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Comment by walthamstow | Hacker News Reader

I'd like to see more kinds of squash in my local UK supermarket than just butternut, but, having tried spaghetti squash a few times from local farmers, I would not like it to be one of them. It's watery, bland tasting and disintegrates when cooked.

Alternative squashes I have enjoyed include pattypan, crown prince, kabocha and "turk's turban"

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How are you cooking it? For years I had always been baking spaghetti squash cut side down, but recently I tried it cut side up and it was a night and day difference. I also brush the inside with a good amount of olive oil and then season with some salt and a lot of black pepper.

It came out way less watery and the consistency was more like actual pasta. I'd recommend trying that if you haven't before.

The problem is that the moment you call something a "pumpkin", the English think it's cow food and refuse to eat it. But they'll happily eat butternut, which is a pumpkin really.

I love Hubbard squash. It's ugly and a bit of a pain to handle due to its size and the toughness of the rind, but the taste is amazing. It's the best for soups.

Agree on the assessment of spaghetti squash. One of my favorites is delicata squash, sliced and baked with a lil oil & salt.

I usually cook the spaghetti squash in the microwave but then pull it out of the shell and toss it into a skillet with some olive oil, salt, and pepper and sauté it for a few minutes. This dries it out a little and blends in the oil and spices. You can add some garlic at this stage, too.

Buttercup > butternut

Some other squash I can recommend to try:

Golden Heart

Acorn

Danish

Black Futsu

White Swan Acorn

Sweet Dumpling

Red Kubota

Patty pan squash grows like crazy in most of the UK. If you live near a farm with cows or horses, get yourself as much manure as you can lay your hands on and dig it in well, and you will be eating the damn things until you're sick of them.

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