Smashing Pumpkins

Smashing Pumpkins

This Halloween the candle-lit eyes of pumpkins will flicker outside homes across the country. And, three weeks from now, pumpkin pies will be served in American homes, completing traditional Thanksgiving meals.

Plump orange pumpkins are familiar to us all, but there are many pumpkin facts, uses, and traditions from around the world that are less widely known, and here we will investigate some of these.

What Is A Pumpkin?

Pumpkins are members of the cucumber family (or Cucurbitaceae: also known as the cucurbits). Cucurbits include squashes, cucumbers, courgettes, marrows, patty-pans, melons, loofahs, and gourds – and all of these are fruits despite many of them being sold as vegetables.

Did You Know? Botanically speaking, pumpkins and their cousins are a special type of berry known as a pepo!

Cucurbits Facts.

Most cucurbits are scrambling or trailing vines with heart or hand-shaped leaves, and each plant usually carries separately both male (pollen producing) and female (fruit bearing) flowers.

Members of the cucumber family grow wild in many countries around the globe, but not in those of colder regions. The wild species, including the ancestors of the cultivated forms, have small, bitter fruits. Only the domesticated varieties bear large edible fruits.

Did You Know? The only cucurbit native to Britain is white bryony, a climbing vine found scrambling through our hedgerows.

Cultivation of pumpkins and squashes has created a diversity of forms. Pumpkins and squashes can be green, white, blue-grey, yellow, orange or red – or a mixture of any of these colours. Their shapes are equally diverse, including spherical, pear-shaped, elongated or flattened. Their skins can be ribbed, smooth, wrinkled or warty.

The hundreds of cultivars of pumpkins and squashes are all cousins – it is difficult to differentiate between a pumpkin and a squash. Pumpkins, squashes, gourds, marrows, courgettes and butternuts all belong to a single genus (a closely related group): the Cucurbita.

The diverse forms available have all been bred from just five species belonging to this genus: Cucurbita ficifolia (Malabar gourd), C. maxima, (autumn and winter squashes and the giant pumpkin) C. mixta (Cushaw pumpkin), C. moschata (butternut squashes) and C. pepo (summer and autumn pumpkins and the marrow).

Where Did Pumpkins Originate?

Pumpkins and squashes originate in Central and North America. In North America, American Indians cultivated pumpkins long before the first Europeans arrived. The earliest archaeological evidence of pumpkin cultivation comes from Mexico and dates to around 7,000 years before the present day. The name ‘squash’ is an adapted version of the Massachusetts Native American name ‘askutasquash‘ – meaning ‘eaten raw’.

Early Spanish and Portuguese explorers first took pumpkin seeds back to Europe in the late 15th century. The pumpkin was introduced to England in the 16th century.

Pumpkins around the world.

An American custom, now popular here, is the association of pumpkins with Halloween. The making of pumpkin lanterns at Halloween is based on ancient Celtic traditions brought to America by Irish immigrants.

October 31st, All Hallows Eve, marked the end of the Celtic calendar year. On that night hollowed-out turnips (swedes) and beets with a light inside would be placed on windowsills and porches to welcome home the visiting spirits of dead ancestors and ward off evil ones. Pumpkins proved far easier to carve than turnips and soon became the go-to vegetable for Jack-o’-lanterns.

The pumpkin is also valued for eating in the U.S. where pumpkin pie is served as Thanksgiving dessert. The original ‘pumpkin pie’ of the Pilgrim Fathers was a pumpkin custard flavoured with maple syrup and spices , baked and served in empty pumpkin shells.

Healthy Eating: Pumpkins and squashes make healthy eating. Pumpkins consist of 90% water and are low in fat and calories, they are rich in vitamins A, B2, C and E.

In Spain and Mexico, pumpkin seeds when roasted, fried or salted are a popular snack. Pumpkin seeds are rich in protein (35%) and unsaturated fats (50%), they are also a good source of vitamins and trace elements. These nutritious seeds have a strong nutty flavour.

In Switzerland pumpkin seeds are used to flavour chocolate and in the north of the country they are used to coat and flavour sausages and other meat products.

The oil extracted from pumpkin seeds is dark and strongly flavoured: it is mainly used for dressing salads. The cultivation of pumpkins for oil extraction is largely restricted to Central Europe.

