Squash and pumpkins

The history of cucurbits

Winter squashes, summer squashes (zucchinis), and pumpkins are part of the large family of cucurbits, along with melons and cucumbers. The Cucurbitaceae family includes about 120 genera and more than 800 species.

Squashes are native to Central America, where the fruits and especially the seeds were consumed by the indigenous people. At that time, squashes contained very little flesh and were mainly used as cooking utensils, musical instruments, and even water gourds for transporting beverages.

While the squash originated in America, it was mainly in Europe that the evolution of the forms we know today took shape. It was in Cuba in 1492 that Christopher Columbus discovered squashes, and in 1535, Jacques Cartier found them in the gardens of certain Iroquois peoples near Quebec. Antoine Nicolas Duchesne, an agronomist at the Jardin du Roi in Versailles, compiled the names and organized the classification of over a hundred species of squashes from the Cucurbita genus, supported by 258 drawings, in his “Histoire naturelle des courges” published in 1786. Charles Naudin also contributed to distinguishing several species of pumpkins in 1860.

At that time, squashes were allowed to ripen fully before consumption, which improved yields and facilitated storage. Harvested in the fall, they are called winter squashes. Zucchinis, also known as summer squashes, appeared in the 18th century when Italians had the idea of consuming a variety of squash before it reached full maturity. Before zucchinis spread in France in the early 20th century, they were known as Italian squashes. It was in 1930 that the name zucchini appeared, and since then, this fruit-vegetable has become a staple of Provençal cuisine.
Etymology

The word “courge” comes from the Latin *cucurbita*, which also gave the word “gourd” in French. The Ancients, who were unfamiliar with squashes, discovered them during the time of Christopher Columbus at the end of the 15th century. The term *cucurbita* originally referred to gourds, the only known fruit in Europe at that time (also called calabashes or bottle gourds (*Lagenaria* genus)). It wasn’t until the 19th century that the use of the term “courge” became widespread in France to refer to the current squashes, once botanical classification had been relatively stabilized.

The word “citrouille” (pumpkin), on the other hand, derives from the Latin *citreum*, meaning lemon, by analogy in color.