Summer Squash, Pumpkins, Vegetable Marrow
(Cucurbita pepo— Family Cucurbitaceae)
Summer squash
Pumpkins
Vegetable marrow
The term vegetable marrow is used mainly in Britain while summer squash has a more liberal usage in North America, covering many soft-skinned varieties of squash and pumpkin.
Summer squash does not last nearly as long as the winter varieties and should be eaten as soon as possible after purchase or picking. They do require refrigeration.
Summer squashes are good sources of carotenes, sugars, food fiber, potassium, and vitamins B and C. Most of the carotenes are in the skin, so they should not be peeled before eating, if at all possible. This is why it is best to always eat organically grown food.
Limp squash will not only have lost its moisture but most of its nutrients as well.
The smaller the squash, the more tender; but very large ones can be stuffed with a mixture of other vegetables or beans and roasted.
Squash can be baked, roasted, sautéed, fried, microwaved and, in general, cooked any way that is desired, and in combination with almost any other food. It can also be grated and used raw in salads or sandwhiches.
Types of summer squash include the zucchini, straightnecks, crooknecks, and scallops.
Summer squash is thought to have descended from the Texas squash (C. p. ssp. texana),
which grows wild in Mexico and Texas. It is probably the most widely-grown squash in the world, and can be found in both the tropics, subtropics, and temperate latitudes.
It is cultivated from the 60th latitude in Scandinavia and Russia up to the 8,000-foot mountain valleys of Asia. Since it grows quickly and is cold-tolerant, it is cultivated in preference to the more cold-sensitive pumpkins.
Within fifty years after Columbus’ discovery of the New World, summer squash was known throughout Europe, with several varieties being mentioned in a German herbal of 1543.
Today, there are countless varieties worldwide, and all recognizable as descendants of the summer squash by certain common features: its fibrous flesh holds its shape when cooked, and the stalk is always strongly developed and deeply ridged.
Some varieties of summer squash include the following:
Boston Marrow
and Delicious are types of squash most often sold in cans as “canned pumpkin”. Their flesh have a richer taste and are more nutritious than the winter pumpkin varieties.
Buttercup
is a relatively new variety developed by a horticulturist in North Dakota. He was trying to develop something that could be used instead of the sweet potato because the sweet potato would not grow in North Dakota. He used a type of turban squash and cross-bred it until he obtained the buttercup squash that tastes very much like the sweet potato. Buttercup squash looks similar to the turban squash, and comes in green or orange with uneven, narrow, lengthwise stripes running. It has a distinctive beanie cap which is the same colour as the stripes. Its flesh is orange, fine-textured, and creamy like a sweet potato or a butternut squash.
Butternut (C. moschata)
is a medium-sized squash and a multi-purpose fruit. The name was first introduced in 1944 and remains a favourite for its meaty, orangey-yellow, flavourful flesh. With its small cavity and thin skin, there is minimal waste, making it an economical buy. Shaped like a bowling pin with a bulbous end and a narrowing neck, it is tan in colour and can weigh up to four pounds. The skin is easier to peel than most squashes, and it has a rich texture and a fruity, sweet flavour. Newer, smaller varieties bred for small households do lack the flavour of the larger varieties. Butternuts usually have smooth, tough skin and are possibly one of the earliest species in cultivation. Found throughout the tropics, they are particularly heat tolerant. Early Butternut is a curved narrow fruit with a swollen tip.
Costata Romanesca
is a ribbed Roman zucchini with mottled colouring and a slight bell shape. It is distinguishable by its pale raised ribs that run its length, and is one of the ridged types likely to be called “cocozelle” rather than zucchini. Although more flavourful than other zucchini, it quickly loses its vigor and savour after picking. When solid and young, it has a sweet, juicy flavour; but, later, it turns bland, flabby, and bitter.
Crookneck squash
gets its name from the way it looks. The top that is attached to the vine is curled slightly and is narrower than the rest of the fruit. Originating in Central America and Mexico, the crookneck has been described in records from 3400 BCE. Yellow crookneck or gooseneck squash has a fully developed s-shaped neck when mature and is usually no longer than four to five inches. The flavour is buttery, and the texture, creamy. Yellow crooknecks can be brightly coloured with either smooth or pebbled skin.
