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Chef Dan Barber, co-owner of Family Meal in Manhattan and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York, told a story 20 years ago at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) I’ve never forgotten. He recounted a 2006 conversation with Michael Mazourek, Cornell professor, plant breeder and scientist who manipulates seed genetics for Big Ag. Chef Dan expressed frustration with the flavorless produce filling grocery shelves, and Michael shocked Dan with an insider’s reality. Businesses hire him to enhance all types of seed benefits, such as tomatoes that can travel, or apples that look the same, but no corporation had ever asked him to enhance the parts of a seed that enhance taste.
“No company has ever asked me to breed seeds for flavor.”
Huh? After picking himself off the floor, Dan expressed outrage at a food system that didn’t care about taste, causing Michael to blurt out, “Well, what do you want me to do about it?”
“Make this taste good,” Dan shouted, picking up a butternut squash sitting on the counter between them.
Thus started a decade long partnership between the two, including the creation of Row 7 Seed Company, founded to connect chefs and consumers with high flavor varieties of produce, including squash, potatoes, and tomatoes.
One of their hybrids was Honeynut, bred from butternut and buttercup squash. Dark tan / orange skin with orange fleshy pulp, Honeynut has a similar shape and flavor to butternut but is smaller and sweeter with two to three times more beta-carotene.
Distribution started in southern CA, and the team worked with Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods to test the market. I had never seen the squash until last week when a bin of Honeynut (grown by farmers market favorite, Capay Farms of Orland, CA) was quietly sitting at Bianchini’s in Portola Valley., and a good price too!
I eagerly bought a few, marveling it took nearly 2 decades to reach my local grocery store. The flavor did not disappoint.
Move over Butternut, there’s a new, not-so-new kid in town.
Use Honeynut like Butternut – perfect for the upcoming holiday season. Roast, sauté or purée into soups, stews, and braises, or in “pumpkin” pies and desserts. An alternative, also with flavor is a Kabocha squash (looks like a green pumpkin).
Q: How do you fix a broken squash?
A: With a pumpkin patch of course!
