Orange October – Pumpkin as an autumn fitness booster

Autumn time is pumpkin time. Do you also love the vibrant colors of different pumpkins and squashes? From bright orange to yellow, green, and gray: pumpkins come in many colors and shapes. Hardly any other vegetable symbolizes autumn as much as the pumpkin. Many people forget that it can do far more in the kitchen than just be made into soup. Yet pumpkin scores points with healthy ingredients and, depending on the variety, goes well with many other dishes.

Origin and season

The pumpkin is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world and originally comes from Central and South America. There are a fabulous number of varieties, around 850. Zucchini, for example, is also a type of squash. They are divided into summer and winter squashes, although in Germany we mostly know and use winter squashes. It is also divided into ornamental pumpkins, which are inedible, and edible squashes. The most popular in this country is certainly the Hokkaido pumpkin. The peak season for winter squashes is the months of September, October, and November. Although it is now quite common to find Hokkaido pumpkins in supermarkets up until spring. They come in every imaginable size and shape, from round to pear-shaped, smooth-skinned to ribbed, all the way to rough and bumpy outer shells. Size and weight vary from specimens weighing less than one kilogram to giant colossi weighing several hundred kilograms. The colors also cover the entire autumn palette: from the bright orange-red of the Hokkaido to the delicate yellow of the butternut, all the way to shades of green and gray. For pumpkin carving around Halloween, the Ghost Rider and Roter Zentner varieties are best suited.

The pumpkin is rich in healthy ingredients

What makes pumpkin so healthy and an ideal autumn vegetable? Especially in autumn, our body needs important nutrients to boost its immune system against pathogens. Pumpkin, the star of autumn, is a fantastic provider of energy and nutrients. First of all, it consists largely of water (approx. 90 percent), has an exceptionally low fat content, and instead offers a good amount of valuable dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. These include, among others:

• Beta-carotene

• Calcium

• Iron

• Magnesium

• Vitamin B1, B2, B6, C

• Pumpkin seeds contain valuable vitamin E

Pumpkin seeds deserve special attention, as they are used to produce the valuable and healthy pumpkin seed oil.

The most popular edible squashes in Germany

As soon as the days get colder and darker again, you will find the first pumpkins and squashes in supermarkets and weekly markets. Of the many varieties, only a fraction is used in everyday cooking here. Above all, the Hokkaido pumpkin is probably the most famous and certainly the most widely used edible squash. It belongs to the smaller varieties, usually weighing around one to three kilograms. What makes it so attractive as a culinary squash is its mild, slightly nutty flavor, as well as the fact that its skin can be cooked and eaten along with it. You can easily remove the fibrous and seedy center flesh with a large spoon before cutting the firm flesh into pieces or slices. Also well-known and popular is the butternut squash. Here, the name says it all; it tastes mildly buttery. Its shape is elongated to pear-shaped, the skin pale light yellow, and the flesh yellow. Compared to the Hokkaido, it is lower in calories and is also suitable for a wide variety of dishes, ranging from casseroles and salads to risottos. The butternut also tastes superb when fried or prepared as roasted oven vegetables. In theory, you could eat its skin, but it is quite hard and therefore requires a longer cooking time, making it impractical. Therefore, it is better to remove the skin with a vegetable peeler before cooking. Also well-known, but less frequently present in standard supermarkets, are the mostly greenish-yellow nutmeg squash (its taste is reminiscent of the spice of the same name), the spaghetti squash, the Yellow Centner, or the small, slightly sweet-tasting Sweet Dumpling. There really are an exceptional number of edible squashes, of which probably only a fraction is bought and consumed by the general public here.

Autumn recipes with pumpkin

Pumpkin soup made from Hokkaido or butternut squash is certainly cooked the most. Yet pumpkin is an exceptionally versatile vegetable. You can process it into puree, fry it in slices, or use it in a curry or risotto. Very popular in America (and now here as well) is pumpkin pie, a pumpkin cake where butternut squash is usually used for the filling. Another essential ingredient in classic pumpkin pie is pumpkin spice. Traditionally, it consists of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg, bringing a slightly spicy, warm flavor to a dish. Pumpkin spice is also great for refining your morning porridge or rice pudding. In fact, pumpkin can be combined with pretty much any autumn dish. Have you ever tried pizza with pumpkin or given your salad an autumn twist with sauteed pumpkin cubes? You can rarely go wrong with pumpkin as an ingredient. Experiment and check how long the respective pumpkin variety needs to boil, cook, or fry. Often the line between fully cooked and mushy is thin, so it is worth poking the pumpkin now and then to test whether it is done.

Pumpkin in the kitchen: Storage and tips

Winter squash in particular can be stored and preserved whole exceptionally well. Small specimens are best placed in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator. Larger squashes can easily be stored in a cool, dark place for several weeks; a dry, cool basement room is ideal for this. Once you have cut into the squash, you should wrap the leftovers in foil and keep them in the fridge for a maximum of a few days. You should consume these quickly within a few days, or cut them into ready-to-eat pieces or puree them and freeze them. It is best not to wash the squash immediately after purchase, as this destroys its natural protective layer, but rather right before preparing it. The stem of the squash should be intact to prevent bacteria from entering. This way, you will always have a wonderful supply of delicious and healthy squash all winter long, which you can use for many dishes.

The author - Melanie