Making the most of Pumpkins

Much like Easter eggs and mince pies, pumpkins only come to people’s minds once a year as eerie, sinister-looking lanterns, synonymous with that most mischievous of festivities, Halloween.

Originally an ancient festival rooted in Celtic lore, Halloween was first celebrated by the British and Irish who lit bonfires and carved ghoulish faces out of turnips to scare off the malevolent spirits that were said to be roaming on 31 October. When the Irish emigrated to America in the mid-1800s, pumpkins, which are native to the New World, were more readily available, so the Irish took to carving these extraordinary species instead. The Americans made the Jack O’Lantern an essential part of the Halloween season we now look forward to - or dread - each year.

Cooking pumpkins
Although the British have been quick to take up trick-or-treating at Halloween, we seem more reluctant to see the pumpkin’s redeeming culinary features. This hard-skinned, densely-fleshed fruit (strictly speaking a berry), has a wonderful earthy taste but its magic lies in its ability to take on whatever flavours you throw at it.

Roasting the cubed flesh makes for a satisfying supper as does filling pasta with the richly flavoured pulp. The sweeter varieties are perfect pie-fillers and most can be made into hearty soups. Warm spices have a particular affinity with pumpkin, particularly cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Herbs such as sage and rosemary also make great marriages.

Buying pumpkins
When we say pumpkins, we’re not just referring to the oversized specimens that sit grinning at the greengrocer’s. Their watery flesh, what little there is, makes them bland and uninteresting in the flavour stakes, deeming them fit only for a carving fest. For cooking, look out for smaller pumpkins and other winter squashes, such as the bright orange onion squash.

Pumpkin nations
The pumpkin is an autumn staple in many countries. Pumpkin pie is mandatory at Thanksgiving in the United States, for instance. 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.

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.

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.

Pumpkin varieties
As well as farmers’ markets and some supermarkets, good-quality pumpkins can be bought at Asian and Caribbean greengrocers. Choose pumpkins that feel firm and dense and store them in a dry place. Check frequently for soft patches.

The great thing about pumpkins is that one type can easily be replaced with another in the kitchen. Look out for the following types.

• 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.

Pumpkin recipes

Pumpkin Risotto with Crispy Sage