Old Mother Hubbard, What’ s in Your Cupboard?
Blue Hubbard Squash
The Blue Hubbard squash, Curcubita Maxima, has its origins in South America. It has been documented in North America as early as the late 1700s but found its way into common cultivation in the mid 1800s. There are two origin stories about this winter squash. The first is that the squash came to Marblehead, MA through Captain Knot Martin. A local washer woman, Elizabeth Hubbard is said to have taken the squash to seed cultivator James J. H. Gregory, who grew it for seed and introduced it to the market in 1859. The second story is that the squash was introduced by a woman named Bela Hubbard, a settler of Randolph Township, Ohio, in the Connecticut Western Preserve.
The dusty blue to grey teardrop shaped squash is large, averaging 12 inches in diameter and weighing an average of 11-20 pounds. The peak season for hubbard squash, like most winter squashes is, mid-fall, October, to mid-winter, January. The squash stores well for up to six months if kept dry in an environment of about 50 degrees. When buying hubbard squash, make sure the skin is hard and has no brown or soft spots.
The flesh of the Hubbard is bright orange. It is dense and starchy. The flavor is sweet and nutty, the sweetness, comparable to the sweet potato. The flesh can be used in recipes that call for sweet potatoes: hubbard custard pie and sweet potato pie are extremely similar in taste and texture. The squash can be baked whole by poking holes throughout and baking at 400 degrees until the skin is soft and brown. It may also be roasted by slicing in half, removing seeds and baking cut side up in a shallow pan of water for one hour at 400 degrees. Scoop flesh out of shell once it has cooled. Measure what you need, mash and freeze the rest for future use.
18 Dec / Jan 2017