Winter Squash
Aaaaah Autumn! It’s the perfect time for squash!
Everyone knows about the typical kinds, like butternut, acorn, and pumpkin. What about all the other varieties of winter squash available? I did some sleuthing and rounded up five lesser known types.
If you’re interested in trying these out, your best bet is to check out your local farmer’s market and specialty produce store. I got the lovely bounty below from a little store called Suntree Produce as well as Misfit Market. Interested in checking out Misfit Market? Here is a $10 off promo code.
Squash was first cultivated by Native Americans over 9,000 years ago. This class of fruit was part of the '“Three Sisters” trinity (corn-beans-squash) and played an important role in indigenous life and culture. Early Native Americans were amazingly skilled at farming, and they had it down to a science. Corn stalks offer the bean-vines support. The beans, provided much needed nitrogen back into the soil, which fertilized the corn and squash. The squash's spiny leaves protect the bean plants from wild animals.
European settler’s thoughts on squash were mixed at best. The Pilgrims felt that these amazing fruits were “uncivilized", gross and only fit for the poor. These settlers were also a bunch of smelly ungrateful a**holes, and I don’t really care what they thought.
Anyways…I digress, so first off, what is winter squash and how is it different from summer squash?
Squash, melons and cucumbers are all fruits that grow on flowering herbaceous vines from the Cucurbita genus of plant.
The main difference is when they are harvested and how long the squash stays on the vine. Summer squash is harvested before it fully matures, which results in a tender skin that’s good to eat.
Winter squash stays on the vine longer, resulting in a mature fruit that often times has a thicker, tougher rind. This hard rind allows the fruit to be stored for many months. It also means that you won't want to munch on the skin. There are exceptions to this rule - delicata, acorn squash, and honeynut which are winter squash varieties with tender skins.
One thing that all winter squash have in common is how incredibly nutritious they are! The are good sources of:
Fiber
Complex carbohydrates
Beta carotene (pro-vitamin A)
Vitamin C
Potassium
Magnesium
Iron
B vitamins
On average, 1 cup of squash contains around 100 calories.
Delicata
AKA: Peanut Squash, Sweet Potato S
quash
Background: Introduced in 1894 by the Peter Henderson Company of NYC. It remained popular until the Great Depression. Unfortunately it’s vulnerability to disease, short shelf life, and small yield lead to it losing popularity. In the late 1990's Cornell University developed a compact, higher yield, and disease resistant variety known as the Cornell Bush Delicata. This new and improved squash was selected as a 2002 All American Selections Winner (AAS). The AAS award celebrates the year’s best new varieties of fruit and vegetable seeds that have exhibited superior growing performance in gardens of North America.
Texture: Skin is delicate and edible. When roasted, flesh is creamy and sweet potato like.
Flavor Profile: Sweet potato, butternut-esque.
Good For: roasting, frying and steaming. Excellent as a stand alone or stuffed with meat, rice and lentils. Also a great autumn salad topper!
Honeynut
AKA: Butternut’s cuter, sweeter sister
Background: Another modern marvel concocted by Cornell University. This squash is a cross between a butternut and buttercup squash.
Fun Fact: On the vine, honeynut squash initially looks similar to zucchini because of it’s green skin. They ripen over eight weeks, turning orange in the last two weeks of the process.
Texture: Edible skin! Creamy deep orange flesh.
Flavor Profile: Intense butternut vibes.
Good For: Roasting, toasting but not burning to a crisp. Also works nicely in soups. Roasting caramelizes all of those beautiful natural sugars.
Hubbard
AKA: Green Pumpkin, Buttercup, Kuri squash
Background: This large, bumpy squash was first introduced to the American market in 1854. The origins are a bit mysterious, but apparently a botanist named James Gregory obtained some seeds from a lady named Elizabeth Hubbard, who raved about this no-name squash like it was nectar from the gods. Mr. Gregory was kind enough to name it after her.
Fun Fact: Originally it’s skin was green, but you can now find it in blue and orange varieties.
Texture: Extremely hard skin. Flesh is yellow-orange and slightly dry.
Flavor: Cross between sweet potato and pumpkin, with a hint of chestnut .
Good For: Roasting soups, pies, baked goods, curries.
Sweet Dumpling
AKA:
Sugar Dumpling
Background: Developed in 1976 by Sakata Seed Corporation of Yokohama, Japan. At the time, it was all the range to breed jumbo sized American squash varieties and make them itty bitty so that they could market the squash as a home garden and home chef variety.
Texture: Edible skin! But slightly tough. I personally felt it was too tough to eat. Flesh is on the drier side.
Flavor: Sweet n’ nutty, similar to a sweet potato.
Good For: Roasting, baking and making pies
Kabocha
AKA: Japanese Pumpkin, Haku Haku
Background: P
ronounced kah-BOH-chah, this large helmet shaped squash variety is popular in Japan. This squash was brought to Asia by Portuguese explorers during the 16th century. The squash was mistakenly thought to have come from Cambodia, and it received the name
“Cambodia abóbora” which the Japanese renamed to be Kabocha.
Texture: Very hard skin. Flesh is on the dryer side.
Flavor: Cross between a sweet potato and pumpkin.
Good For: Baking, roasting, soups, pies and other baked goods.
Fun Fact: In Japan, Kabocha squash is traditionally eaten during the winter solstice as a soup with shiruko or adzuki beans. This soup is believed to help boost the immune system.
