It is that time of year. Time for natural pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colors. Time for carved pumpkins with wild faces and Halloween messages, lit by candles. Time for decorative pumpkins — sometimes hand-painted or sprinkled with glitter — flanked by scarecrows and black cats. All are on front porches or steps. It’s also time for pumpkin drinks — pumpkin pie milkshakes and martinis, pumpkin apple sangria, pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin spice hot chocolate. Plus there is the food that looks like pumpkins — cupcakes, cookies, cakes, mandarin oranges with a bit of celery for stems, etc. And the food that has pumpkin in it — pumpkin pie, toasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie dip, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin ice cream, etc. You get the picture. We really should eat it more than one or two months a year. It’s high in potassium, vitamin C and fiber. I salute the mighty pumpkin!
According to Wikipedia, a pumpkin is a cultivar of winter squash that is round with smooth, slightly ribbed skin and is most often deep yellow to orange in coloration. The thick shell contains the seeds and pulp. The name most commonly used for cultivars is Cucurbita pepo.
Native to North America — northeastern Mexico and the southern United States, pumpkins are one of the oldest domesticated plants, having been used as early as 7,500 to 5,000 B.C. Pumpkins are widely grown for commercial use and as food, aesthetics and recreational purposes. Pumpkin pie, for instance, is a traditional part of Thanksgiving meals in Canada and the United States, and pumpkins are frequently carved as jack-o’-lanterns for decoration around Halloween, although commercially canned pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie fillings are usually made from different kinds of winter squash than the ones used for jack-o'-lanterns.
Etymology
The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon which is Greek for "large melon," something round and large. The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and to the later American colonists became known as pumpkin.
The oldest evidence were pumpkin fragments dated between 7,000 and 5,500 B.C. found in Mexico. Pumpkin fruits are a type of botanical berry known as a pepo. Traditional C. pepo pumpkins generally weigh between six and 18 lbs, though the largest cultivars regularly reach weights of over 75 lbs. The color of pumpkins derives from orange carotnoid pigments, including beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha and beta carotene, all of which are provitamin A compounds converted to vitamin A in the body.
Taxonomy
Circa 2005, white pumpkins had become increasingly popular in the United States. Other colors, including dark green — as with some oilseed pumpkins — also exist.
Production
In 2017, world production of pumpkins — including squash and gourds — was 27 million tons, with China and India accounting for 47% of the total. Russia, Ukraine and the United States each produced about one million tons.
U.S. production
As one of the most popular crops in the United States, in 2017 over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins were produced. The top pumpkin-producing states include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California.
According to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, 95% of the U.S. crop intended for processing is grown in Illinois. Nestlé — operating under the brand name Libby’s — produces 85% of the processed pumpkin in the United States at its plant in Morton, Illinois. In the fall of 2009, rain in Illinois devastated the Nestlé crop — which combined with a relatively weak 2008 crop — depleted that year's reserves resulting in a shortage affecting the entire country during the Thanksgiving holiday season. Another shortage, somewhat less severe, affected the 2015 crop. The pumpkin crop grown in the western United States — which constitutes approximately 3-4% of the national crop — is primarily for the organic market.
Pumpkins are a warm-weather crop that is usually planted in early July. The specific conditions necessary for growing pumpkins require that soil temperatures 3 inches deep are at least 60 °F and that the soil holds water well. Pumpkin crops may suffer if there is a lack of water or because of cold temperatures — below 65 °F. Soil that is sandy with poor water retention or poorly drained soils that become waterlogged after heavy rain are both detrimental. Pumpkins are, however, rather hardy, and even if many leaves and portions of the vine are removed or damaged, the plant can very quickly regrow secondary vines to replace what was removed.
Pumpkins produce both a male and female flower; they must be fertilized, usually by bees. Pumpkins have historically been pollinated by the native squash bee, but this bee has declined, probably at least in part to pesticide sensitivity. Ground-based bees such as squash bees and the eastern bumblebee are better suited to handle the larger pollen particles that pumpkins create, but today most commercial plantings are pollinated by hives of honeybees, which also allows the production and sale of honey that the bees produce from the pumpkin pollen. One hive per acre is recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If there are inadequate bees for pollination, gardeners often have to hand pollinate. Inadequately pollinated pumpkins usually start growing but abort before full development.
