Boganga

The plant known here by the names boganga, bogangueira and abóbora de Tenerife is Curcubita ficifolia, a native of China. Its fruits (bogangas) are used for soup and to make the preserve known as chila (sweet made from gourd seed filaments), which uses only the filaments or funicles of fully ripe seeds.

The plant known in Portugal as moganga is, according to Brotero, a variety of Cucurbita pepo, a species represented in Madeira by the squash plant that produces the abóbora machado (a local squash, Cucurbita pepo); it is therefore a mistake to give that name to the Madeiran boganga. The latter, according to Mr Pereira Coutinho, is called chila caioto or abóbora chila in Portugal.

The weak white wine produced on the north coast of the island is known as bogangueira.