Walk into a well-stocked farm shop in October and you’ll find a tableau of squash that makes supermarket produce aisles look timid by comparison: butternut alongside Delica, Crown Prince next to Red Kuri, Spaghetti squash beside a Hubbard the size of a boulder. They are not interchangeable. Each has a distinct character, and using the wrong one in the wrong recipe produces something merely fine when it could be remarkable.
Butternut
The default, and for good reason. Consistent, sweet, smooth-fleshed, it peels easily and behaves predictably. Best roasted until caramelised at the edges, puréed into soups, or stuffed and baked. The slight stringiness of the flesh when overcooked is its main weakness — don’t rush it.
Crown Prince
The most beautiful of the autumn squash — silver-blue skin, dense orange flesh. Drier than butternut, which makes it superior for roasting (it holds its shape better and caramelises magnificently) and less suitable for soups unless you add extra liquid. The flavour is nutty, chestnut-adjacent, with real depth. Worth seeking out at farm shops from September onwards.
Delica (Japanese Pumpkin)
Small, dark green, often knobbly. The flesh is deep orange-yellow, sweet, and remarkably dense. Kabocha squash is the closest commercial equivalent. The skin is thin enough to eat when roasted, which makes it the simplest of all the squash to prepare. Cut into wedges, roast at high heat with oil and salt, and serve — skin and all — alongside anything autumnal.
Red Kuri
Vivid orange-red, teardrop shaped. Flesh that is sweet but also slightly earthy, almost chestnut-like. Excellent in a gratin with cream and gruyère. The skin, again, is edible when well cooked. The colour is reason enough to seek it out.
A Note on Storage
Whole winter squash, properly cured, can last three to six months at cool room temperature. This is part of what makes them so valuable to the seasonal cook: you can buy in abundance in October and eat through to February. Once cut, the flesh deteriorates quickly — wrap tightly and use within three days.