Cushaw History, Nutrition, Recipes

Dave, Marnie and her father, Jack at the Walker County Farmer’s Market

Cushaw squash look like gourds, but they’re squash. The Native Americans brought cushaw from Mesoamerica in 3000-7000 BC. It migrated from Southern Mexico up to Arizona to the southern US, Appalachian area. Marnie’s great-grandmother is remembered to have cooked cushaw for her family. Many “old-timers” in the South remember eating cushaw pie at Thanksgiving.

Cushaw are resistant to the typical vine-borers that destroy yellow crookneck, zucchini and other squashes. This makes it hearty and it does very well in hot temperatures of the south.

Cushaw Are Highly Nutritious

Marnie as a child with cushaw squash — Marnie with her father’s cushaw squash.

Cushaws are packed with carotene, vitamins A, B6, & C, folate, magnesium, riboflavin, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron. Cushaw is anti-inflammatory, boosts immunity, delays aging, improves vision, improves lung health, lowers blood pressure. Can help reduce birth defects of babies. Seeds are rich in oil and protein. Attractive to bees, butterflies and birds. The flesh is used in Yucatan folk medicine to treat burns, sores and eczema. Nursing women eat the seeds to help them lactate. Used for pain relief. (Source TexasRealFood.com).

How Cushaw Grow

Cushaw take up quite a bit of real estate. They sprawl out and like to grow together on hills so they can cross pollinate. They like heat and take 90 days to mature. They are long lasting. After they mature, you can pick them and store them for up to 4 months. They are one of the “Three Sisters” the Native Americans used to create a good ground cover that is a great weed barrier. It likes to run up corn or along the ground.

How to Cook Cushaw – Cushaw Recipes

Marnie’s mother baked them with cinnamon sugar. We bake them open face with a mixture of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, oregano and basil and butter til they are fork tender. Add some marinara sauce and Parmesan.

Cushaws make excellent pies, similar to pumpkin pies except lighter, smoother and more like a soufflé. You can also make breads from it that are delicious … similar to how you’d make zucchini bread. Anything you can do with pumpkin or zucchini, you can do with cushaw.

Learn More About Cushaw History and Uses

We were on the local Morning Show in Fort Oglethorpe Georgia talking about cushaws – their history, uses, and more.