25 thoughts on “What Is It?”

  5. I don’t know the name of the particular variety, but it’s a squash that looks and tastes like zucchini inside. You cook it the same way. We get them sometimes from our CSA too.

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  6. I think it is a zucchini, but round instead of long and skinny (zucchine tonde). If it is not too large, it is perfect for making stuffed vegetables.

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  8. Yes. It’s a zuccini. Points to ianqui for the eight- ball variety. Hmmm. You have stuffed them, Tina? Hadn’t thought of that. I was planning on making piles of zuccini bread.

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  9. Zucchini should be fried with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Without the cheese, it is poisonous.

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  10. In these parts, zucchini is frequently stuffed into paper bags and deposited on the neighbor’s doorstep. After ringing the doorbell, the gardener is free to flee into the night.

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  12. It looks big enough that maybe you could adapt our pumpkin pilaf approach (recipe would be too precise). Gourd in big pot of water on low boil, things inside gourd, let it do that for about four hours, split open to serve. Let me know if you’d like more details.

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  13. things inside gourd
    Phonetically, that is the same as the headline resulting from my failed attempt to combine bowling and rodeo.

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  14. I know what it is because I’m both a botanist and a CSA cook, but I refuse to tell you the name. Hate names. Who cares? You don’t need to tell the cashier what it is to buy it because you already paid for it.
    And, I must say that you seem overly hooked on the Internet and visual sensory input. Be like the Naked Chef. Cut the thing open, note the resistance to your knife as it moves through, sniff, examine color of the flesh if you really want more visual info, perhaps probe a bit to see how moist and dense it is, figure out what to do with the seeds if any based on similar taste/smell/probe assay. Once you’ve re-integrated your senses a bit and found some inspiration …. cook, eat, enjoy.

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  16. Oh, come on, learner. Tell us. Did ianqui get it right? Yes, I understand getting all zen about food, but words are good, too.

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  17. I’m with Wendy — it looks like Kabocha (Japanese) squash to me.
    Learner, that’s just really, really irritating.

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  18. Well, if Laura opens it up, we’ll know. If it looks like a round zucchini inside, it’s the 8ball zuke. If it’s yellow/orange inside, it’s Kabocha.

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  19. You can’t just dichotomize squash. You have to breath its essence, probe its density, and ponder what to do with the seeds*.
    *Throw them in the trash.

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  20. Kabocha tends to be darker green, in all the varieties I know of.
    (If Jamie Oliver is all about the “zen,”* then why does he sell instructions to us on how to cook? Hm?)
    (*My experience with Zen temples is (1) lots of rules on how to behave and (2) getting hit on the head during meditation. I fail to see what’s zen about Zen. Although they may have ideas on what to do with squash. Haven’t asked.)

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  21. Sorry if I’m now irritating with an unwelcome genetics lesson, but for those who think it’s sort of neat … enjoy this link
    http://www.liseed.org/acorndiv.html
    I would suspect that, like many CSA farms, your farmers are growing this blend because they are experimenting with heirloom seed or seed saving or both. A sort of DIY off-the-grid mentality applied to CSA farming.
    Ultimately all that matters: was it tasty?

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  22. If it is an acorn squash, they put some butter and brown sugar on it and bake away. But, I’d always considered that a “fall thing.”

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  25. Isn’t “8-ball” some kind of druggie slang? I’m trying to remember from the D.A.R.E. class.

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