Meet the Tasty Maine Squash Stars of Our Virtual Wine Dinner

Want to support our local economy, eat like a locavore, and enjoy a sumptuous, seasonal Maine dinner — all without leaving your home? Join us for our Maine Squash Virtual Wine Dinner on Sunday, November 8.

We're collaborating with four talented Portland chefs to craft the perfect wine and food pairings featuring squash grown by local farmers. This autumn delicacy comes in flavorful varieties, each with unique qualities that will bring out the best in our specially curated wine selections. Our chefs have dreamed up luxurious dishes that take Maine squash to delicious new heights guaranteed to delight your palate and amaze you with their creativity.

Tempted? We'll deliver the food and wine to your Greater Portland doorstep in plenty of time for you to join us online for the dinner's first course at 6:00 p.m. Live outside Greater Portland? Contact us for curbside pickup.

Musquee de Provence

Kabocha

Acclaimed Chef Damian Sansonetti of Chaval, describes the fresh Maine squash varieties we'll highlight:

Kabocha — A Japanese variety of winter squash, Kabocha has beautiful thick, green skin and beneath that lies sweet flavor and healthful benefits. The squash is a drier type and can store well, which results in meat that's very versatile. Great for roasting in pieces and chunks, it holds its shape and is ideal for soups, curries, pies, and purées. The flavor is reminiscent of sweet potato and herbal chestnut. It’s high in Beta Carotene and has natural sweetness so you don’t need to add more sugar to it in some recipes. It can be used in most dishes that call for pumpkin.

Honeynut — A cultivar bred from butternut and butterscotch squash, chefs choose it for its rich and sweet yet complex flavor and a smaller - almost individual - serving size when halved. It offers long storage life (about three months), so it's a practical choice for your fall pantry. This smaller varietal can be grown in smaller fields and planting areas, giving gardeners a flexible option. With many applications, it's great in pies, soups, or just roasting in half and eating! If you like butternut or butterscotch squash, you’ll love honeynut.

Musquee de Provence — An Heirloom variety that originates from southern France, Musquee de Provence has a “vintage” pumpkin look to it, with orange-rust to blue-green skin on the outside and smooth but deeply ribbed sections. It changes color a bit as it ripens, earning the nicknames Fairytale Pumpkin or Cinderella Squash, and it stores well. This squash grows large, averaging about 15 pounds, and has a brighter flesh color reminiscent of cantaloupe. With good moisture content, it's a fine-grained squash that is tender and lightly sweet with a touch of spice. Try it in pies, purées, roasted in slices, or simply sliced thin and eaten marinated/raw.

Delicata — A great fall/winter cylindrical squash in a yellow cream-colored skin with green/orange stripes, this one's easy to love. It's one of the few squashes where the skin is tender and edible when cooked. With several healthful benefits, it boasts a super creamy flavor and texture when roasted and offers many applications - both hot and cold - once cooked. It comes in a variety of sizes and makes a great squash for those new to cooking with these tasty (and versatile!) gems.

See the dishes chefs Jordan Rubin, Chris Gould, Damian Sansonetti, and Ilma Lopez are creating for this Sunday’s Maine Squash Virtual Wine Dinner. Get tickets and join us for an incredible meal, online, with these four chefs.

Honeynut

Delicata