Pumpkin
Cucurbita · Squash
10 varietiesTop 10 pairings
A round, ribbed, thick-shelled squash, usually orange, grown for its dense, sweet flesh, its seeds and autumn carving. Mild raw, it turns sweet, nutty and caramelly roasted or simmered into soup and pie.
Picking a good onedrag
Cured hard, just pickedSoft-spotted, weeping
Shop firmEveryday bestThe all-rounder: roast, soup, pie, curry.
StemHard and dry, cut short
Rind under a nailNail marks it, will not pierce
SkinMatte, one pale ground patch
Smell at the stemFaintly green, clean
What you get from one
70%
Edible part
952 g flesh · rind, seeds and stem out
1360 g
Weight each
each one
Keeping ittap a temperature
A whole one wants a cool room, not the fridge. Below 10 C the rind pits. Chill cut wedges.
50–70%
Humidity
Open and airy
Airflow