"It is said the pulp of this fruit [the "pumkin", no second 'p'], separated from the seeds, and baked in the shell with a mixture of diced apples, sugar, and spice, is a very good food, and as such is cultivated in many parts of England."
William Hanbury, A Complete Body of Planting and Gardening (1770)
Blimey, that sounds delicious. You know, I think Mr Hanbury might be onto something there…
I was going to save this post until the Autumn, but as I currently have access to a few ‘Hokkaido’ / ‘Uchiki Kuri’ type acorn squash that I bought at the local deli last week, and a couple of apples that are past their eating-fresh-best, I think I might give it a go a bit sooner.
Although I do also like the look of the second of these fireside pumpkin recipes from savoringthepast.net. Which, in case the site is taken down (as it doesn’t seem to have been updated for a couple of years) consists of:
- Cut the top off a small pumpkin
- Scoop out the seeds
- Fill with chopped pears, spiced to taste, and a bit of butter
- Bake next to a campfire (or in an oven) until the pumpkin flesh is tender
- Scoff it
Frankly, I’m torn, as they both sound delicious. Luckily, I do have more than one pumpkin to hand…
Stay tuned for (possible) updates.