Winter Squash, Revisited

Winter squash is a recurring feature of mid-19th century American menus. It shows up on Christmas and New Year bills of fare, as well as on winter menus for company dinners, large family dinners, and plain family dinners alike. 

Few (none) of these menu sources go into greater detail for how the vegetable* is to be cooked. Looking through the cookery books, it's easy to see why: there's basically one method. 

Far and away, the "squash" or "winter squash" receipt in cookbooks is 'remove both the hard shell and stringy seed-matrix, then boil the squash pieces and mash them with butter, salt and pepper'. This method shows up in sources ranging from Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery (1846) to The Practical Cook Book (1850, 1860) to Mrs. Putnam's Receipt Book (1860) to Godey's January 1862 issue to The American System of Cookery (1864). All are titled "winter squash", with no other receipts listed for the vegetable. The exceptions are Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book (1846/71), which allows that boiled squash may be served in slices (un-mashed), with the left-overs fried for breakfast; The Ohio Valley Farmer which claims that New England farmers usually boil squash plain; and What to Eat and How to Cook It (1866) which has instructions for both mashed squash/pumpkin and for stewing the boiled vegetable in butter. Squash can also be made into pies or pudding (both like a pumpkin pie) or fried as 'cakes', though these recipes are less frequent, and actually have names beyond 'winter squash'.

[*Other vegetables in these menus are likewise named: turnips, parsnips, beets, salsify. However, some of them get more specific about the dish: 'potato snow', 'mashed potato', 'boiled cauliflower', 'fried celery', 'stewed red cabbage', etc.]

I first prepared mashed winter squash two year ago, using a purchased spaghetti squash--a variety I do not recommend for this purpose. I've also tried both the stewed and the fried squash recipes using butternut squash, which turned out much better. 

 Looking into the horticultural literature of c. 1840-1865, specific winter squash varieties include the cocoa-nut or Porter's winter squash; crookneck and/or bell-shaped squash; Hubbard; Valpariso; turban or acorn squash; Mexcian cushaw or cushaw pumpkin; sweet potato squash and pineapple squash; and autumnal or Boston marrow. Winter squashes have a thicker rind than summer varieties, allowing them to be stored into the winter months. Pumpkins are a notable part of this category, though they tend to have their own recipes (with some overlap). 

My 1.5 successful acorn squashes.

 

I ended up with four usable winter squashes from my garden: one huge Connecticut field pumpkin, two table queen acorn squashes, and a butternut squash (unknown cultivar). As they were stored on my porch, and then an unusual cold snap hit, it seemed prudent to use them soon.

I first boiled and mashed up the butternut squash. It mashed easily, tasted delightful (hard to go wrong with butter/salt/pepper), and had a very pleasant texture. The acorn squash, when afforded the same treatment, proved marginally harder to peel, as the peel kept breaking. It tasted basically the same as the butternut. Occasionally, there was a slightly bitter bite, which I'm blaming on the one squash being only marginally ripe when I had to harvest it.

With the leftover (mashed) acorn squash, I tried that 1858 Squash Cake receipt. It calls for 1 quart of squash, 1 coffee cup (8-10oz) of milk/buttermilk/sourmilk and of flour, also salt and saleratus if the sour milks are used. The batter is to be fried in butter or lard. 

 

Squash cakes, 1858

 

I ended up using plain milk, and frying the cakes in butter. The flavor was fine: it mostly tasted of squash, but with the flour giving a slight pancake-like note. I fried the cakes until brown and crispy on the outside, though the interior texture was unchanged. I can't figure out whether I like the texture or not, but ended up eating the whole batch anyway. They'll be a nice addition to my recipe book, just to have an option for using left-over mashed squash.