.

Young fruits have a fresh, crunchy texture with a mild sweet cucumber taste and a hint of pea pods or young green peppers. Young fruits are good to eat raw (soft spines included) in salads, as snacks, pickled or in cooked dishes like stir-fries.

Mature fruits develops a cavity seeds like a bell pepper. The seeds are big and needs to be removed. Flavours become milder, similar to courgette and perhaps green beans. Mature fruits are best cooked: stuff them (like small peppers), stir-fry; add to soups, curries, pastas, pizzas, or stews.

It’s a prolific, vigorous plant that can reach 2–4 meters in height, making it ideal for growing up trellises, fences, or pergolas.

Soak seeds overnight (8-24h) to get a better germination rate.

Some additional information
Achocha / Caiga is described on page 206 in the book Lost Crops of the Incas which is available for free as a PDF file.

It should be noted that there is some confusion online regarding Fat Baby.

Some sources confuse it with an edible wild relative that dramatically explodes to disperse its seeds. However, the Fat Baby does not explode. It only splits open slowly to allow for seed dispersion.

Some seem to question if Fat Baby actually is a cultivated Achocha or a wild relative due to how different they look. However, the book “Lost Crops of the Incas” has a picture of Achocha where both Fat Baby and something that looks like large versions of Lady’s Slipper are lying side by side. Hence, while they are botanical different we assume that they are in practice used in the same way under the common name Achocha / Caigua.