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Spiced Squash

Sariann

Medieval Spiced Squash

“This evening they had supped on oxtail soup, summer greens tossed with pecans, grapes, red fennel, and crmbled cheese, hot crab pie, spiced squash, and quails drowned in butter. Each dish had come with its own wine. Lord Janos allowed that he had never eaten half so well.” (A Clash of Kings)

Modern Spiced Squash

Our Thoughts

Fantastically seasonal, this menu item was a must make for October. The medieval recipe yielded tender pumpkin cubes that tasted remarkably similar to butternut squash. The stock in which the squash was cooked imbued it with an interesting savoriness that we didn’t expect. This recipe will surely make us think twice the next time we pass over the sugar pumpkin as a singularly sweet component.

Our modern acorn squash is New England Autumn in a dish. The appearance of the squash itself screams Fall, and the flavorful sauce completes the package. Tender, sweet, and spicy, this recipe is one for the Thanksgiving table.

Roman Spiced Squash

[73]  SQUASH  CUCURBITAS

To have the harder ones palatable, do this: [1] [Cut the fruit into pieces, boil and] Squeeze the water out of the boiled fruit and arrange in a baking dish. Put in the mortar pepper, cumin and silphium, that is a very little of the laser root and a little rue, season this with stock, measure a little vinegar and mix in a little condensed wine, so that it can be strained [2] Pur this liquid over the fruit in the baking dish; let it boil three times, retire from the fire and sprinkle with very little ground pepper.  -Apicius, 4th C.

Cooks notes: Although the pumpkin is a New World squash, it is mentioned in the world of Westeros. It’s a member of the Curcurbita genus, which this recipe is written for, and we happened to have some on hand! This will also work well with acorn, hubbard, and butternut squash varieties. Silphium, often used in Roman cooking, is unfortunately an extinct herb, so we’ve left it out of our redaction.

Ingredients:

Cut the pumpkin into uniform pieces, removing the seeds. Place in a saucepan, cover with water, and boil till tender. Strain the pumpkin when tender, and lay on paper towel. Gently dry the fruit with another piece of paper towel, and arrange in a baking dish. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Pour the liquid over the pumpkin. Cook in a 375F oven for 20 minutes, or until pumpkin has started to caramelize. Lightly dust with additional pepper and serve.

Modern Spiced Squash

Ingredients:

In a small saucepan, heat the maple syrup over medium heat, stirring in the spices. Stir constantly over heat for 3 minutes, do not boil. Remove syrup from heat. Cut the acorn squash into slices about 1 inch thick, removing the seeds. Arrange in one layer in a baking dish. Spoon the syrup mixture over the squash, and cook in a 375 F oven till tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, drizzle more heated syrup over the top, and serve.
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