What to do with giant zucchini?

It is, in fact, a whopper of a zucchini that has landed on the doorstep of Ballarat eatery, Eclectic Tastes.

And why would it be confused? During "extensive'' research for this story, a look on the internet revealed that botanically, zucchini is a fruit, but in common and culinary usage, it is a vegetable.

Whatever this zucchini is, it is sure to make a wonderful dish thanks to Eclectic Tastes' head chef Suzi Fitzpatrick and readers of The Courier.

Ms Fitzpatrick is asking people to bring in to the Burnbank St cafe or email their favourite zucchini recipes, whether it be granny's pickles or great aunt's quiche.

The giant zucchini was delivered to Eclectic Tastes as part of the cafe's regular fruit and vegetable supply from Melbourne. It came from the garden of the supplier's driver, known only as Nasi to Ms Fitzpatrick.

"The zucchini was grown from seeds from Nasi's mother's own garden in Lebanon. The seeds were given to Nasi, who planted them under olive trees. Apparently olive trees help support the zucchini, resulting in larger produce," Ms Fitzpatrick said.

While the Eclectic Tastes' zucchini is big, it has a way to go before it beats the world record of 2.3m in length, grown by a resident of Brampton, Canada.

But the oddity has been causing a stir among customers in the cafe. Dressed in a hat and scarf, it even has a name - Gordon the gourd.

Because of its size, the zucchini would be watery and would not make a good soup. However, Ms Fitzpatrick said it would be ideal for pickles, quiches or slices.