Cooking
Pumpkins are very versatile in their uses for cooking. Most parts of the pumpkin are edible, including the fleshy shell, the seeds, the leaves and even the flowers. In the United States and Canada, pumpkin is a popular Halloween and Thanksgiving staple. Pumpkin purée is sometimes prepared and frozen for later use.
When ripe, the pumpkin can be boiled, steamed, or roasted. In its native North America, pumpkins are a very important, traditional part of the autumn harvest, eaten mashed and making its way into soups and purées. Often, it is made into pumpkin pie, various kinds of which are a traditional staple of the Canadian and American Thanksgiving holidays. In Canada, Mexico, the United States, Europe and China, the seeds are often roasted and eaten as a snack.
Pumpkins that are still small and green may be eaten in the same way as summer squash or zucchini. In the Middle East, pumpkin is used for sweet dishes; a well-known sweet delicacy is called halawa yaqtin. In the Indian subcontinent, pumpkin is cooked with butter, sugar and spices in a dish called kadu ka halwa. Pumpkin is used to make samber in Udupi cuisine. In Guangxi province, China, the leaves of the pumpkin plant are consumed as a cooked vegetable or in soups.
In Australia and New Zealand, pumpkin is often roasted in conjunction with other vegetables. In Japan, small pumpkins are served in savory dishes, including tempura. In Myanmar, pumpkins are used in both cooking and desserts (candied). The seeds are a popular sunflower seed substitute. In Thailand, small pumpkins are steamed with custard inside and served as a dessert. In Vietnam, pumpkins are commonly cooked in soups with pork or shrimp. In Italy, it can be used with cheeses as a savory stuffing for ravioli. Also, pumpkin can be used to flavor both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. In the southwestern United States and Mexico, pumpkin and squash flowers are a popular and widely available food item. They may be used to garnish dishes, and they may be dredged in a batter then fried in oil.
Pumpkin leaves
Pumpkin leaves are a popular vegetable in the Western and central regions of Kenya; they are called seveve, and are an ingredient of mukimo, respectively, whereas the pumpkin itself is usually boiled or steamed. The seeds are popular with children who roast them on a pan before eating them. Pumpkin leaves are also eaten in Zambia, where they are called chibwabwa and are boiled and cooked with groundnut paste as a side dish. Pumpkin leaves are eaten as a vegetable in Korean cuisine. In various parts of India, Madheshis prepare saag and kachri/pakoda of the leaves and flowers.
Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas, are edible and nutrient-rich. They are about ½-inch long, flat, asymmetrically oval, light green in color and usually covered by a white husk, although some pumpkin varieties produce seeds without them. Pumpkin seeds are a popular snack that can be found hulled or semi-hulled at most grocery stores. Per ounce serving, pumpkin seeds are a good source of protein, magnesium, copper and zinc.
Pumpkin seed oil
Pumpkin seed oil, a thick oil pressed from roasted pumpkin seeds, appears red or green in color depending on the oil layer thickness, container properties and hue shift of the observer's vision. When used for cooking or as a salad dressing, pumpkin seed oil is generally mixed with other oils because of its robust flavor. Pumpkin seed oil contains fatty acids, such as oleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid.
Dietary and medicinal uses
Canned pumpkin is often recommended by veterinarians as a dietary supplement for dogs and cats that are experiencing certain digestive ailments such as constipation, diarrhea or hairballs. The high fiber content aids proper digestion.
Raw pumpkin can be fed to poultry — as a supplement to regular feed — during the winter to help maintain egg production, which usually drops off during the cold months.
Pumpkins have been used as folk medicine by Native Americans to treat intestinal worms and urinary ailments, and this Native American remedy was adopted by American doctors in the early 19th century as an anthelmintic for the expulsion of worms. In Germany and southeastern Europe, seeds of C. pepo were also used as folk remedies to treat irritable bladder and benign prostatic hyperplasia. In China, seeds were also used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of the parasitic disease schistosomiasis and for the expulsion of tape worms. Chinese studies have found that a combination of pumpkin seed and areca nut extracts was effective in the expulsion of Taenia spp. tapeworms in over 89% of cases.
