Vegetable Spaghetti, Spaghetti Squash

Although none of the scientists with whom I spoke knew when and where this curious squash came on the scene, I can tell you who put it on the American map: Frieda Caplan of Frieda’s Finest Produce Specialties, Inc., a Los Angeles-based distributor of fruits and vegetables who has changed our larder with her adventurous spirit and smart marketing techniques. Suddenly every market in the country has these hard, cream-to-yellow oval vegetables, shaped like a cross between a football and a small pumpkin, that Frieda has designated spaghetti squash (the true seed name is vegetable spaghetti).