lunes, 27 de enero de 2020

Pumpkin / Squash Juice

In a Chinese supermarket, I bought a can of a drink—a juice I wasn't familiar with. Since it seemed strange to me, I bought it to try it, given that I like trying different things.
At first glance, I thought it was cucumber juice. I picked up the can, and at the checkout, I asked the cashier if it was indeed cucumber juice, and he told me, "No cucumber, squash juice, not found in Argentina, squash from back home."

Before drinking it, I read everything I could in Spanish; the only large text visible says "Good flavor." The rest of what is printed on the can is in Chinese (incomprehensible to me). Even above "Good flavor," there is something written in Chinese, but in the middle, it has an image of red lips...?

Then I looked at a sticker attached with information in Spanish, which reads Ingredients: "pumpkin juice, water, sugar, and aroma." Aroma? Could it mean flavorings? And below, it says "winter squash species."

I drank it; it tasted like stewed fruit with caramel. Later, I associated it with the squash known in Argentina as cayote (mostly in northern Argentina), although that squash is native to the Americas and not China (as will be seen later, they belong to the same Cucurbitaceae family).

I looked at the can again, and the drawing no longer looked like a cucumber to me. It looked like a green squash; the flower was very similar to a regular, common squash plant, and the stem at the end was the same, but the shape, the green color, the little white dots, and the inside with seeds set it apart from a traditional squash.

Upon re-reading the can, this time the part in English, I first learned that it is not Chinese but Taiwanese—Made in Taiwan—and then the text Winter Gourd Juice Drink, which translates to winter pumpkin/squash juice drink.

Since "winter squash/gourd" is what repeats in both English and Spanish, I went to look it up and found it. It is also known as Chinese squash, white gourd, wax gourd, as well as ash gourd, mao gua, winter melon, hairy melon, fuzzy squash, hairy cucumber, qua chi / moqua / gua moa. Scientifically, the species appears to be Benincasa hispida, of the variety var. Chieh-gua.


References, visited on 01-31-2020
•    https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benincasa_hispida
•    https://elholandespicante.com/ingredientes/mao-gua-o-melon-de-invierno/
•    https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/horticulture/vegetables/commodity-growing-guides/asian-vegetables/a-f/chi-qua-embenincasa-hispida-var.-chieh-guaem

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