Squashes, Winter (Pumpkins and Other Large Types): Rouge Vif d’Etampes, Red Etampes, or Cinderella

Rouge Vif d’Etampes, Red Etampes, or Cinderella (Cucurbita maxima) is the beauty that exemplifies pumpkins with a European look. “W. Atlee Burpee of Philadelphia is credited with introducing this squash to American gardeners in 1883”, William Woys Weaver writes in Heirloom Vegetable Gardening. “It was cultivated in France almost fifty years prior to that, and proved extremely popular in Paris . . . during the nineteenth century because chefs discovered that it made an excellent base for soups, the flavor being so mild that it did not overpower other ingredients.”