Winter Squash
There are SO many delicious winter squash varieties available at the farmers market.
Winter squash is very versatile. It also stores well throughout the fall and winter months in a cool, dry place. Buy some squash - use it now or later.
Acorn
Not very sweet. Tend to be dry which lends itself well to adding brown sugar or butter. Texture is more firous than a sugar pumpkin or butternut squash. Once you scoop out the seeds, you are left with a bowl - good for filling and baking.
Banana squash
Can grow to be very large in size. The thick-walled rind is smooth and depending on variety, can be salmon pink, blue, yellow, or variegated in color. The orange flesh is firm, dense, and meaty. When cooked, the flesh of the Banana squash is fragrant, dry, rich, and earthy sweet.
Picture from Specialty Produce
Buttercup
The buttercup is dark green, with a flat top. The flesh is a deep, bright orange. It tastes very similar to the kabocha: quite sweet, a bit dry.
Butternut:
The butternut squash is reliably sweet without being as sugary as some other varieties. It is thin-skinned, and is also fairly easy to work with. As with most winter squash, go for the smaller ones, which tend to be sweeter and more flavorful.
Delicata
Great for slicing and baking. If you’re intimidated by larger squash, this one is great because it is small and easy to work with. Some people leave the skin on after cooking and eat it, because it is so thin.
Hubbard
Can get huge! Sometimes sold in pieces. They are usually pointy on top with a sort of teardrop shape, and can be light to dark green or reddish-orange, with a very thick and tough skin. Sweet, and dry.
Picture from Specialty Produce
Kabocha
Sometimes called the Japanese pumpkin, the kabocha is more squat than a sugar pumpkin, usually either dark green or a bright orangey-red on the exterior, and has a vibrant, yellow-orange flesh. It is one of the sweetest winter squash varieties, but also a bit crumbly and dry.
Picture from Specialty Produce
Kuri
Smallish, teardrop-shaped red squash. The name comes from the Japanese word for “chestnut,” and it does, like the acorn squash, have sort of a nutty flavor. Since it’s usually picked while smaller than the regular Hubbard, it’s also usually tastier – not quite as dry and crumbly.
Spaghetti
Fun for the kids! Some people use the insides as an alternative to pasta. The spaghetti squash, when cooked, separates into noodle-like strands. It’s mild and delicate, and also has a very low sugar content compared with other winter squash.
Picture from Specialty Produce
Sweet Dumpling
At only about four or five inches across, the sweet dumpling squash is usually among the smaller winter squash you’ll find. It’s most often a creamy off-white, speckled with either green or yellow; it’s quite a pretty fruit. It is one of the absolute best winter squashes: not dry at all, nutty and flavorful and not too sweet. Definitely worth a try if you find them.
Picture from Specialty Produce
Turban
Turban squash is medium to large in size. At its blossom end is a turban-like cap that gathers in the center and then expands out to a bulbous base. The thin, smooth rind ranges in color from mottled green, orange, red, to yellow or striped, and a single squash often displays all of these colors on the turban cap. The fine-textured orange flesh is dense and firm When cooked, Turban squash has a floury texture that is mild to sweet depending upon variety. Turban squash is best suited for cooked applications such as baking, steaming, and roasting. The large size and unique shape of the Turban squash are somewhat difficult to cut.
