Tea at Trianon: Cooking Winter Squash

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Cooking Winter Squash

From Ecocentric:

A few notes on nomenclature: If you hail from Britain or a place formerly under British rule, you’re likely to refer to all winter squash as “pumpkin.” The same idea applies to Spanish-speaking cultures here, in Central America and in parts of the Caribbean, where it’s generically referred to as calabaza. On this side of the pond, Anglos tend to make the distinction between jack-o-lantern pumpkins and the many other varieties of winter squash.

Don’t let the word “winter” fool you: Winter squash is actually harvested in autumn before a hard frost and stored for later. When most people had root cellars, they would harvest the squash in the fall and store it through the cold season, hence the name.

And the botanical difference between winter squash and summer squash? Very little. They’re both from the same plant family, cucurbita, and both ripen on a vine, but look and act like they’re from different tribes. Zucchini and the summer varieties have tender skin and almost nonexistent seeds and can be eaten raw. Winter varieties boast tougher skins, larger seeds and a flesh that needs to be cooked.

Squash is most likely native to Guatemala and Mexico and surrounding areas dating to 10,000 years ago.
According to cookbook author and Mexican cooking authority Diana Kennedy, calabaza is one of the earliest known foods to be domesticated in pre-Columbian Mexico. However, it may have been the seeds that were sought after, not the flesh, which would make sense, given the central role pumpkin seeds (pepitas) play in moles and other sauces throughout Mexico, particularly in the Yucatan.

It is believed that Christopher Columbus brought squash to Europe. (Read entire post.)