INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Pumpkin is a New World food native to the Americas. American Indians and
Central American peoples have been cultivating and eating pumpkin for
centuries. It is a member of the gourd family, which also includes
muskmelon (cantaloupes), watermelon and squash. Like all gourds, pumpkins
have a hard exterior with many seeds inside. The seeds themselves are
deliciously tasty and are called pepitas in Spanish.
Pumpkin flesh is used in soups and stews around the world, particularly in
the Caribbean and central America. The seeds are roasted and eaten as
snacks, or shelled and ground and used as a thickener for sauce (ie. mole).
The flesh is also cooked in sugar and eaten as a sweet in Guatemala.
Pumpkins are at their best in the fall but store well in a cool dry place.
Many sizes and varieties are available. Choose smooth skinned unblemished
pumpkins that are heavy for their size.
The pumpkin and the squash are members of the same family. The generally
accepted distinction is that pumpkins are larger and orange, but several
pumpkins are colored differently. Also, they can be small, as is the
Jack-be-Little or Jack-be-Quick (smaller and with deeper ribs) or as big as
a famous 400 pound Show King. The sugar pumpkin is preferred for cooking.
Other varieties are Kentucky Field or Large Cheese (pale in color and also
recommended for pies), Etamples, Hundred Weight, Jackpot, Hungarian Mammoth
(skin color variable - from white to dark green, grey, or orange), Jaune
Gros de Paris (pinkish with a russet skin), and Mavis Sweetner (skin
mottled), Connecticut Field (or Big Tom), Triple Treat, Lumina (white
skinned) and Baby Bear. Medium size ones are the Cheyenne, Tricky Jack, and
Bush Hybrid Spirit.
Pumpkin pie was served at the Pilgrims' second Thanksgiving in 1623. The
colonists of early America made pumpkin soup and pumpkin beer and ate the
seeds for snacks. It was such an important item in their diet that a 17th
century rhyme went, "We have pumpkin at morning and pumpkin at noon. If it
were not for pumpkin, we should be undoon."
Pumpkin is a good source of Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A and C and is high in
potassium, iron and calcium. Pumpkin stores well if kept in a cool dry
place - up to 7 months, but only for 1 month in a warm, steamy kitchen. If
you buy pumpkin puree be sure it is not pumpkin pie filling, which is
already spiced.
Information Source: TOO HOT TAMALES with Susan Feniger and Mary Sue
Milliken From the TV FOOD NETWORK - (Show # TH-6294 broadcast 10-30 1996)
Downloaded from their Web-Site - http://www.foodtv.com
Formatted for MasterCook by MR MAD, aka Joe Comiskey - jpmd44a@prodigy.com
10-31-1996
Recipe by: Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken
Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

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