Delicata

Cucurbita pepo

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By Elizabeth Schneider

Published 2001

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Delicata (Cucurbita pepo), an aptly named squash first introduced in 1894 and popular into the 1920s, has been revived in recent years—although few recognize it as an heirloom and some call it a “designer squash” (a term that makes me gag). Quite petite to just medium, the oblong squash has yellow-ivory skin mottied with spruce stripes. The abundant, lightly sweet, butter-yellow pulp is fine and moist with a rounded taste that suggests corn, Butternut, and sweetpotato.