On the Balearic Islands of Majorca and Menorca a local speciality ‘ensaimada’ – a big pastry wheel – can be bought plain or filled with ‘angel hair’ (cabello de angel) jam. Cabello de angel is made from candied strands of pumpkin, and it can also be eaten on its own.

The Cypriots use red pumpkin as a filling in a sweet pastry known as ‘kolokotes’.

The Italians use pumpkins in risottos, gnocchi and as a ravioli filling. However, as well as eating the fruits they also enjoy the large yellow flowers dipped in batter and fried.

To learn more about edible flowers watch or webinar:

https://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/event/incredible-edible-flowers/

In France pumpkins are used in soups and stews. Tian de Courgues is a classic Provençal dish made from pumpkin. To learn how to cook this rustic dish:

https://pestoandpistou.com/2015/11/03/pumpkin-tian/

In the Republic of China pumpkins are mainly grown and eaten in the south. In Guangdong province the savoury rice porridge ‘congee’ often has pumpkin added to it.

In Japan pumpkin is made into ‘kampayo’ – where strips of dried and peeled pumpkin are seasoned with soy sauce. Kampayo is a popular addition to sushi. It is also used in some Buddhist ceremonial dishes.

In Australia, roast butternut squash is a part of typical family roast meal, where the skinned squash is cooked in the same dish as the meat. A traditional Australian Easter roast dinner always includes pumpkin.

Pumpkins As Medicine.

Since ancient times people have used the plants around them as nature’s pharmacy.

Pumpkins and squashes have been used by different cultures to treat a range of complaints ranging from the trivial (freckles) to the serious (diabetes and snakebites).

In Chinese traditional medicine pumpkins were credited with chasing away ‘pathogenic wind’, for relieving pain and detoxifying the sick.

More recently, medical scientists have been investigating chemicals isolated from the pumpkin for their potential as drug treatments for diabetes and HIV infection.

Pumpkins In Fiction.

Pumpkins have been celebrated in children’s literature. Edward Lear’s imagined early pumpkins blowing on the coast of Coromandel, in ‘The courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo’. However, the most famous literary pumpkin must be that in Cinderella, the fairy tale first collected by Charles Perrault. And pumpkin juice is a popular beverage in the wizarding world of J. K. Rowling.

Odd Pumpkin Facts And Feats!

The world famous Guinness Book of World Record Holders recognises a variety of pumpkin related records. Given the importance of the pumpkin in American popular culture it is not surprising that Americans hold many of these records. Five pumpkin world records for you to beat are:

1) The world record for pumpkin carving is 16 minutes 47 seconds – set by Stephen Clarke (USA) in 2013. [One pumpkin?]

2) Fastest time to carve a ton (1,016 kg) of pumpkins – 3 hours 33 minutes 49 seconds – set by Stephen Clarke (USA) in 2008.

3) The world’s heaviest pumpkin lantern was carved from a pumpkin that weighed 1,065 kg grown by Travis Gienger (USA).

4) The most lit jack-o’-lanterns on display numbered 30,581 at the City of Keene, New Hampshire, in 2013.

5) The world’s heaviest pumpkin weighed 1,190.49 kg and was grown by Mathias Willemijns (Belgium), in 2016. However, this record may soon be updated as an Italian farmer, Stefano Cutrupi, recently won Italy’s pumpkin championship with a monster weighing 1,226kg!

To explore more amazing world records, visit:

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/

It is too late to grow your own pumpkins for this year. But it is the perfect time to start planning what vegetables to grow next year. If you fancy growing your own monster pumpkin next year, then visit:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/pumpkins/grow-your-own

In Conclusion:

This Halloween when you are selecting a pumpkin to carve into a jack-o’-lantern perhaps you’ll be tempted to buy another for your plate. Although edible, the familiar orange pumpkin is not a contender when it comes to first-rate eating – so instead, why not try a patty-pan, a spaghetti squash, pie star or butternut for cooking?

I hope you have enjoyed investigating this BOO-tanical marvel with us. And if you have grown your own pumpkin this year, or if you have carved your own jack-o-lantern why not send us a photograph?

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