When Sarah Tucker-Boem received a spaghetti squash for her birthday five years ago, she never imagined it would become another cash crop for her business.
Key points:
- Spaghetti squash looks like butternut squash on the outside, but its flesh resembles angel hair pasta when scooped out
- It was popular in the ’70s as a low-carb alternative to pasta.
- The winter vegetable has been selling well in the capitals of the eastern states.
The Riverland farmer said she loved the quirky winter vegetable so much that the following year she planted a personal crop of its seeds.
“Then I introduced it to my in-laws and they loved it too, so we decided to do some commercial growing,” said Ms. Tucker-Boem.
While it looks like a butternut squash, grown on a stem with a hard shell and seeds inside, he said its meat inside was pretty amazing.
“It’s very stringy and when you cook it, you stick a fork through it and it looks exactly like angel hair pasta,” said Ms. Tucker-Boem.
“It’s not overpowering in flavor; it probably tastes a bit like zucchini, I guess, or butternut squash.
“The pumpkin itself doesn’t have a very strong flavor, which is great because you can use it instead of pasta if you want to cut carbs or mix it up.”
growing demand
When Mrs. Tucker-Boem’s two rows of spaghetti squash became too large for personal use, the family looked for a market to sell them.
The family business, Parkes Lane Produce in Waikerie, has found interest in its crop in Melbourne’s fresh markets.
“Then this year, the market that we found last year asked, ‘Are you planting again?’ because they really enjoyed our pumpkin,” said Ms. Tucker-Boem.
“So here we are planting more pumpkins among the avocados.”
Penny Reidy, manager of the South Australian Fruit and Vegetable Market, said not much spaghetti squash was being grown in the state at the moment.
“The biggest producer is actually outside of Victoria,” Reidy said.
As for where to buy it, the options are currently limited.
“We have a wholesaler here in the markets that supply it and there are several independent fruit and vegetable stores that stock it,” he said.
Ms. Reidy said that while its popularity has yet to peak, spaghetti squash offers consumers something different.
“Particularly for people looking for low-carb diets, spaghetti squash or vegetable spaghetti is a very good alternative to pasta,” he said.
“It’s also high in potassium, omega-3s and vitamin C, so it’s really nutrient dense.”
Ms Tucker-Boem says South Australian growers have an advantage as their crop is available to supply eastern consumers sooner than those grown in Western Australia.
The local planting season is in October and the harvest usually ends in late summer.
However, Ms. Tucker-Boem said spaghetti squash has a long shelf life.
“They will keep for six to eight months, so they keep for a long time, like a pumpkin,” he said.
recipe inspiration
While Ms. Tucker-Boem said she usually used spaghetti squash to make pasta, her friend had another food trick.
“She used to make two-minute spaghetti squash noodles,” he said.
“So, she would cook it and throw in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and maybe broth, and it would taste like two-minute noodles.”
But Mrs. Tucker-Boem is still experimenting with the peculiar vegetable.
“Every time they give me something new, it’s like a challenge,” he said.
“So, I start to discover different recipes and ways to use it and I guess that’s what brought the process to life.”
His favorite way to eat spaghetti squash is to pour pasta sauce over its flesh, then melt cheese on top.
“Lately I’ve been thinking it would be great with a tuna mornay, or maybe a creamy avocado chicken dish,” said Ms. Tucker-Boem.
.
