delicata squash varieties grow and taste report

[meizzwang]

Zeppelin Delicata Taste Report

Very important observation: when not fully cured, these mature Zeppellin delicata tasted like starchy zucchini, it was still satisfying and worth eating (when seasoned right) but night and day compared to delicata that has been properly cured! A properly cured Delicata needs no flavor enhancement to taste amazing!

The most surprising fact about Zeppelin delicata is that it didn't require a long cure before it was ready to eat! I picked these maybe 2 weeks ago and they're already ready! That said, assuming the fruit were harvested at peak maturity, I think the best way to know when they're ready to eat is to look at the skin color. I didn't allow these to sit in the field any longer than necessary due to field mice pressure: as soon as they looked mature enough, they were harvested! These are overall faster to cure than Candystick, cornell's bush delicata, and honeyboat. All of the delicata varieties were planted at the same time and grown under identical conditions the whole time.

In the picture below, much of the Zeppelin harvest still looks like the one to the right, those aren't ready to eat yet! There are also some that have just started turning yellow on the outside, but the skin isn't super deep yellow overall, so I'm waiting on those. You really want your Zeppelin squash to look like the one on the left, that one is ready to eat!


If you cut the squash open and the flesh inside is white-ish or just starting to turn yellow, that means it's not yet ready to eat. Here's what it looks like on the inside when it's near it's peak flavor. The flesh is somewhat thin and not super dense, making it less challenging than other varieties to slice. I'm now starting to appreciate thinner, less dense fleshed delicata:


Here's the outside of the squash I used for this taste report. Honestly, it probably could have gone a little bit longer (notice the color isn't completely yellow towards the bottom of the photo), but it was already super sweet and I don't think the flavor would improve drastically by waiting much longer:


I cut them into slices and baked them for 25 minutes total. The temperature in the oven was 350F for 15 minutes and then I increased the temperature to about 425F for 10 minutes to get that nice golden brown "crust":


How was it? Heavenly! It's sweet yet savory and has an amazing texture, like sweet potato fries, but maybe slightly more dense. it doesn't have that pumkin-ey flavor to it: while that could be good for other winter squash varieties, I don't think it would benefit delicata. In terms of being fibrous, the skin is barely noticeable, it's not woody whatsoever or unpleasantly scratching the roof of your mouth, it compliments the flesh and adds a little bit more thick, chewy texture to it, if that makes sense.

I don't really know how else to describe the rest of the flavor profile for delicata in general, I'm reading over my description right now and it doesn't quite cover everything, you really have to experience this for yourself to truly understand just how good it is! I can honestly understand why my neighbor thinks these are too sweet, but fortunately, it's not like eating a heavy fudge cake that makes you feel like crap after eating too much....delicata just makes you feel full after over-doing it! I easily give this variety a 9/10 in the taste department!

Keep in mind, there is a lot of opinion mixed into this taste report: it's best to focus on the descriptions to judge whether or not you want to try this squash rather than the "oh my god this is the best thing ever" type comments.

I'll do a write up on the other varieties as soon as they're ready to eat, so stay tuned!

[meizzwang]

consolidated the collection, although there are still quite a bit of squash in the field that aren't yet ripe. That said, all of the delicata has been harvested, here's most of it minus a few fruit:






I just saw these for sale at the local grocery store for $2.99/lb (Northern California) and it comes from Mexico!

[ddsack]

That is a lot of squash! Luckily, it looks like you have a lot of storage space there! So which were your top three favorites of all varieties?

[Bmadsen]

Thanks for doing the Zeppelin Delicata taste report! Were you able to compare it to the Honeyboat and Candystick? I'm limited in my garden space and am trying to narrow down to just one Delicata variety.