The Not-So-Humble Pumpkin

The pumpkin is an autumn staple in many countries. Pumpkin pie is mandatory at Thanksgiving in the United States , the Italians make it into sweet and sour dishes and risottos, and in Mexico , a certain variety is cooked with local brown sugar for breakfast. The French like it in soups, gratin dishes, tarts and in bread, whilst in Argentina meat is often cooked in hollowed-out pumpkins for a thick, hearty stew. New Zealanders regard the pumpkin as highly as the Irish regard the potato while in India , a popular variety called Kaddoo, or West Indian pumpkin, makes it into braises and curries. In the Middle East , pumpkin is routinely stuffed with meat, rice and spices, and made into soups and preserves. It seems it’s only the British that fail to see the merits of the pumpkin as a foodstuff.

Pumpkin flesh is high in fibre and beta-carotene and the seeds are at least as nutritious. Full of zinc and essential fatty acids, these dark green slivers are great roasted with oil, seasoning and spices. In Mexico , ground pumpkin seeds, or pepitas, have been used for thousands of years as a way of thickening and flavouring dishes. In Austria , a rare species of pumpkin, grown only in the Styria region, has skinless seeds that are made into pumpkin seed oil, renowned the world over for its sweet, nutty flavour. This dark green oil is particularly good in a vinaigrette made with cider vinegar, drizzled on salads and made into a pesto, using pumpkin seeds in place of the traditional pine nuts.

The great thing about pumpkins is that one type can easily be replaced with another in the kitchen. Look out for the following types, which taste great in all sorts of different recipes!

• Baby Bear – a very good cooking variety. Sweet and firm-fleshed, these user-friendly small      fruit can be baked stuffed with cheese and cream for a single serving. Highly versatile, their pulp is good for both savoury and sweet dishes.
  

• Crown Prince – steel blue-grey with a golden interior. Keeps well and holds its shape. Ideal for roasting and for vegetarian kebabs.
  

• Delicata – small and white with green stripes and pale yellow flesh tasting of sweet potato. Keeps well and has a distinctive nutty flavour. Cooks to a dry texture and is good combined with cream and plenty of seasoning.
  

• Onion squash – bright orange and onion-shaped with soft flesh that is best used in soups or risottos. Only keeps for a few weeks.
  

• Small Sugar – medium-sized fruit with sweet, bright orange flesh. Its high sugar content means it caramelises beautifully when roasted and is a superb pie-filler.
  

• Sweet Dumpling – small and very attractive densely-fleshed white and green squash. Sweet, almost chestnutty taste when cooked.
  

• Sweet Mama – another highly ornamental orange fruit perfect for a single serving. Cut off a ‘lid’ and bake whole.