Butternut squash

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Butternut squash (known in Australia as Butternut pumpkin<ref name="sydney">Sydney Markets - Welcome to the World of Pumpkins </ref>) is an edible type of winter squash with a vase-like shape. It has a sweet, nutty taste that is similar to pumpkin or sweet potato. It has yellow skin and orange flesh. When ripe, it turns increasingly deep orange, and becomes sweeter and richer. It grows on a vine. The most popular variety, the Waltham Butternut, originated in Stow, Massachusetts.

[edit] Uses

Butternut squash can be roasted and also be puréed or mashed into soups, casseroles, breads, and muffins.

In Australia it is regarded as a pumpkin, and used interchangeably with other types of pumpkin.

A common vegetable in South Africa, it makes a very tasty soup and can be cooked on a barbeque wrapped in foil with spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon.

It is a source of fiber, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, and potassium. It has quite a long shelf life of two weeks.

[edit] Origin

The butternut and related species of squash originate from around Mexico - separate from pumpkins or "winter squash", which originate in South America.<ref name="sydney" />