Pumpkin is pumpkin, zucchini is pumpkin, and squash is also pumpkin!

Halloween in the English-speaking world

Before the pumpkin officially makes its debut, let me say this: Halloween and All Saints' Day are two festivals with different origins.

All Hallows' Day on November 1 is a religious festival for Catholics and Orthodox Christians; while All Hallows' Eve was originally a festival of the ancient Celts. King Arthur's compatriots wore masks to confuse ghosts on the last day of October to commemorate the end of summer and the beginning of winter . Later, it gradually merged with Halloween. Until now, the countries that celebrate All Hallows' Eve the most colorfully are mainly those related to Britain.

How Pumpkin Became the Star of Halloween丨tiliabotanicals.com

Since Halloween is a festival in the English-speaking world, what is the pumpkin, the main character, called in English ? You might say, "I know, pumpkin ." However, if you go to supermarkets in some English-speaking countries, especially North America, you will often see the word "squash" on the price tag of pumpkins. Why is that? This question starts with the taxonomic status of pumpkins.

The confusing naming of the three pumpkin brothers

Pumpkin, zucchini ( C. pepo ) and winter squash ( C. maxima ) belong to the Cucurbita genus of the Cucurbitaceae family. Winter squash is also called "northern squash" in some dialects, so in some contexts, zucchini and northern squash are indeed pumpkins. Like its other two brothers, it is a plant native to the Americas. The earliest known pumpkin seeds were found in a cave in northeastern Mexico, dating back 9,000 years.

Ancient Americans loved pumpkins. According to Mayan documents, the market value of 25 large pumpkins was equivalent to that of an adult slave. Before Columbus arrived in America, pumpkins, winter squash, corn, and green beans were the main crops of the Indians. Later, the three pumpkins were spread around the world by Europeans and became widely planted crops.

They are collectively called squash in English, and pumpkin specifically refers to the round pumpkin with orange-yellow color and smooth skin , which means that pumpkin is a type of squash.

Pumpkin is a kind of squash丨vanwhole-produce.com

The fruits of the three pumpkin brothers have various shapes, which sometimes subvert our general perception. If you want to distinguish the squashes from the appearance, you need to look at the perianth marks on the fruit stalk and the top of the fruit , which is usually called the "navel". The pumpkin fruit stalk is five-sided and swollen, and the navel is concave; the zucchini fruit stalk is obviously five-sided and the navel is bulging; the winter squash fruit stalk is cylindrical and the navel is a small dot.

Zucchini that looks like a pumpkin (left) and pumpkin that looks like a zucchini (right) | George Chernilevsky & 산체/ wikimedia

Jack-o'-lanterns were once turnip lanterns

The ancient Celts celebrated Halloween more than a thousand years earlier than Columbus, which means they had never seen pumpkins at the time and naturally did not know how to carve pumpkin lanterns.

In fact, the original name of the jack-o'- lantern does not contain the pumpkin. In ancient Irish legend, there was a strong man named Jack who tricked the devil with his mouth. After his death, he was revenged and had to travel around the world holding a lantern made of turnips. This is the origin of the jack-o'-lantern.

Turnip Lanterns in Ancient Ireland | Wikipedia

The pumpkin lanterns carved by ancient Europeans were also made of turnips ( Brassica rapa var. rapa ). Later, immigrants who settled in North America did not have turnips available, but found a plant more suitable for carving lanterns - pumpkins.

Pumpkin Pie with Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

The pumpkins that European immigrants discovered in North America were not originally used to carve lanterns, but to eat. Around Halloween, it is also the season when pumpkins are ripe, and one of the most common pumpkin dishes in North America is pumpkin pie.

The traditional method of making pumpkin pie is to dig out the seeds and placenta of the pumpkin and bake it, then dig out the melon flesh and add condensed milk, cream, eggs, honey, cinnamon powder, etc. to make a paste-like filling, and then put it on the cold pie crust and bake it together. The delicious pumpkin pie is ready. It is best to use an orange spherical pumpkin variety called sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin for pumpkin pie, which tastes sweeter and more delicious. Of course, other pumpkins are also acceptable.

The best pumpkin for pumpkin pie: sugar pumpkin | backtoorganic.com

Pumpkin Pie | foodnetwork.com

The seeds removed when carving pumpkin lanterns will not be wasted, but will be made into a Halloween snack - roasted pumpkin seeds . This roasted pumpkin seeds is similar to our fried pumpkin seeds, but different. The specific method is to rinse the pumpkin seeds with water but not too clean (a little placental tissue tastes better), then soak them in concentrated salt water for half a day, drain the salt water, add oil and mix well, you can add various seasonings as you like, and then bake them in the oven.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds | dish.allrecipes.com

Teach you how to eat pumpkin

Pumpkins are grown all over the world, and various flavors of pumpkin dishes have been developed. In addition to the most familiar steamed pumpkin and pumpkin porridge, there are many other ways to make them.

The pumpkin in Thai pumpkin pudding is both an ingredient and a container. Coconut milk, coconut milk, coconut sugar, duck eggs and spices are poured into the hollowed-out pumpkin and steamed, then cut and eaten together. The traditional Mexican food, pipián , is a sauce made by boiling pumpkin seeds, onions, garlic, chilies, etc. into a sauce and adding it to cooked chicken and vegetables.

Thai Pumpkin Pudding丨kbsworld.kbs.co.kr

Pipián in Mexico | foodnetwork.com

The Japanese, who love sweets, also love pumpkins and add them to all kinds of snacks. By the way, it is said that the first person to introduce pumpkin cultivation to Japan was the famous general Otomo Sorin during the Warring States Period. In Japanese, pumpkin is called kabocha, which comes from the Portuguese word abóbora, which means melon.

Pumpkin Yokan丨cookingschool.jp

Now you know why Otomo Sorin in "The Ambition of Oda Nobuna" is covered with pumpkins?

Unlike many vegetables, pumpkin is not the best when it is young and tender, but the best when it is fully mature . This is because a lot of starch in it has been converted into small molecule sugars, so it tastes sweeter. When you go to the vegetable market to pick pumpkins, you can pay attention to the fruit stalk . If it is hard and dry, it means it is an old pumpkin and you can eat it directly after buying it; if it is still in an upright state, it is best to store it for a while before eating it.

The skin of the pumpkin is hard and can be stored for a long time, but you still have to check it carefully before eating it. If there is any mold or spoilage, throw the whole thing away and don't eat it.

Author: Desert Porcupine

This article comes from GuokrNature (ID: GuokrNature)