The Cirque de Salazie has very, very heavy vegetation, and one thing that was pretty common was a vine that was overgrowing a good chunk of the trees and bushes (much like kudzu in the US South). But looking at it, we were surprised to find that we had seen this before....



...The vines were all growing what the Reunionnaise call "Chouchou". Also known as the "Chayotte", "Mirliton", or the "Bitter Pear", it's a member of the cucumber family, producing a fruit that's a bit cucumber like and a bit gourd like.

It's also a common ingredient in many different Creole foods (not just Reunion Creole, but Haitian and New Orleans Creole as well)