Pumpkin- am I missing something?

[nikaiyo2]

I was in the shop and there was pumpkins everywhere.

So I bought a funky shaped one, roasted it with olive oil and garlic and thyme and rosemary, it tasted of virtually nothing.

Are they really utterly pointless?

[21TonyK]

Missing something... nope.

The ones for halloween are not grown for flavour and if even then, I'm not a fan.

[oddman]

Hallowe'en. They are decorative.

Butternut squash if you want one that tastes of something.

[some bloke]

Yep, UK pumpkins are disappointingly bland, grown mainly for Halloween.
In NZ and OZ they are a well-respected vegetable; full of flavour and great cut into wedges and roasted or as a soup. Butternut squash is the closest in the UK, I have found.

[HTP99]

Pumpkin, not something that I've ever wanted to try.

[danydan]

I had the same experience last year. Roasted a wedge of pumpkin with oil and salt and it tasted of very little, honestly a bit watery. I have had better luck with squash varieties grown for eating rather than carving, they roast up sweeter. I also find pumpkin comes alive in soup with a good stock, some ginger and a knob of butter. On its own as a side though, I agree it is pretty pointless.

[remedy]

Edible squash are much tastier. Some can be very flavoursome.

If on a farm, make sure you get the squash and not the inedible gourd, as they are similar but not the same...

[nikaiyo2]

Phew I thought it was me.

TBH the one I bought was really knarly and good to look at so likely bread for that lol, won’t be buying again.

Edited by nikaiyo2 on Thursday 22 October 17:52

[Bill]

Crown Prince ftw IMO.

[Mikebentley]

My wife makes lovely pumpkin pie and soup with Halloween pumpkins.

[Mahalo]

The pumpkin grown for Halloween are generally when roasted pretty awful and tasteless. All pumpkins are technically squashes but not all squashes are pumpkins. Butternut squashes are very well known - roasted butternut squash is very good and it also makes a very nice soup. The best squash I have found is kabocha squash - roasted in the oven they taste delicious and are one of my favourite roasted vegetables.
This Ottolenghi recipe uses Butternut squash https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/...
but if you substitute Kabocha squash it is much nicer. Kabocha squashes are available n the UK under the brand name Delica which is an Italian grower. Waitrose and Ocado sell them. Try the Ottolenghi recipe - you might be surprised how delicious it is.

[chip*]

Imo, the pumpkin seeds is the best part!

[limmy01]

We made some kind of winter cheese soup inside a pumpkin many years ago, we copied it off an episode of river cottage, as the guy was raving about it.

Yep utterly disgusting, never to be tried again 😆

[remedy]

chip* said:

Imo, the pumpkin seeds is the best part!

Forgot this. Yes, don't waste the seeds. Pat them dry, spread on a baking sheet, roast with seasoning.
I like Cajun 'slap yo mama' or old bay. Or just plain old sea salt .

Gorgeous, healthy snack.

[NAAHD]

This year I think I’ll have a bash at making an American style pumpkin pie. Never tried it and always wanted to. Although, my guess is it’s just sugar and additives that make it taste good

[PRO5T]

As above the wife makes an amazing pumpkin soup with ours, albeit she buys a load of gnarly grey and green and yellowed striped things as that's where the best flavour comes from she reckons.

It's so nice, highlight of my autumn eating to be honest!

[LooneyTunes]

NAAHD said:

This year I think I ll have a bash at making an American style pumpkin pie. Never tried it and always wanted to. Although, my guess is it s just sugar and additives that make it taste good

I’m partial to a slice whenever we get invited to American friends at Thanksgiving. Don’t really eat pumpkin at any other time, even though we have grown them from time to time.

What I find curious is the obsession with “pumpkin picking” when they’re quite clearly just emptied from crates onto random fields. MrsLT reckons that people are so desperate to entertain their kids that they’ll pay for pretty much anything - including massively marked up pumpkins!

[PRO5T]

They grow them at the farm we go to.

[BertB]

We use the Crown Prince type, light blue coloured to make a decent soup, haven't tried to roast it.