What Louisiana name for chayote is common in Cajun speech?

The Louisiana name for chayote common in Cajun speech is mirliton.

Chayote is a pale-green, pear-shaped fruit often cooked like a summer squash. The word “chayote” comes from Spanish, which adopted it from the Nahuatl name chayohtli. In Louisiana, however, the French-influenced name mirliton became the familiar regional term; Cajun pronunciation is often rendered roughly as “me-lay-taw.”

Mirliton is especially associated with Louisiana and Haitian cooking, where it can be baked, stuffed, stewed, or added to salads and casseroles. Louisiana cooks may also spell the name mirleton or merleton. The fruit itself is not a separate Louisiana variety: mirliton and chayote refer to the same plant and edible fruit.

A common mix-up is treating mirliton as a uniquely Cajun ingredient or as a synonym for another squash. It is better understood as a regional name inherited through Louisiana’s multilingual food history.