Sweet Dumpling Squash, Anyone Try It?
Forum Archives
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Nov-09-2004 at 10:39am
For next year I am thinking about growing the squash 'Sweet Dumpling'. Marty Wingate recommends it and it sounds good.
Anyone else grow it and if so how is the taste?
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Nov-09-2004 at 5:53pm
Deb,
Some years ago I did grow it but I prefer Delicata. It has the same GREAT flavor but its LONG oval shape gives good serving size. Both have to be split to cook but I feel the Delicata has a smaller seed cavity and better serving size.
These are both squash to be use as individual servings. The seed cavity differences are not as extreme as plum vs. slicer tomatoes but I feel that they are similar in the amount of 'flavor/meat' per lb they bring to the table.
The text above probably needs drawings to clarify but my squash predjudice is for thinner meat upon which I can put my 'favorite' brown sugar/butter baste. The Dumpling's just have smaller basting surface to meat ratios.
Gary
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Nov-09-2004 at 6:40pm
Thanks Gary, that makes sense too. I love to baste with brown sugar, butter and nutmeg with a smidgeon of salt. I will try the 'Delicata' then.
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Nov-14-2004 at 7:41am
Deb probably saw his article in her paper yesterday but for the rest of you, Chris Smith did a great summary of ALL our growable winter squashes in his KitsapSun column. For example, he describes Dumpling and Delicata as,
"Delicata — small, oval, usually cream and green striped fruits, sweet, nutty, good for either baking or puree, one of the best flavored of all varieties
Sweet Dumpling— half pound fruits, some compare with Delicata"
You can read it all at:
Sound Gardener: A guide to winter squash
Once again, I will say that Chris' Sea PI and KitsapSun columns are a mandatory weekly read for me. The competive pressures rrom his editors require that each paper's column be significantly different. We the readers are the winners of that much more information.
You can find the Thursday column, titled "Edibiles" under the PI's Lifestyles section. The Sound Gardener column is under the features link in the Sat Kitsap Sun. In both papers look for a gardens link.
Sea PI Northwest Gardens
Kitsap Sun
Gary
trav
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Dec-24-2004 at 3:01pm
I like the reselected Delicata sold by Johnny's Selected Seeds. The fruit size seems to be more uniform than the Territorial offering - I've grown both.
Gotta admit Sweet Dumpling looks fancier, even though I agree with Gary's comments.
Travis
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Dec-24-2004 at 5:52pm
Thanks Trav, When I get my trusty catalog I will order.
Did you see that Territorial is taking over Abundant Life Seed? I put the news in the Garden News section in case you missed it.
trav
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Dec-24-2004 at 9:57pm
Originally posted by DebbieTT
"Did you see that Territorial is taking over Abundant Life Seed? I put the news in the Garden News section in case you missed it."
Yeah, I think I heard about it on the pacnwgardn list. I got an e-mail about it, in any case.
I also got an Abundant Life Seeds catalog in the mail a couple days ago, which had a page that basically said the same thing.
Travis
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Jan-15-2005 at 4:13pm
We have grown Sweet Dumpling for the past 4 years, I like it better than acorn, the size is perfect for one person, I think it is smoother, (less stringy) than other small squash, and is so sweet it needs very little sugar supplement. I usually cook it in the microwave with excellent results.
Carol
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Feb-09-2005 at 11:25am
Cooks Illustrated in an e-mail selling their Soups & Stews Cookbook supplied this list of winter squashes:
WINTER SQUASH VARIETIES
Butternut and acorn squash are the most commonly available winter squash varieties. In our tests, we found that while firm butternut squash makes excellent soup, acorn squash is too stringy and sour for this purpose. Of course, supermarkets and farmer’s markets carry more varieties of squash than just standard acorn and butternut. We were interested in learning how the different squash varieties would perform in our soup. Here are our top picks (ranked in order of preference) to use in our squash soup recipe. We do not recommend sugar pumpkin, spaghetti, or blue hubbard, which we found to be too fibrous and/or sour for use in soup.
CARNIVAL: This squash is shaped like an acorn squash but has a yellow skin with green and orange stripes. The flesh is creamy, delicate, buttery, and sweet, and it produces a deep yellow soup.
DELICATA: This squash is shaped like a zucchini and can be yellow or white with long green stripes. The flesh is sweet and has a ricelike flavor. It produces a beautiful pale orange soup.
BUTTERNUT: This squash is shaped like a long-necked bell, and the skin is peach colored. The flesh is buttery and strong tasting and yields a lovely orange soup.
KABOCHA: This squash is shaped like a small, squat pumpkin with dark green skin. The flesh is very thick and earthy, with a slightly sour or vegetal flavor. If using kabocha squash, use a 2 1/2-pound squash and increase the brown sugar to 1 tablespoon.
SWEET DUMPLING: This squash is shaped like an acorn squash but smaller, and the skin is yellow or white. The flesh is thin and has onion and corn overtones. If using sweet dumpling squash, increase the amount of squash to 5 pounds.
RED KURI: This orange squash looks like an oblong and unridged pumpkin. The flesh is very mellow and delicate. If using red kuri squash, increase the brown sugar to 1 tablespoon.
Gary
opabinia51
Location: British Columbia, Island
Posted: Feb-24-2005 at 3:04pm
I really enjoy Sweet Dumpling Squash. It's great stirfried with other veggies, cut up and put into a casserole or just baked with some apple sausage filling.
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Feb-26-2005 at 6:21pm
Thanks for all the feedback. It looks like I am going to have to try them both! Oh darn!
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton