Iam a fool for summer squash. Forget objectivity; I have none. When I tell you St. Louis is summer squash heaven, take what I say with a dash of sea salt and check out these beauties yourself.
For unmatched variety, seek out Ron Jones of On the Wind Farms, deep in the woods of Howell County in the Ozarks, who sells more than a dozen kinds of heirloom and hybrid squash at Kirkwood Farmers’ Market and Whole Foods Market. From his market stand, against a backdrop of exuberant for-sale summer flower bouquets, his unusual squash beckon. Solid, striped, stippled and splotched in colors from palest cream to sun-gold to deepest emerald, these squash don’t look anything like the darkly green Italian zucchinis of my youth.
Costata Romanesco, for example, is medium green flecked with lighter green, with prominent ribs in a celery color from blossom end to stem end. Jones declared this squash his favorite, but I couldn’t pick just one. I took home the two-tone hybrid Zephyr, which features a sunny yellow straight neck that morphs into a sassy green at its rounded bottom. I also bought two fat, globular heirlooms, the Italian Tondo Scuro di Piacenza and the Round French. Both beg to be stuffed to show off their curves.
One variety, aptly named Lemon Gem, resembles its namesake in color and shape. Jones got the open-pollinated seeds from Dan Leary, a master gardener who retired to the Ozarks. Leary grew the Lemon Gem because it loves Missouri heat and is resistant to squash bugs, but I bought it two weekends in a row because it’s delicious. Lemon Gems are small, so I stuffed them with spinach couscous, chopped pine nuts, olive oil and garlic. Smaller pastas like ditalini or acini di pepe would work, too, but the green couscous and the yellow squash just looked great.
Magda, a wide-bottomed Middle Eastern squash with a light-green skin, got quartered and sliced, then mixed into a sauté of minced garlic and slivered sweet onion, cooked to translucency. At Jones’ suggestion, I ground black pepper over the squash. After only five minutes, I removed the frying pan from the heat, stirred in a pat of butter and added sea salt. The sweet, nutty taste and buttery texture was heaven. Later, the leftovers leapt into a pasta frittata, where the flavors blended beautifully with green pepper and golden cherry tomatoes.
By cutting both the light-green and sunny-gold pattypan squash horizontally, I got pretty scalloped shapes for a stir-fry. The saucer-shaped scallopini added a deep forest color and a flavorful bite to a hearty pasta salad. For my favorite zucchini pancakes, the green-striped heirloom Cocozella di Napoli grated to perfection. It seemed to have less water than the Italian variety I have used plus, when the pancakes cooked, the Coccozella di Napoli was quite a bit firmer. Later in the season, I might try the sweet-tasting Magda grated for cakes and breads.
Jones enjoys mixing several varieties in one dish. “It’s fun to eat a dish with all the different colors, like a bouquet. That’s why I like to grow so many,” he said. For summer flavor this winter, he recommended making ratatouille by simmering squash, onions, eggplant, tomatoes, onions and herbs in olive oil and then freezing it. There’s a significant texture change from freezing squash, but the flavors are a wonderful reminder of summer during the dark and cold days of winter.
Buying, cooking and eating On the Wind’s offerings is the easy part – Jones does the hard work, putting in long hours and lavishing attention on his crops, which are organic, and he’s a guru of gardening tips. (One example: Mulch with sand because it gives squash borers nowhere to hide).
Jones harvests daily. Early in the week he delivers vegetables to older folks in his community. Next, he picks for his family, for the food they will eat now and throughout the year. At week’s end, he picks for market. “The food you buy at market comes from my hand to yours. I know what goes in the ground,” he said in his soft-edged drawl. “I can answer your questions. We have a relationship through my food.”
This article appears in Aug 1-31, 2007.