Squash was the one of the first things American Indians taught the Pilgrims to cook. And, like Americans today, the colonists ignored this vitamin-packed foodstuff.
“Here’s the funny thing: Squash is the quintessential American vegetable, but very few people know how to cook and prepare it,” said Paul Krautmann of Bellews Creek Farm.
This season, Krautmann raised standards such as butternut, but he also grew Delicata, Black Futsu, spaghetti squash and an Italian heirloom variety, Long of Naples. “It’s used for stuffing ravioli. It looks like a butternut but much bigger, with a green netting on the surface,” said Krautmann. “My biggest ones weigh 16 to 18 pounds.”
Krautmann credits local chefs such as Andy Ayers of Riddle’s Penultimate Café and Wine Bar for educating palates to new tastes. “Andy has been featuring our spaghetti squash. Customers are more willing to try new things if they see it on a menu,” he said.
Cooking is one of Krautmann’s skills, so he’s comfortable swapping recipes and cooking advice when customers buy his produce. “People are driven towards sweet side dishes for squashes or to desserts like pumpkin pie,” he said. “But I like to make savories, like roasted root vegetables and squash with chipotle, pepper and coriander.”
Krautmann will have winter squash and other good things, including his homegrown smoked chipotle peppers, at the Clayton Farmers’ Market Winter Pantry inside the Schlafly Bottleworks each Saturday morning through Nov. 19.
Arlene Kruse’s ancestors sold produce on the banks of the Mississippi River even before Julia Cerre Soulard donated land in 1838 for the market that bears her name, where the Kruse family’s farm sells pumpkins today.
Kruse thinks the American habit of relegating squash to the Thanksgiving table needs to change. “Squashes and pumpkins are underutilized in American cooking,” she said. “In Italy, the squashes are a staple like our potatoes. You’ll find squash in everything from lasagna to risotto.”
Kruse offers the slate-blue Jaradale, a flat, deeply ribbed pumpkin with a creamy texture. She also grows the buff-colored Long Island Cheese pumpkins, named for their close resemblance to a cheese wheel.
Jere Gettle, seedsman for Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, offers all the varieties mentioned above plus 60 or so additional ones. “We’re seeing a lot of interest in the Cushaw squash, white and green,” he said. “People are frying it like potatoes.” Look for the distinctive white Yugoslavian Finger Fruit and the black-skinned Yokahama, too, in Baker Creeks’ 2006 offerings. “The Queensland Blue has been going well for pies,” Gettle said. “It’s an Australian pumpkin, turban-shaped with a sweet orange flesh.”
“The hard-shell squashes keep a long time,” said Kruse. “I’ve had pumpkins last through August. Squashes have lots of fiber, vitamin A and vitamin C. They’re sustaining kinds of food. They are good for you.”
Don’t let the “good for you” part keep you from squash. Go a little wild. Try something black and warty or blue and squat, something with a delectable orange flesh or a creamy yellow purée.
This article appears in Nov 1-30, 2005.