Squashes, Winter (Pumpkins and Other Large Types): Cheese pumpkin

Cheese pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) is an oldie (available by 1815, if not before) and something of a goodie—but not as good as I keep reading and hearing, unless decor and spiced-up pies and soups are your goals. These hefty (10- to 14-pound), warm tan, lobed, flattened pumpkins (there are several Cheese cultivars) have a nostalgic look that suggests real flavor. But cheese pumpkin offers more charm than taste, to this tester. Cooked, the flesh turns a stunning persimmon orange, but I have found it soggy, fibrous, and mild to bland. Drowns says that there is a range in this type, but that few are more than mild and pleasant. Perhaps I have been unlucky.