Pumpkins (ispired by the Parsnip thread)

[Voy]

They are such an American thing.. other than the zucchini/cucumber types - what ones are you used to cooking/eating

"pumpkin" in Oz and SA
but what about Acorn and Butternut and Hubbard etc?

[happytraveller]

We eat lots of Zuccchettis and Zucchinis, all year around. During autumn/winter I buy quite a lot of pumpkin to make soup out of. My favourite one is the hokkaido pumpkin, it makes the best soup !

[Voy]

gobs - Hubbard and Acorn are very diff.

Acorn is smallish ( cut in half - it's one half = a serving) dark green with an orange splotch - ribbed coming to kind of a point at one end - flesh is orange.
superb cooked face down with a bit of water in the oven, then at the end, turned over and butter and maplesyrup or brown sugar added..
like HT I thought I didn't like sweet vegs until I had that!

[missalaska]

I cook butternut, table queen, gem, baby gem squashes and grew hooligan squash
I grew jack b little, potimarron, and also cook the grey/green skinned pumpkin and muscadel pumpkin.

I bought a posh squash from our veg stall a couple of months ago I thought it was a sweet dumpling - it tasted horrible like mouth burning yukk, I have sweet dumpling seeds so now I'm mighty worried!

[Baz Faz]

I had a wonderful pumpkin dish in a vegetarian restaurant in Chiang Mai. They took thin slices of pumpkin, dipped them in sesame seeds and fried them. Simple - except when I do it the pumpkin ends up as a mush.

[Voy]

I wonder if the old french fry trick of soaking the pumpkin in ice water first might help?

[Voy]

btw - Gobs, after I smuggled some acorn squash back to England for Thanksgiving one year, I then had to import and pass around the seeds - as those who ate them were instant converts!

[mockchoc]

I've never seen an acorn squash or a hubbard squash here. Just googled them.

We normally get Queensland blue (not my favourite), Jap pumkin or butternut pumpkin. Also have zucchini all year round.

[Voy]

and I left out the summer squashes and the yellow crooknecks..

thinking more of the solid flesh ones.

it was the Qland Blue that was my first intro to pumpkin as a veg..

[mockchoc]

I must say I never ever buy that variety now voy and it's becoming less common in shops. Not seen it in a while.

[trentt]

I like butternuts because the flesh-to-cavity ratio is high.

Acorns are great served for two (as voy said, half for each).

Hubbard are great because they peel easily compared to other winter squashes. I've also heard of people using them - cut in half and gutted - as roasters for whole birds such as chicken or pheasant. It sounds like a cool idea.

I like the Turk's turban ones, spaghetti squash, any kind really. All make a great silky soup if prepared properly. I find the ones with darker flesh (orange) have a stronger flavor and are maybe a bit sweeter, but I'll eat any of them.

If I have nothing better to do and feel so inclined, I'll also painstakingly clean, wash, soak, and roast the seeds. Yummy.

[Farsibella]

Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but maybe can you explain which one is which one??

If this is hubbard, we have that here:



But this is the most common one everyone eats pureed or boiled, or baked.



We call it Zapallo Anco.

Zucchinis and zapallitos also:

Zucchini:


Zapallito:

[trentt]

First one looks like a gray pumpkin. Here's a hubbard:


Second one is a butternut.

[Farsibella]

We don't have that in your pic.

[trentt]

When I googled hubbard images, it returned a lot of photos that don't look like that one (some resembled your gray pumpkin), but where I come from a hubbard has that distinctive shape. Some are smooth, some are ridged, some are lumpy. I've never grown one bigger than about 5 kilos, but I've seen humongous hubbards that were probably 12 - 15 kg.

[princessofpenguins]

I love pumpkins! They're great in soups and stews. Yum yum...

[Big Iain]

Trentt... how do you make them into telescopes? hollow out and insert a system of mirrors?

[Voy]

Farsi.. that upright, yellowish one that you call Zapallo is the one we call butternut.

[Farsibella]

All of them are zapallo. It is the generic word. Zapallo, zapallito, zapallo anco, and of course we also call it for the head. Like a big head is a cabeza de zapallo.

[mockchoc]

That hubbard is one ugly looking thing even if it does taste good!

[trentt]

On occasion the first hubbard of the year gives me a scare because they start out so small, and then are disguised by their drab color and the giant foliage of the plant. A few times I've parted leaves looking for fruit and have been frightened witless upon finding one of the giant, ungainly things lurking below.

[Voy]

I love the exhibits at county fairs in the fall - with the ridiculously HUGE pumpkins and squashes... 600 lbs etc.

[trentt]

I've cooked the last spaghetti squash I bought at the farmers' market in October. It will be lunch all week ... with a nice, spicy homemade tomato sauce and garbanzo beans.

[auntieannie]

I just love squash! any I can get my mitts on.

Am planning to stuff whole "cricket ball squashes" and bake the lot one day when I get them with enough notice time to prepare and cook them.

[mockchoc]

I forgot about spaghetti squash trentt. Haven't seen them for sale in ages but I loved how when you use a fork it really does come out in spagetti like strings.

[trentt]

I had my first taste during lunch a couple hours ago. It was delicious. I hope to succeed in growing some this year.

[mockchoc]

It's really good if you are watching your weight/refined carbs due/want to be eating more veg etc.

Great for a change to pasta! I should chase it up.