BUTTERNUT - It has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. It has tan-yellow skin and orange fleshy pulp with a compartment of seeds in the blossom end. When ripe, it turns increasingly deep orange, and becomes sweeter and richer.
GREY - hard skinned blue-grey pumpkin with a full-flavoured, deep orange flesh. From silky pumpkin soups, creamy pumpkin risottos, sweet pumpkin pies and scones, to the soft, caramelised baked pumpkin alongside the traditional Sunday roast, there could be no more comforting winter vegetable.
SQUASH - The thick, dense, flesh is light orange when ripe and surrounds a large cavity containing stringy pulp and many large, flat, cream-colored seeds. When cooked, Pumpkin squash is tender and offers a mild taste with sweet and nutty flavors.
Preparation and serving methods:
Some hybrid varieties are usually subjected to insecticide powder or spray. Therefore, wash them thoroughly in running water in order to remove dirt, soil and any residual insecticides/fungicides or better yet purchase only ORGANIC.
Cut the stem end and slice the whole fruit into two equal halves. Remove central net like structure and set aside seeds. Then cut the flesh into desired sizes. In general, small cubes are preferred in cooking preparations. Almost all the parts of the pumpkin plant; fruit, leaves, flowers and seeds, are edible.
Pumpkin can be used in variety of delicious recipes either baked, stew- fried; however, it is eaten best after steam-cooking in order to get maximum nutrients. In China, young tender, pumpkin leaves consumed as cooked greens or in soups.
In the Indian subcontinent where it is popular as "kaddu or sitaphal", pumpkin is used in the preparation of "sabzee", sweet dishes (halwa), desserts, soups, curries,...etc.
The fruit is used in the preparations of pies, pancakes, custard, ravioli...etc in Europe and USA.
Golden nugget pumpkins are used to make wonderful soufflés, stuffing, soups...etc.
Roasted Pumpkin seeds (Pepita) can be eaten as snacks.
The Amore Food shop supplies over 1200 wholefoods incl. fresh org & SF produce around NZ. Kelly likes to help people on their road to health & share the benefits of eating REAL whole foods as well as info she has researched over the past 12+ years. The Amore Food Cafe offers REAL FOOD made with love. The Amore Wellness Clinic is where Aaron offers biofeedback scans & much more!