Halloween
Pumpkins are commonly carved into decorative lanterns called jack-o’-lanterns for the Halloween season. Traditionally Britain and Ireland would carve lanterns from vegetables, particularly the turnip, mangelwurzel or rutabaga. They continue to be popular choices today as carved lanterns in Scotland and Northern Ireland, although the British purchased a million pumpkins for Halloween in 2004.
The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween, but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily available and much larger — making them easier to carve than turnips. Not until 1837, does jack-o’-lantern appear as a term for a carved vegetable lantern, and the carved pumpkin lantern association with Halloween is recorded in 1866.
In the United States, the carved pumpkin was first associated with the harvest season in general, long before it became an emblem of Halloween. In 1900, an article on Thanksgiving entertaining recommended a lit jack-o'-lantern as part of the festivities that encourage kids and families to join together to make their own jack-o'-lanterns.
Association of pumpkins with harvest time and pumpkin pie at Canadian and American Thanksgiving reinforce its iconic role. Starbucks turned this association into marketing with its pumpkin spice latte, introduced in 2003. This has led to a notable trend in pumpkin and spice flavored food products in North America. This is despite the fact that North Americans rarely buy whole pumpkins to eat other than when carving jack-o'-lanterns. Illinois farmer Sarah Frey is called the “Pumpkin Queen of America" and sells around five million pumpkins annually, predominantly for use as lanterns.
The myth of Stingy Jack
The practice of carving pumpkins for Halloween originated from an Irish myth about a man named "Stingy Jack.” As the story goes, several centuries ago among myriad towns and villages in Ireland, there lived a drunkard known as "Stingy Jack." Jack was known throughout the land as a deceiver, manipulator and an otherwise dreg of society. On a fateful night, Satan overheard the tale of Jack's evil deeds and silver tongue. Unconvinced and envious of the rumors, the devil went to find out for himself whether or not Jack lived up to his vile reputation.
Typical of Jack, he was drunk and wandering through the countryside at night when he came upon a body on his cobblestone path. The body — with an eerie grimace on its face — turned out to be Satan. Jack realized somberly this was his end; Satan had finally come to collect his malevolent soul. So, Jack made a last request. He asked Satan to let him drink ale before he departed to Hades. Finding no reason not to acquiesce the request, Satan took Jack to the local pub and supplied him with many alcoholic beverages. Upon quenching his thirst, Jack asked Satan to pay the tab on the ale, much to Satan's surprise. Jack convinced Satan to metamorphose into a silver coin with which to pay the bartender. Satan did so, impressed upon by Jack's unyielding nefarious tactics. Shrewdly, Jack stuck the now transmogrified Satan coin into his pocket, which also contained a crucifix. The crucifix's presence kept Satan from escaping his form. This coerced Satan to agree to Jack's demand. In exchange for Satan's freedom, he had to spare Jack's soul for ten years.
Ten years later to the date when Jack originally struck his deal, he naturally found himself once again in Satan's presence. Jack happened upon Satan in the same setting as before, and he seemingly accepted it was his time to go to Hades for good. As Satan prepared to take him to hell, Jack asked if he could have one apple to feed his starving belly. Foolishly, Satan once again agreed to this request. As Satan climbed up the branches of a nearby apple tree, Jack surrounded its base with crucifixes. Satan, frustrated at the fact that he had been entrapped again, demanded his release. As Jack did before, he made a demand. That his soul never be taken by Satan into Hades. Satan agreed and was set free.
Eventually the drinking took its toll on Jack, and he died. Flaky Jack's soul prepared to enter heaven through the gates of St. Peter, but he was stopped. And Jack was told by God that because of his sinful lifestyle of deceitfulness and drinking, he was not allowed into Heaven. Jack then went down to the Gates of Hell and begged for admission into underworld. Satan, fulfilling his obligation to Jack, could not take his soul. To warn others, he gave Jack an ember, marking him a denizen of the netherworld. From that day on until eternity's end, Jack is doomed to roam the world between the planes of good and evil, with only an ember inside a hollowed turnip to light his way.
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