Calabaza

Cucurbita moschata · Squash

40 pairings

Calabaza is the large tropical pumpkin of the Caribbean and Latin America — a heavy, round-to-oblong Cucurbita moschata squash with mottled tan, green or orange skin and dense, deep-orange, sweet flesh. Central to sopa de calabaza, sancocho and countless stews, it is usually sold in cut wedges because a whole one can weigh many kilograms.

Picking a good onedrag

Cured hard, flesh deep orangeSoft, weeping, mould at the cut

Shop firmThe all-rounder: sancocho, sopa de calabaza, roast, puree.Everyday best

StemHard and dry, cut back short

Rind under a nailNail marks it, will not pierce

The cut faceOrange, the face a little dried

Smell at the cutAlmost nothing, dry and dusty

What to look for, from cured hard, flesh deep orange to soft, weeping, mould at the cut.

What one gives you

71%

Usable yield

3,195 g flesh · rind, seeds and stem out

4500 g

Typical weight

one specimen

Keeping ittap a band

Below about 10 C the rind pits and the flesh turns watery, so a whole calabaza keeps far better in a cool dry room than in the fridge; cut wedges invert — wrap and chill those.

Humidity

50-70%

Drier than almost any other vegetable wants: under 50% it dehydrates and shrinks, over 70% the stem scar and rind grow fungus.

Airflow

Open and airy

Stand them apart on a slatted shelf or in vented crates, never bagged or stacked deep — trapped damp under the fruit starts the first soft patch.

Apples take weeks off it

Non-climacteric, so it gives off only traces itself, but it is moderately sensitive: keep it clear of apples, bananas, melons and ripening tomatoes.

Preparing