Remember Peter the pumpkin eater? He kept his wife in a pumpkin shell. And, the story goes, she did pretty darn well.
But the nursery rhyme forgets to mention that, while in the shell, she feasted on a bucket of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, dancing in whipped cream – pumpkin’s significant others.
When I said I’d write about Thanksgiving’s second most popular icon, I was certain I’d be waxing about under-appreciated pumpkin applications. After all, this beta-carotene-loaded wonder has found its way into recipes for everything from pumpkin beer to ravioli.
Imagine what the peace-pipe-smoking pilgrims would say if they could flash forward 500 years? The world would be savoring risotto, curried stews and gnocchi, all crafted from the flesh of the humble pumpkin.
That’s before I read that pilgrims were actually eating squash, a close relative, but not the stuff of pumpkin-chucking contests. Historians say they could have sweetened the squash with honey or syrup and roasted the treat over an open fire. The same historians are divided over whether there were actual turkeys at Plymouth Rock. Most agree, however, that there were no green bean casseroles at that first communal Thanksgiving.
Back to pumpkin.
Turns out, the Native Americans were a lot smarter than the pilgrims. They cut pumpkin into strips, then dried it to weave into mats. That should have been a warning to people like me who think all things nurtured from seed in the garden must be eaten, no matter the pain.
Speaking of seeds, it was the Native Americans who got that right, too, drying pumpkin seeds for snacks. (Centuries later, man added salt because he knew that convenience stores couldn’t sell them bare and naked.)
Pumpkins can grow just about anywhere there’s heat and water, even in La Plata County, which has a growing season too short to create the behemoth varieties typically featured at Circleville, Ohio’s annual pumpkin festival. That granddaddy of festivals – since 1903 – has been dubbed the “Greatest Free Show on Earth,” recently featuring a 1,964 pound pumpkin.
Besides the weigh-in, the free, four-day event has offered high-wire acts, known UFO sightings, cloggers, crafts, the Ohio State marching band, food and even a prettiest pumpkin contest. But no pumpkin beer – 400,000 people attend the annual celebration, despite the absence of beer.
Pumpkin is not a popular food, even though it is easy to grow and abundant during the fall and winter, Durango registered dietitian Rosine Stout said. Most pumpkin that goes into Thanksgiving desserts starts with canned, pureed pumpkin.
“Pumpkin has an odd, strong flavor. You don’t see people cutting up a pumpkin like they would butternut or acorn squash,” Stout said.
“Pumpkin turnovers, cheesecake, bread …” Stout rattled off recipes that share a need for sugar and spice – if they are to turn out nice.
“(It has) great fiber, though, and pumpkin is low in fat and calories,” the specialist in adult weight-management said.
While there is arguably little difference in flavor between fresh pumpkin and that which comes from a can, don’t expect a familiar, deep-orange color. The pulp from fresh pumpkin is yellowish-orange. All pumpkins are about 90 percent water. Small sugar pumpkins, the variety more often used for pies, have the same potential to make a mess of the kitchen, however, given their stringy, slimy centers, which are loaded with seeds.
“Cutting up a pumpkin? Try a sharp chef’s knife,” said Shared Harvest manager and personal chef Karen Esser. When struck strategically with a mallet, a hard-shelled squash such as a pumpkin can be sectioned with a tap and a crack.
Esser is a fan of roasting split pumpkin in the oven on an aluminum-foil-lined cookie sheet, rather than peeling, cubing and boiling it. She substitutes pumpkin for winter squash in savory recipes for soups, pasta and lasagna, reserving the seeds as a nutritious snack.
A pumpkin or winter squash lasagna in béchamel sauce with ricotta and mozzarella has become a favorite of her clients.
“Everyone is ordering it,” she said.
She also recommends that pumpkin be placed in a microwave for about 5 minutes to soften the tough skin before peeling and cubing it for pan-roasting in savory spices.
A search of recipes on the Internet revealed no shortage of uses for pumpkin: pumpkin grilled cheese sandwiches, creamy pumpkin pasta and even pumpkin pie martinis.
Any recipe featuring less than three tablespoons of puree doesn’t really count. Who would crack open a can, never mind grabbing a knife, for three tablespoons of anything?
In the same category are all the artful but less nutritious uses for the vessel itself, such as the wildly popular roasted cheese pumpkin. It features smoked gruyere, chardonnay, thyme and heavy cream, nestled in a hollowed-out pumpkin shell – what’s not to like?
Perhaps poor Peter the pumpkin eater might have been better able to keep his wife if he served her some of that.
Happy Thanksgiving.