A Short Word About Pumpkins

Now that we have all eaten our weight in constructed starches and savory desserts, the nerd in me wanted to look into the nuts and bolts of pumpkins… the very thing most of us are still digesting.  

Pumpkins are part of the Curcurbita pepo family, a group of North American Squash that includes acorn squash, zucchini, and spaghetti squash.  Having typically a thick shell, pumpkins are creased from stem to the bottom and contain seeds and pulp.  “Squash” comes from a Narragansett Indian word meaning “a green thing eaten raw.”

Pumpkins and squash comes in three distinct flavor types fall into the genre of sweet, starchy nutritious “winter” squash which are harvested fully mature and keep for months.  When cooked, winter squashes develop a consistency and flavor something like those of a sweet potato.

All are native to warm climates and hate being too cold.  First domesticated in 5,000 BCE, pumpkin is now grown on every continent for human and animal feed purposes, with the exception of Antarctica.  In America, more than 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins are produced every year.  Illinois, Indiana, California, Ohio and Pennsylvania being the nation’s “pumpkin hot beds.”  Nestle, operating under the homey brand Libby’s makes 85% of the processed pumpkin in the United States alone.

However you eat it, pumpkin is a killer source of beta-carotene and Carotenoids.  Carotenoids (also found in other orange and yellow produce such as carrots, persimmons, apricots, and oranges) are great for our eyes, protecting the delicate optical cells.

When cooked, stewed, or pureed, moderately sweet pumpkins can morph into a savory or sweet dish.  Like gourds, in ancient times, the edible shell of pumpkin motivated early Native American cooks to fill their cavities with sweet or savory liquids, then baked, and eaten.

Plan to store pumpkins a while longer for decoration? Store in a dry, cool place.  Pumpkins don’t like to be colder than 55’F.

— Adapted from FarmTrails.org, Wikipedia, and Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking

 

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