SC - Squash ( was OOP: Re: Harry Potter foodies)

[Decker, Terry D.]

I would point out for this argument, the squashes are all New World also.
They are all members of genus Cucurbita.  The Old World gourds are members
of genus Lagenaria, including the calabash, bottle and dipper gourds, and
were eaten through the SCA period.

Pumpkins and squash come into use in Europe during the 16th Century and they
appear in very late SCA period paintings.  The paintings I've seen suggest
they were eaten, but they don't seem to make an appearance in the recipes
(they may have simply replaced the gourds in cooking).

As a piece of guesswork, the giant varietals are modern hybrids, while the
smaller pumpkins, like the Small Sugar, would be closer to the 16th Century
pumpkin.

Bear

> I believe we covered this at one point and decided that 
> pumpkins as we know 
> them--the big orange lovely things--are New World. However, 
> many squashes 
> that were period would impart the same flavour if cooked like 
> a pumpkin pie. 
> And, in commercial piemaking factories, a lot of the pumpkin 
> that comes 
> canned today has more squash to it then pumpkin. Someone told 
> me once they do 
> that because it gives a better color to the pie. 
> 
> Lars