Writing about food: Laurie Colwin does not care for pumpkins [View all]

[betsuni]

From "More Home Cooking":

"I don't mind admitting that I have never liked pumpkin. I hate pumpkin pie and am lukewarm about pumpkin soup. I once had an unhappy encounter with a stew served in a pumpkin. It did not further endear pumpkin to me. I have bought cheese pumpkins as well as 'pie' and 'sweetie pie' pumpkins. These are pale orange, dense fleshed, not a bit stringy, and not to be used for jack-o'-lanterns. I have steamed them and baked them and fried them. I have dotted them with butter and brown sugar and scattered them with garlic and cheese, and I still say it's pumpkin and to hell with it.

"Children, however, seem to require something pumpkinlike on the table at Halloween even if they don't eat it. For them I recommend butternut or acorn squash split, seeded, and baked with butter and brown sugar. The seeds, of course, go into a colander with the seeds from the jack-o'-lantern to be endlessly washed and separated from any pumpkin or squash sludge, then drained, salted, and roasted. When you serve these before or after dinner, even adults will tell you how delicious they are."