Buto Ng Kalabasa

FILIPINO SEED SNACKS

SQUASH / PUMPKIN SEEDS

Outside the Philippines, pumpkin seeds have become a common snack food and are even sold already shelled. Filipinos refer to them as buto ng kalabasa although the calabaza squash is a different variety of gourd from the American pumpkin.

The kalabasa popularly grown in the Philippines is Cucurbita moschata, a species that likely originated in Central America and was brought over to the islands during the Spanish colonial period. The pumpkin more commonly seen in the United States is the species known as Cucurbita pepo.

The shape of squash seeds, particularly those of larger sizes, makes them ideal to be fed into a mechanical seed dehuller. That is why squash seeds are not infrequently sold already shelled. The only other seasoning usually added to buto ng kalabasa during processing is plain salt.