{{short description|Type of squash}} {{Distinguish|Calabasas, California|Calabazar|Calabash}} [[File:Kalabasa (Calabaza) squash from the Philippines.jpg|thumb|Calabaza fruits for sale in a supermarket in the Philippines]] [[Image:Calabasa vine.jpg|thumb|Calabaza vine]] '''Calabaza''' is the generic name in the Spanish language for any type of winter squash. Within an English-language context it specifically refers to the '''West Indian pumpkin''', a winter squash typically grown in the West Indies, tropical America, and the Philippines.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of CALABAZA |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calabaza |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Merriam-Webster |language=en}}</ref><ref name="cv">{{cite web |last1=Veneracion |first1=Connie |title=Is "Kalabasa" (Calabaza) a Pumpkin? |url=https://casaveneracion.com/is-kalabasa-calabaza-a-pumpkin/ |website=Casa Veneracion}}</ref><ref name="mm">{{cite web |title=Kalabasa / Winter Squash |url=http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/kalabasa-winter-squash-2 |website=Market Manila |date=26 February 2007 |access-date=14 December 2018}}</ref> Calabaza is the common name for ''Cucurbita moschata'' in Cuba, Florida, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Philippines (where it is also spelled ''kalabasa''). ''C. moschata'' is also known as ''ahuyama'' in Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela; ''ayote'' in Central America; ''zapallo'' in certain countries of South America; and "pumpkin", "squash", or "calabash" in English-speaking islands.<ref name="Maynard et al.">{{cite web |url=http://fshs.org/proceedings-o/1992-vol-105/355-358(Maynard).pdf |title=Flowering Habit, Yield, and Fruit Shape of Calabaza Cultigens |publisher=Florida State Horticultural Society |access-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035558/http://fshs.org/proceedings-o/1992-vol-105/355-358(Maynard).pdf |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Etymology== The French term ''calebasse'', and hence the English "calabash", is based on the older Spanish.<ref name="etym">{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=calabash|title=Calabash|publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=April 27, 2011}}</ref><ref name="etym2">{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/calabash|title=Calabash|publisher=Dictionary.com|access-date=April 27, 2011}}</ref> The spanish word is of pre-Roman origin. It comes from the Iberian ''calapaccu'', from -cal which means house or shell. It is a doublet of carapace and galapago.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwYrAAAAIAAJ&q=calappacu+calabaza | title=Romance Philology Volume 13 | accessdate=26 August 2024 | pages=39 | last1=Malkiel | first1=Yakov | date=1960 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tVtbAAAAcAAJ&q=calappacu+calabaza | title=Del origen y principio de la lengua castellana ò romance que oi se usa en España ideas lingüísticas de Aldrete · Volume 2 | accessdate=26 August 2024 | pages=345 | last1=Aldrete | first1=Bernardo | date=1975 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://etimologias.dechile.net/?calabaza | title=calabaza | publisher=Etimologías de Chile | accessdate=26 August 2024}}</ref>
==Cultivars== In North America, the Spanish word ''calabaza'' may refer to any of several species of squash of the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly used for cultivars of the species ''C. moschata'', which is native to the Caribbean. The skin color typically varies from dark green to light yellow. The flesh can also vary in color, but most common is bright orange or yellow. Varieties differ somewhat in taste and texture, but are generally slightly sweet with a firm but soft texture. Cultivars of the species ''C. maxima'' may also use the term if they resemble the ''C. moschata'' cultivars, and widespread species ''C. foetidissima'' specifically identifies "calabaza" as one of its common names.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pgrc3.agr.gc.ca/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?12601|title=Taxon: ''Cucurbita moschata'' Duchesne Genus: ''Cucurbita''|date=March 2, 2006|publisher=Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada|access-date=February 15, 2015}}</ref>
==Botanical description== [[File:Ginataang kalabasa at hipon (shrimp, calabaza, green beans, and eggplant in coconut milk) - Philippines.jpg|thumb|The Filipino dish ''ginataang kalabasa'' (calabaza with string beans and shrimp in coconut milk)]]
Calabaza plants are monoecious and are pollinated by insects like honeybees and bumblebees. The plants have long internodes and vines that are up to {{convert|15|m|ft|abbr=off|-1}} from the crown of the fruit to the plant. Most plants have vine-type growth; however, there are some ''Cucurbita moschata'' that are recorded to have bush-type growth. They typically yield between two and fifteen fruits, but the bush types provide higher yields.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Characterization and inheritance of a bush-type Tropical Pumpkin ''Cucurbita moschata'' (Duchesne) |journal=Scientia Horticulturae |doi=10.1016/j.scienta.2007.04.014 |volume=114 |pages=1–4 |year=2007 |author=Wu Tao, Zhou Jiehong, Zhang Yafeng, Cao Jiashu}}</ref> The fruit may weigh {{convert|5|to|50|lb|kg|0|order=flip|abbr=off}}, and fruit shape varies from oval, spheroid, obovate, pear, oblate, to elliptic. Improved types tend to be spheroid, oblate or flat. The rind varies in color from a light to dark green when immature and a light orange to beige when mature, and can be smooth or warted. The inside flesh is green-yellow to orange in color and is about {{convert|1|to|3|in|cm|order=flip|abbr=off|0}} thick.<ref name="Maynard et al." />
==Uses== {{Cookbook}} Calabaza is eaten many different ways, such as in stews, cakes, and candies. It can also be used in place of pumpkin varieties. The taste is smooth and somewhat sweet. Calabaza is a good source of beta-carotene, some of which can be converted into vitamin A.{{Cn|date=March 2023}}
Under Spanish colonial influence, ''C. moschata'' became established in the Philippines and is a staple vegetable used in a variety of dishes. It is known in Filipino as ''kalabasa'', or in Philippine English as "squash" or "pumpkin".<ref name="kal1">{{cite book|author=Irma Remo Castro|title =A guide to families of common flowering plants in the Philippines|publisher =UP Press|year =2006|page=73|isbn =978-971-542-525-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZVsCZE3r0UC}}</ref><ref name="kal2">{{cite book|author=Wendy Hutton|title =Tropical Vegetables|publisher =Tuttle Publishing|year =1997|page=27|isbn =978-962-593-149-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZVsCZE3r0UC}}</ref>
The flower (''flor de calabaza'') is used as an ingredient in quesadillas, empanadas and other dishes in Mexican cuisine and New Mexican cuisine, and in pupusas in Salvadoran cuisine. The flowers (''bulaklak ng kalabasa'') are also commonly eaten stuffed (''relyeno'' or ''relleno''), or as ingredients in soups in Philippine cuisine, along with young leaves (''talbos ng kalabasa'').<ref>{{cite web |title=Ginataang Kalabasa, talbos ng kalabasa at bulaklak ng kalabasa |url=https://www.melykitchen.com/2013/08/ginataang-kalabasa-talbos-ng-kalabasa.html |website=Mely's Kitchen |access-date=14 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214214009/https://www.melykitchen.com/2013/08/ginataang-kalabasa-talbos-ng-kalabasa.html |archive-date=14 December 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The seeds, toasted and seasoned, known as ''pepitas'', are a common snack.
==See also== *Kabocha *Butternut squash
==References== {{Reflist}} Category:Fruit vegetables Category:Filipino cuisine Category:Jamaican cuisine Category:Mexican cuisine Category:Salvadoran cuisine Category:Central American cuisine Category:Flora of Jamaica Category:Mesoamerican cuisine Category:Cucurbitoideae