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Pumpkins - pumpkin varieties and pumpkin recipes
contents
- Giants in the garden
- As a cow feed too bad
- The Hokkaido pumpkin
- Pattisons - The little UFOs
- Advantages and disadvantages of Pattison
- The butternut squash
- Sweet dumpling
- The mandarin pumpkin
Giants in the garden
The American Ron Wallace earned in 2006 a world record. His Atlantic Giant Pumpkin weighed as much as 682 kg. The new strain had been developed by a Canadian named Howard Bill. The usual giants like "Yellow Zentner" or "Big Max" do not even reach this weight.
There are over 800 different pumpkin varieties (Image: Barbara Pheby / fotolia.com) Although the yellow talc is a thick chunk, it rarely shows a weight over 50 kilograms - but in any case more than enough to fill the basement with pumpkin chutney, pickled pumpkin, pumpkin sauces and pumpkin jam. The bowl gives off a beautiful Halloween face, but is also unprocessed for decoration. In yellow orange and with a diameter of half a meter, this monopod draws the eye in every case.
Is her garden big enough? Then you can pull the yellow fruit in medicine ball size yourself. Starting in April, place two seeds in a pot of about ten centimeters in diameter, sprinkle with earth and keep them constant at 20 degrees Celsius. The soil must remain evenly moist. When the plants have formed three leaves, plant the pumpkins in the bed. Without night frost and with plenty of water, they are now growing rapidly.
With a little luck you will reap the thick berries in early autumn (because that's the fruit biologically considered). Cut the crop off with part of the stalk. With the yellow centner, the cutting requires a lot of strength. The best is a machete to cut the pumpkin in pieces, if necessary, it also do the classic chopper or a sturdy kitchen knife.
As a cow feed too bad
The Yellow Centner supplies so much food that our ancestors fed the cows with the pumpkins - this is an underestimated delicacy. Beneath the shell sits the yellow pulp, to which the giant owes his name. In the hard shell is not only soft, but also mild-tasting meat that contains plenty of water. The sweetish tissue is particularly suitable for desserts, pastries and canning. Other fruits give the finishing touch to unique jams - try the combination with raspberries, quinces or cherries. Puree from the Yellow Zentner enhances cake, fits as a filling in fruit bags or as a dip for poultry and beef.
The Hokkaido pumpkin
The Hokkaido pumpkin from the island of the same name in Japan is also called chestnut pumpkin, because its taste is reminiscent of sweet chestnuts. Many people only consume this variety because, in addition to their excellent flavor, it has the advantage that the skin becomes soft enough to eat when cooking.
Commercially common fruits of this variety weigh one to two kilograms. The shell stands out with a bright orange. Pureed, it is a classic soup, but it is also suitable as a casserole, in a vegetable pan or with pasta, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin pie and pumpkin chutney. Hokkaido harmonizes with ginger, coconut and chili. It hardly forms fibers, the meat becomes soft and mild when cooked.
Wash well
Before preparing, please wash it all around and scrub it with a brush. The freshness you recognize when you tap on the fruit. If it sounds hollow, maturity is ideal. Another sign of good maturity is the smooth shell. When stored cool and dry it lasts up to two months.
The Hokkaido variety is very low in calories with 26 kcal per 100 g. It contains comparatively little water, but all the more beta-carotene that the body converts to vitamin A. In addition, vitamins B1, B 2 and B 6, vitamins C and E, folic acid, iron, magnesium and phosphorus are included.
The Pattison is one of the smallest pumpkin. (Image: pawle / fotolia.com) Pattisons - The little UFOs
The Pattison is also called Flying Saucer, Turkenturban, Bishop's Hat, Melon Pumpkin, Sunburst Squash, Button Sqash or Zapallo. It is a small variety. These palm-sized "slices" are among the old varieties from America. Presumably they were cultivated by American Natives. The tots are less common in Germany than their larger relatives from Hokkaido and usually only specialized vegetable shops offer them.
When buying, you should pay a lot of attention: The "UFOs" are so-called summer squashes and only a short time shelf life. Therefore, look carefully, if the fruits are good - even small damages shorten the already low durability. If possible, choose the smallest among the little ones. Here you can cook the bowl and the aroma is stronger. If you have bought these pumpkins, you should save the fruits at 8 to 10 degrees and a humidity of 90 percent.
Advantages and disadvantages of Pattison
The Bischofsmütze is even for a pumpkin very low in calories. 100 grams contain only 13 kcal. In order to lose weight he is well suited, and also avoids the danger of nutrient deficiency, which harbors some radical diets: as few calories Pattisons contain, they are so rich in minerals and vitamins. The button squash offers potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, niacin, iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium in abundance. By the way, these substances do not increase with the tire, but off. That's why younger Pattisons are healthier than older ones.