Cucuzza squash,
bottle gourd, calabash, Tazmania bean are just some of the names for this long and skinny squash. “Cucuzza” is a term used in Sicily, which refers to all types of squash. It is a pale green squash that can grow to four feet in length and often hangs from the rafters in Italian groceries. The squash has a white, pulpy flesh, many seeds, and tastes like a zucchini-cucumber mix.
Delicata, sweet dumpling, sweet potato squash
was introduced in 1894 and remained popular into the 1920s, when its popularity waned, but is now on the rise again. Petite to medium, the oblong squash has yellow-ivory skin mottled with spruce stripes. The lightly sweet butter-yellow pulp is moist, with a suggestion of corn, butternut, and sweet potato. The thin skin makes it easy to use. It comes in two different shapes, which can be confusing. One is acorn-shape and the other is long and oval.
Early Golden Summer Crookneck
is a bright yellow fruit harvested when about four inches in length.
Early Prolific Straight Neck
is lemon-yellow with finely textured, thick flesh.
Gold, Golden, Nugget
appears to be more delicate than it really is. Its hard shell is the toughest hide of all the small squashes. The bright orangey-yellow flesh is firm, smooth, and moist; but the flavour is highly variable, ranging from buttery and mild to just plain bland. The size ranges from that of an orange to that of a grapefruit. It is one of the new breed of petits developed at the North Dakota State University in the mid-1960s.
Kentucky Field (Large Cheese)
is a flattened butternut-type squash with faintly ribbed, pale cream-coloured skin.
Jack Be Little
is a miniature pumpkin with deep ribs and only about two inches in diameter with orange skin. Although it is edible, it is used more for decoration.
Little Gem
takes about four months to mature and does not grow well in cooler climates.
Marrow
varieties include: Long Green Trailing, Tiger Cross, and Tender and True.
Middle Eastern
varieties include: Lebanese, Egyptian, Cousa, Kuta, and Magda. They are typically stocky, pale green, tapering cylinders with a thick, darker green stem. Smooth-skinned and shiny, they are the ideal zucchini.
Miniatures are not only used for decorations but each little pumpkinette can be a delight to serve for a dinnertime treat. They are just as delicious as any larger squash and some even more so. Whether cream coloured or a bright orange, their flesh is likely to be sweet, firm, and fully packed. The scalloped and flattened types tend to be drier and sweeter than the rounded types which have more pulp and skin. All weigh less than a pound.
Orangetti
is a cross between a spaghetti squash and another variety, and is supposed to be sweeter and moister than the regular spaghetti squash.
Pattypan squash, yellow custard squash, scallop squash, cymling, scalopini (Cucurbita pepo ssp. pepo var. patissonina)
is a species that probably developed from a cross between a cucumber and a squash. It was already in cultivation by Native Americans in pre-Columbian times. It is still a widely grown and highly esteemed in the US. The fruits of this annual creeper have small flattened spheres with scalloped edges. There are only a few varieties, but all are sold under the generic name “squash”. Pattypan squash should not be peeled before cooking. Pattypan squash look a little like flying saucers with a scalloped edge. They are convex at the top and bottom and about three inches in diameter, and come in a variety of colours: white, grayish-green, yellow, and yellow and green splashed together. These have a firmer texture than other squash, but are juicy and meaty, with a nutty flavour.
Rondini (Cucurbita pepo)
probably originated in the subtropics of Asia and Africa, but is a relative newcomer to the Northern countries and without much commercial importance as yet. Although it is closely related to the zucchini, it is distinct from the round varieties of that species, but does look quite similar. Rondini plants are climbers, while zucchini plants are bushy. When ripe, rondini turn orange-red, but are harvested when unripe and green; and, unlike zucchini, they are not suitable for eating raw.
Round or globe
types vary in sizes and shapes and come under such variety names as Eight Ball, Gourmet Globe, Apple Squash, and Ronde de Nice. Eight Ball is exemplary for its type, having extremely dense, heavy, nearly seedless flesh. Cooked, it becomes juicy, flavourful, and meaty.
