This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
The pumpkin has been used as a Halloween decoration for a very long time. This tradition is attributed to the English and the Irish who, from the 18the century, celebrated the end of summer by carving ugly faces on freshly harvested turnips. In this way, they hoped to ward off evil spirits from their home. When the Irish immigrated massively to the United States in the following century, they brought this tradition, but began to use a very popular local product… Pumpkin!
Decades later, the tradition persists, and Quebecers still use cucurbits as decorations for October 31 celebrations.
Catherine Lauzon, co-owner of the Squash Interpretation Center in Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, in the Lower Laurentians, receives thousands of visitors to her fields every year in search of the perfect Halloween pumpkin. According to his observations, a third of them are ” foodies who come “to pick squash and pumpkins in large quantities in order to cook them”. They are often families, ready to do fall meal sessions.
And the others ? “These are people who come to take advantage of the beauty of our fields to do an outdoor activity, take some pretty pictures and pick up a pumpkin that they can decorate,” she says. Hence the importance of remembering that the pumpkin is much more than a Halloween decoration: it is a fruit, and it can be eaten!
Store it properly
In order to promote the consumption of her cucurbits, Catherine Lauzon explains that at the Centre, they only plant edible varieties (with the exception of a variety of small decorative gourds, planted in very small quantities for a targeted clientele).
As for the traditional orange pumpkin, all the varieties planted are similar: heavy and compact with delicious flesh. You can also get other varieties that will be smaller, white or yellow, or even squash. Together, they will make a pretty country setting… and an even tastier soup!
Once picked, cucurbits will keep for up to two months if stored in the right conditions.
“We try not to leave the pumpkin outside, advises Catherine Lauzon. If you want to use it as an outdoor decoration, place it on wood or straw, not concrete, which is porous and retains more moisture. It would make it rot faster. You also have to be vigilant against periods of frost, which could cause the flesh to crystallize. She wouldn’t be good to eat afterwards.
A pumpkin kept indoors is less likely to perish prematurely.
Decorate it with care
You can use the pumpkin as a decoration, and eat it afterwards. Just follow these few good tips to keep it fresh and edible.
First of all, it is important not to pierce our pumpkin. “If we absolutely want to empty it to put a candle inside, we do it on Halloween itself,” suggests Catherine Lauzon. As soon as the candy picking is done, we cut the pumpkin and cook it or put it in the freezer.
Otherwise, you can paint it with water-based paint, decorate it with accessories (hat, scarf, glasses, buttons) or even add temporary tattoos.
Cook it again and again
There’s so much to do with a pumpkin! Certainly, we often think of soup or pumpkin pie, but we must not stop there.
According to Google Trends, as of October 2022, the top five most popular recipes featuring pumpkin were roasted pumpkin seeds, chewy pumpkin cookies, pumpkin jam, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin soup.
You can make a puree that you add to pancake, cookie or muffin preparations, for example. At dinner, turn the mash into a sauce for pasta or to make your risotto more creamy. No time to cook it? The puree can easily be stored in the freezer for at least six months.
Cut into cubes, the pumpkin can be added to a stew, a curry or on a plate of root vegetables.
Then, we will want to collect the seeds to make a delicious crunchy and nutritious snack.
If you run out of ideas, be aware that, very often, recipes calling for a squash also lend themselves very well to pumpkin.
What if our pumpkin didn’t survive Halloween, despite our precautions? Head to the compost, rather than the trash.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, relating to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.