a name used for those kinds of squash, mostly of the species Cucurbita pepo, which are eaten fresh in season, when they are immature and the skin is still soft, as opposed to winter squash (mostly of the species C. maxima) which can be stored and whose skin hardens during storage.
The distinction is not always useful, since some C. pepo varieties, e.g. the Crookneck group, store well, while winter squash can be good eaten fresh. Nor is there a clear botanical distinction; there are some varieties of C. pepo, e.g. Acorn, which are mostly used as winter squashes, although if harvested when young they can be eaten as summer squashes.
Summer squashes tend to be watery, and care must be taken not to overcook them.
Some of the prettier varieties of summer squash, such as the Yellow Custard Squash, with its flat, scalloped shape, are among the numerous cultivars which can be dried and used for decoration. Sunburst, the first hybrid yellow scallop squash, is very attractive with creamy flesh of delicate flavour, and looks especially good when picked at the ‘baby’ stage with blossom still attached.
See also zucchini and vegetable marrow, both of which fall into the summer squash group.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
