market reports

PRODUCE QUIZ

I am tired of being the bowl.  Cut off my head, scoop out my seeds, and fill me up with soup. This is often the story of my life.  Named after squirrel food due to my shape my skin can be green, gold, white or variegated in green, yellow and orange.  I am a shrubby; creeping plant and my shape is conical with a pointed apex and longitudinally grooved.  Compared to my summer cousins I take a long time to grow, averaging about 80 to 100 days. I am in the same family as the melon and cucumber and I am believed to have wild origins in Central America, between Mexico and Guatemala dating back over ten thousand years.  Christopher Columbus is credited with introducing my ancestors to Europe.  My thin skin is very hard to peel so it is usually left intact.  My flesh will reveal a peppery hazelnut flavor that is universally admired.  In fact, when not being used as a bowl, you can just cut me in half, drizzle some butter (tanning oil to me) on my flesh, then top with honey, cinnamon, brown sugar, and/or nutmeg.  Roast me for just under an hour and I’ll prove to you that bowls are better in plastic, paper or china.  Don’t forget to cover me in the oven or my top layer will burn, and I never got along well with aloe. While I am an excellent source of potassium and vitamin A, I also contain vitamin C, folic acid and copper.