Pumpkin is not a true vegetable due to its anatomy; it’s a fruit, belonging to the Cucurbita family of plants that comes in a variety of different shapes, sizes, colors, textures, and tastes. The terms pumpkin and squash are often interchangeable, as they’re both from the Cucurbita family.
Though not an exhaustive list, the following are the most easily sourced heirloom pumpkin (or squash) varietals:
American Tonda: Traditionally shaped with alternating vertical marbled green and yellow skin. Contrary to its name, this is an Italian varietal classified for having the “classic” American pumpkin silhouette. It’s delectable roasted, puréed for soups or risotto, and added to salads.
Black Futsu: Intensely dark green skin with tiny bumps, a blush of yellow, and busy ribbing. The hearty flesh of this prized Japanese varietal is sweet with notes of hazelnut. Favored preparations include roasting and stuffing.
Blue Doll: A dusty, light turquoise exterior with several long pleats. With a shockingly orange, hearty flesh, it’s ideal for savory cooking, from stewing to grilling.
Buttercup: Similar in appearance to kabocha with a slightly less vegetal taste and sweeter tasting flesh, buttercup is excellent sautéed, baked, mashed, or blended into soup.
Cinderella: Looks like Cinderella’s pumpkin coach with its flat, round shape and traffic cone–orange exterior. Its flesh is custardy and smooth, making it wonderful roasted whole, stuffed, stewed, or blended into a silky soup.
Fairytale/Musquée de Provence: Beautiful, pronounced divots in its burnished, ochre skin. From the south of France, this large pumpkin is often found already sliced into wedges for cooking at French markets, though can be purchased whole.
Flat White Boer: Ivory-skinned, flat, and perfectly pleated. Its loud orange flesh is custardy and rich. This pumpkin is idyllic whole roasted or stuffed due to its show-stopping appearance and substantial texture.
Galeux d’Eysines: Decorated with “peanuts” on its peach exterior. The more “peanuts,” the sweeter the flesh. This French varietal with supremely delicious meat is excellent for roasting, soups, desserts, stews, and more.
Heirloom Butternut: Similar silhouette to the more common butternut, but can showcase a rustier skin. Its deep orange, balanced flesh is ideal for purées, roasting, mashing, desserts, and more.
Hooligan: Very tiny with orange-speckled white skin. Slightly stringy and watery, but works well if hollowed and roasted for use as a soup “bowl.”
Hubbard: Teardrop-shaped with a range of pigments, from dusty green to dark green to light orange. Delicious but hard to peel. Halve, seed, roast, and remove skin when cool to use in mashes, purées, soups, and desserts.
Jarrahdale: Soft green exterior and melon-like interior. From New Zealand, it’s minimally stringy with a light, fruity flesh. It is lovely roasted whole, chunked and stewed in a curry, or sliced into wedges and steamed.
Kabocha: Squat with an intensely dark green exterior. This Japanese pumpkin has a dry flesh similar in texture to mashed potatoes. It is wonderful roasted, steamed, or turned into soup.
Long Island Cheese: Large and pastel orange (named for its cheese wheel-esque appearance) with a rich, hearty taste. I prefer this for decoration more than for cooking.
Marina di Chioggia: An Italian heirloom variety with an evergreen skin and deep orange interior. Its creamy, sturdy flesh was made for ravioli fillings, pasta sauces, gnocchi, and grilling.
One Too Many: Its name reflects its bloodshot eyeball, one-too-many-drinks-flush appearance. Not ideal for cooking but makes a fabulous decoration.
Pink Banana: Long, similar in shape to a spaghetti squash, though thinner and more pink in color. Its scrumptious flesh is not too stringy and is excellent for both savory and sweet dishes.
Porcelain Doll: Baby pink and big. Contains a deep orange, velvety, delicious flesh that can be used for roasting, stuffing, salads, and desserts.
Quaker Pie Pumpkin: Dusty-rose skin and classically round with an elegant, long vine. Developed by Quakers in New York and introduced to commercial markets in 1888. It’s gently coconut-esque in taste, and while its flesh is highly edible, it’s prized for its extraordinarily large flowers—naturally made for stuffed squash blossoms.
Red Kuri/Orange Hokkaido: Its tangerine, tear-shaped exterior matches its brightly hued interior. A Japanese, hubbard-style varietal. Creamy and sweet, yet slightly less saccharine than butternut and with a more complex flavor; lovely in both savory and sweet dishes.
Seminole: Looks like a butternut squash in both shape and color. First found growing wild in the Everglades. Its hearty, deep orange, dry flesh makes it good for roasting, mashing, and baking.
Strawberry Crown: Milky purple-gray skin kissed with pink on top and wide pleats. An idyllic eating variety with little to no stringiness makes this varietal suitable for any recipe, either savory or sweet.
Sugar/Pie: A classic pumpkin shape, weighing two to three pounds. Its name is a bit of a contradiction as it produces a stringy, watery, lackluster pie. Use this for puréed soups and robust, savory flavored dishes. You can also clean and roast its seeds for an addictive snack.
Triamble/Shamrock: Murky, sea green exterior with the appearance of a shamrock (clover) from the top. Its agreeably smooth, fine-grained flesh can be enjoyed roasted in wedges, steamed, stewed, and puréed.
Turban/French Turban/Turk’s Turban: Looks like it’s wearing a hat with orange, green, and ivory markings. Its starchy, meaty, orange flesh is excellent roasted in cubes for side dishes and salads.
Yokohama: Its dusty, dark green exterior looks like lacinato kale. Native to Japan, its flesh is smooth and sweet with minimal stringiness.
