Pumpkin

Squashes are the fruit of a squash plant, which belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. This family has around 850 species of mainly herbaceous, climbing or ground plants that bear big fruits protected by a hard skin. Some fruits such as the watermelon or  melon as well as vegetables as common as cucumbers or courgettes belong to this family.

Characteristics

• Shape: spherical, flattened, oval or long in the shape of a bottle. They have a ribbed edge.
• Size and weight: highly variable. Its size is usually around 25 to 40 cm of diameter.
• Colour: The skin can be orange, yellow, red, green, white, black, purple or a mixture of colours. Its pulp usually has an orangey or yellow colour.
• Taste: They are slightly tasteless with a sweet and fruity touch.

Nowadays, squashes are planted in warm and wet soils around the world.

Summer and winter squashes are the most important varieties.

• Summer squashes: a squash with a light and thin skin and soft seeds. It has a short shelf life. In this type we can find the pattypan squash, which is white, green or yellow, the yellow summer squash, and regular pumpkins, which have orange skin and whitish flesh.
• Winter squashes: a sweeter but drier type than the summer ones, with less water content and thicker skin. It can be preserved longer than the summer ones thanks to the thickness of its skin. Belonging to this group are the banana squash, the butternut squash, which has a gelatinous pulp and an intense yellow colour and the siam pumpkin, with variable sizes and shapes, from which spaghetti squash preserve is made for fillings in pastry making.

Thanks to their great variety, pumpkins can be found in markets all year round, either winter or a summer varieties.