you're right, it is in the squash/pumpkin family, often used in soup

or maybe you could really be poetic and use something like a pumpkin with a chestnut aroma... in any case, I have seen them in local markets and it is closest to what we'd call a pumpkin

also, see:Velouté de Potimarron is a soup made from potimarron, a variety of pumpkin with a light chestnut flavor. We had this at Le Garden, in the center of Orange.

http://www.beyond.fr/food/d_potimarron.html

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Note added at 2002-05-06 15:31:37 (GMT)
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just for fun see:
http://www.beyond.fr/food/dictionary.html

Potimarron are originally from Japan. If you wanted a more descriptive name you could say chestnut winter squash.

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Note added at 2002-05-06 18:37:27 (GMT)
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also,I\'ve seen orange ones on sale here in Virginia under the name Kabocha

We (or more accurately my wife) grow them (UK) and call them squashes. I presume the winter bit comes in because they keep over the winter. They're delicious!

from http://www.toutalim.com/aliments2.htm

"le potimarron, aussi appelé Red Kuri ou Potiron doux d'Hokkaido"

for a description in English of the Red Kuri see http://shop.store.yahoo.com/seedsofchange/squashredkuri.html
for a picture see http://www.eagle.ca/~akeenan/red_kuri_squash.html

I have not seen a picture of the 'potimarron', but it is not uncommon to name squash after nuts. The Japanese 'acorn squash' is a case in point.

Yes, leave it as potimarron, but add the English name, so the English speaker can pronounce it, if he does not know French.

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Note added at 2002-05-06 23:11:56 (GMT)
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Or potimarron (orange Hokkaido squash), if they are truly one and the same.

Hokkaido is the northern most island of Japan. Based on the discussion thus far, however, I fear they are not the same.

In menus, I have often seen it left as winter sqash, hence losing on the actual particularities of this winter squash.

So, having so little idea as to what you want it for, I can not help you in deciding whether to give it its full title or simply its family roots.

The grand dictionnaire terminologique "potiron doux d'Hokkaido" (sweet Hokkaido sqash, but I guess the animal feed version is either lost or never spoken of, so this is often dropped).

Good luck, and by the way, it tastes very nice if you fancy giving it a try. ;)

Corinne