Spaghetti squash, vegetable spaghetti (Cucurbita pepo)
is a species which comes from Japan and is named after the flesh’s peculiar tendency to form spaghetti-like strands when ripe. When cooked, the individual strands separate and become even more conspicuous. Depending on the size, the squash is cooked whole for about twenty to fifty minutes. The ends must be pierced so that the heat can reach the inside and also so the internal temperature does not cause an explosion. To serve, cut the pale yellow, cooked squash in half, remove the seeds, and scoop out the flesh and add an accompanying sauce. The larger the spaghetti squash, the thicker the strands. Small specimens have strands no thicker than angel hair pasta.
Stripetti
is a cross between a spaghetti squash and a delicata squash.
Sugar Loaf
is a warmer toned, more squat and rounded strain of Delicata and a relatively newcomer to the American market. It is firm and sweet and versatile, ranging in weight from one to three pounds.
Sweet Dumpling
is a cream colour, with ivy green stripes and speckling whose flesh changes from a butter colour to orange during cooking. The flesh is dry and starchy like a potato, with a fresh light corn flavour.
Triple Treat is a bright orange, round, butternut type fruit with seeds that are especially good roasted.
Waltham Butternut
has smooth, pale, tan skin and yellow-orange flesh with a nutty flavour.
Yellow Bush Scallop
is an old variety with coarse pale yellow flesh and bright yellow skin.
Yellow Straightneck
is easily confused with yellow-gold zucchini, except that it is pale yellow compared with the deep yellow of zucchini. The flavour is bland and watery compared to other summer squash.
Zephyr
is a new type, having a yellow crookneck as one of its parents, while the other was derived from a Delicata and yellow acorn cross.
Zucchini, Italian squash, courgette (Cucurbita pepo ssp. pepo convar. giromontiina)
This is the fruit of a fast-growing, non-creeping highly frost-sensitive plant. The name is derived from the Italian “zucca” and means ‘little squashes’.
Zucchini is a fairly new member of the pumpkin family, having been developed in the early 1900s from various members of the C. pepo family and descended from the giant pumpkin.
It is cultivated mainly in the US, Mediterranean countries, Holland, Britain, and France. Some fruit can reach a length of sixteen inches and weigh over four pounds. The vast majority, however, are harvested when very small.
The skin is usually light to dark green, with yellow flecks or stripes and resembles its cousin the cucumber in appearance; but is substantially firmer because of its lower water content.
There are numerous varieties, including white, cream-coloured, and yellow zucchini. Round zucchini is a special variety but “baby zucchini” is simply harvested very young. In summer, sometimes the zucchini is sold with its flowers
still attached. The blossoms are an added delicacy that can be stuffed or fried. The female flowers are especially large and best suited to stuffing, while the smaller male flowers are mostly pan-fried.
The bushy zucchini plant is very prolific and yields any amount of fruits and flowers over the course of a season. Yellow varieties have slightly firmer flesh than green ones. The flavour could be described as slightly nuttly when raw and rather bland when cooked. The numerous soft, pale seeds are eaten as part of the flesh.
In addition to carbohydrate and protein, the most important consituents of zucchini are the minerals phosphorus and iron, provitamin A, and Vitamin C.
They are usually harvested when about six to eight inches long or smaller and are available all year round. They can keep up to three weeks, if properly stored in the refrigerator. They are also sensitive to the ethylene gas given off by some fruits and tomatoes, so they must be stored separately.
When ready to cook, they require only the ends cut off and then sliced or diced with the peel intact. They areThere is a pale green variety from Turkey that is extremely tasty and preferred in the Mediterranean regions and the Near East.
There are several varieties, including true green, light green, variegated, and yellow-gold. Although this long, straight, cylindrical squash is best when it is young and small, it can grow to quite a size where it can be halved lengthwise, seeds scooped out, then stuffed with an assortment of vegetarian fillings, baked, sliced, and served hot. The mature seeds can then be roasted and eaten separately.
Golden zucchini has more flavour than the common green varieties. Unlike the skin of most other squash that start out green, golden zucchini starts out yellow and retains that colour even when cooked. Round zucchini are no wider than six inches in diameter. The green colouring is streaked with white and pale green.
The squash are tender and rich-tasting, but bruise easily and are best eaten as soon as possible. Varieties include the French Ronde de Nice and an American Southwestern variety called Calabacitas. Zucchini varieties include: Ambassador, Defender, De Nice à Fruit Rond (a round golf-ball size variety), Gold Rush (yellow variety), Spacemiser, and Supremo.
