heart of winter squash

 

 heart of winter squash

displayed on a wooden crate

with a carving knife

Late March in Peru, the end of autumn, and the feria in Pisac is full of the bounteous harvest, like this giant Blue Hubbard Squash, which may have originally weighed as much as 40 pounds (18 kg). Although this specimen of squash ( Cucurbita maxima) has been cut up for immediate consumption, winter squash is so called because it can be cured to harden the skin and stored all winter. The mottled blue gray skin is covered with warty bumps but the dense marigold flesh has a delicate flavor. Squashes are native to the Americas. They may have been first cultivated in Mesoamerica 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, at a time when cave dwellers were beginning to grow squashes along with beans, chili peppers and agave. The Spanish explorer, Francisco Pizarro, discovered winter squashes in Peru and brought seeds back to his country. Almost the entire plant is edible: blossoms, immature fruit, seeds, tender new growth stem ends and leaves, as well as the mature fruit.