Another advantage is the "flexibility" of the vegetable marrows. They can be prepared like zucchini. You can use young fruits raw in the salad, but also cook, roast, steam or bake. Pattisons adapt to a variety of vegetables and can be combined with carrots as well as with potatoes, parsnips, turnips, rice, white cabbage, beans or onions. They are also suitable as a side dish to meat and fish. For a decorative sight, hollow out the fruits and then fill them with rice, minced meat or bulgur. You can put in the zapallos, bake them with cheese, stew with onions, tomatoes, peppers and aubergines to a ratatouille and have the advantage of short cooking time compared to large pumpkins. The versatility of the Pattison is at the same time its disadvantage: the melon pumpkins do not have a strong taste of their own.
A sun child
Pattisons are among the warmth fans among the pumpkins. That's why people in the Mediterranean, in the southern states of the US and in Mexico, are building it far more often than in central and northern Europe. If it grows, it forms between 10 and 25 cm large flat round fruits in the shape of a mushroom hat (hence the name flying saucer). Typical are light waves on the edge.
The Pattison is divided again into different varieties: the white White Bush, the greenish Peter Pan, the yellow Sunburst, etc. Presumably he was born of crosses between pumpkins and cucumbers. In the US, it is a so-called "bread pumpkin", so it is eaten frequently.
The butternut squash
They look like pears, taste like butter and can even be eaten raw. Butternut pumpkins are butternut squash, an unusually aromatic group of tank berries. Like the Pattison, the "butternut" is one of the warmth friends among the pumpkins. He comes from the subtropics of Central America and needs a rainforest climate, so not only heat, but also a high humidity - the higher, the better. This can be achieved, for example, by spraying the plant with water several times a day in addition to watering. We prefer harvesting butternuts just before maturity, when the green begins to turn into a creamy brown. The harvest season is here from mid-September. These are winter squashes.
What speaks for this butternut squash? Its flesh breaks down on the tongue "like butter", and it tastes like buttercream with a nuance of crushed nuts. Children, who find some large-size gourds too austere, love the mildness of pear gourd: its pulpy consistency is even suitable for babies.
An all-rounder
Butternut is an all-rounder: we can nibble it raw in pieces as a healthy alternative to chips and other snacks, cut it into slices and fry in olive oil, puree with carrots, potatoes and onions to a soup, fill it and bake it in the oven, bring it along drink different fruit as a smoothie, cut it into a salad as a unique nuance, use the puree for a cake, serve it with noodles or rice, with chicken or fish.
The butternut squash is a true all-rounder and ideal as a snack in between. (Image: pilipphoto / fotolia.com) Sweet dumpling
The sweet dumpling from Mexico is only about a pound. It is not so much a bread pumpkin that serves as a staple, but an aroma squash. The sweet dumplings, the translation, taste like chestnuts. Some say the Sweet Dumpling tastes like sweet chestnuts in honey - and that's meant as a compliment. His flesh is firm, it does not fiber or disintegrate.
Unlike the yellow centner, you do not need a large garden to pull the small dumplings yourself - even a balcony is enough. You can count on four to six pumpkins per plant, with one plant about two square meters in area. Like other pumpkins, Sweet Dumpling needs a nutrient-rich soil, plenty of sun and plenty of water. The humidity, however, must not be as high as in butternut.
Snails love Sweet Dunpling leaves as well as other pumpkins; in large-size gourds, the plants grow quickly into such sizes that the snails are hardly a danger. However, Sweet Dumpling should pay close attention to snail protection in the 100 days it needs to mature. The harvest starts at the end of September.
A sweetie
You do not have to peel the Sweet Dumpling and it is better than other pumpkins for desserts and sweet sauces. For example, it goes very well with venison and beef. But he also enriches ice cream, desserts, biscuits and cake fillings with a unique note.
The mandarin pumpkin
The Mandarin actually resembles a mandarin in shape and size. Its shell is ribbed and shines in orange. With a diameter of about ten centimeters, it is one of the smallest edible pumpkins. It tastes sweet and nutty - some compare its aroma with that of the Hokkaido squash, but this dwarf tastes more intense.
More than just hearty meals, it goes well with fruits: peaches, apples, pears, plums, cherries, quinces and mangos, all of which harmonize well with the "tangerine". Excellent he combines mashed with sweet potatoes. Together with ginger that gives a delicious dip. He also enjoys delicious raw food: it tastes like a sweet fruit. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)