ABOUT SQUASH

Image Gallery AL CLAYTON FOOD STYLING BY MARY ANN CLAYTON

Issue # 119-SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1989

KITCHEN GARDEN

by Sara Pacher

WHEN ROGER WILLIAMS, THE founder of Rhode Island, first be came acquainted with squash, he called them "vine apples of many colors. That's a more poetic description of then varied vegetables than our shortened version of the Native American word askutasquash" meaning "eaten raw." But as Shakespeare might have noted, a squash by any other name would taste as delicious. It would be as nutritious, too, because vine apples, in all their myriad forms, are good sources of vitamin A and provide important minerals like potassium, phosphorus and calcium, yet they contain very few calories and almost no fat.

What to Grow

There are the two main categories of squash: summer and winter. Summer squash (Cucurbita pepo) are believed to have originated in North America. They require full sun and are harvested while still young and tender (some in less than 50 days; most in 60 to 70 days), and include such well-known varieties as zucchini (both green and yellow types); crookneck and straightneck squash (both generally yellow); and scallop, or pattypan, squash (usually white, but sometimes yellow). These warm-weather vegetables will keep for only a week or so in the refrigerator, so you'll probably want to can or freeze a large part of your crop.

Don't forget, too, that the blossoms of many kinds of squash (particularly the male flowers), picked just before they open, are delicious in soups, with meat, in stews or scrambled with eggs; they can also be sauteed, dipped in batter and fried, or stuffed.

Many types of winter squash originally came from South America, though this is a broad category that includes Cucurbita maxima, C. mixta; C. moschata and C. pepo. With the exception of the butternut, they are hardshelled, and while the fruits can be steamed when young, most are meant to be harvested when fully mature at around 75 to 120 days. These winter-keepers, which are even more nutritious than summer squash, will stay fresh for around five months when stored in a cool, dry area, and most people think they retain their flavor better when stored than when cooked (cubed or pureed) and frozen.