Yes, you can... Basically if you have spaces if your hash key, you have to quote it. Hash keys without spaces can be left unquoted (altho I'm not sure how this will turn in Perl6).

$hash{Foo}; #No quotes needed
$hash{Bar}; 
$hash{'Foo Bar'}; #Spaces, so quotes
[download]

Either you just read the wrong books, or you just read wrong.Greetz
Beatnik
... Quidquid perl dictum sit, altum viditur.