Fall is right around the corner and in this Chefs opinion is a welcome change.
My purveyor of produce reminded me that in the coming week’s harvests of squash will be hitting grocery stores and will be plentiful. Varieties of hard squash like acorn, butternut, and spaghetti will be the earliest of the harvest followed by Delicate, Red Kuri, Kabocha, Tahitian, and much more. Some of the varieties you’ve probably seen and tasted at Farm to Fork. The great thing about squash is its versatility. You can roast, bake, sauté, steam, and even fry them. They are great for making soups, pies, and even adding them to risotto or curries, and just plain by themselves.
My produce supplier sent me some information from one of our Farm to Fork suppliers, Crows Pass Farm, who “curated and propagated one of the purest of the Tahitian Squash seeds”. They continue in the article the “seed was originally brought from Bora Bora by grower and landscaper George Patton in the 1970’s” (No not that George Patton of WWII). The squash is a “distant relative of the butternut squash” The cool thing that I learned in writing this blog was that the Tahitian Squash when cut, cures itself by hardening and keeping the remaining squash from spoiling. It can be kept in pantry storage and shouldn’t be refrigerated because the cold converts the sugars into starch.
A simple way to enjoy one of the aforementioned squash’s is to simply cut it open, scoop out the seeds, place on a baking sheet, drizzle lightly with oil, sprinkle a little salt and pepper (I like white pepper), place in a 350* oven for about 30 to 45 minutes. The size of the squash and temperature of your oven will vary so to check doneness, poke a paring knife into the fattest part of the flesh, if no resistance the squash is done. If you feel like experimenting with other seasonings in baking squash, sprinkle with a little brown sugar, or perhaps some cinnamon, or maybe a dash of cumin. As I have said, squash is so versatile, you don’t have to do much to enjoy what this time of year is about to unload on us.
Enjoy – Chef E.