From Phenomenal Plant to Culinary Anachronism: The Story of the Choko (Sechium edule) in Australia

Acclimatisation has been criticized by historians as a process of environmental colonialism fueled by the desire to create ‘home’ in foreign surroundings. The Queenslander Acclimatisation Society however had a special interest in sub-tropical and tropical agriculture, concentrating on plants suited to Queensland’s environment with a view to introducing those which offered agricultural and thus economic potential. The introduction and adoption of the choko demonstrates a different perspective on acclimatisation and colonialism. The first specimens of choko were imported from Jamaica by the Queensland Acclimatisation Society in 1890. Horticulturalists took an immediate interest and the plant and its fruit were soon being exhibited at agricultural shows. Gradually chokos found their way into the domestic kitchen and recipes in popular cookbooks, naturalized this foreign ingredient, incorporating it into the local repertoire of British inspired dishes. Eventually grown in almost every suburban garden along the east coast, their abundance and cheapness meant that chokos were a staple in many households through until the 1950s. Now rarely available at the greengrocer or farmer’s market the choko may yet to re-emerge as an exotic imported tropical fruit.