This fall has been spectacular here in Toronto. Some great sunny days, some beautiful rainy days, it has lit the holiday season on fire.  

In late September the stores begin to fill with fall and winter veg. Butternut squash pile high next to fresh cabbage. Spaghetti squash, with their smooth yellow skin, ready to be steamed and shredded.Cauliflowers come in from local farms, still wrapped in their leaves. And the pumpkins start their exodus into our lives.

Squash are as fascinating as brasacres when it comes to domestication. Both come from humble beginnings to become a major part of our day to day diet. Winter squashes are my favourite. Cultivated for thousands of years because of the nutrients inside and how long they could keep in the right environment, they kept families alive through the winter. Making it very important in their lives. Pumpkins have become a major symbol of our admiration. 

Used for many dishes today, Pumpkin Pie being the first most would think of, but not all uses for pumpkins are food. Obviously, we all see Jack O’ Lanterns for Halloween, sometimes alongside uncarved pumpkins. Tiny, wildly shaped gourds are part of this early holiday display. Farmed for many reasons, we mostly see them now as purely decorative. All varieties are uniques and fanciful in their own way. Small little spiky lumps.

Imagine you walk up to you local Veg shop and see all this outside, warmed in the sun, and decide to pick up your pumpkin for the year. You round the corner, following the shelves of various round orange heads…. And you see this.

Giant bumpy fungus

These large bumpy pals started showing up in specialty shops in past years, but hit the mainstream stores this fall. Stunning in stature and surface area. You marvel at its complexity, but for some reason are afraid to touch it. You have questions. How do you carve this? Can I use this to scare children? Is it carbonated? How do I fill it with booze?

But the big question is, How did we get here?

The short answer is: Selective breeding. 

That’s true, but it’s much more than that. 

Really, pumpkins themselves already come in many varieties, here are some of the more interesting shapes and sizes, and uses! All varieties are both beautiful and edible, if not tasty!

1. Sugar pumpkins. A small variety, much like pie pumpkins, but older and sweeter. Used in the original version of Pumpkin Pie. 

2. Hokkaido Pumpkins. They are their own family of small, dense fruits, in a magic palette of colour. The Blue Kuri is beautiful to have in your kitchen, and tender and sweet when roasted. It was rumoured pumpkins were introduced by North Americans in the 19th century. Other believe it would take much longer to create the number of varieties that are available today.

3. Fairy Tale Pumpkins. It’s hard for anyone to see the  thick ribbing and large lobes of orange fruit , and not think of Cinderella.  Originally a  French Pumpkin are great for baking, like loaves and muffins.

4. Turban Pumpkins. As you can see, these are more abstract squash  It has a soft, almost fluffy texture when cooked, with a slightly nuttier flavour. You could use  this as a centerpiece for a table, Or roasted and sliced into quarters for a meal. 

5. Knucklehead Pumpkins. The star of our shopping story. These can occur as a mutation in any field of pumpkins. A U.S. farmer developed and cultivated these into it’s own variety over the past decade. You could eat this as soon as Halloween is done, but why not keep it over the holidays? A nice Santa hat would not be out of place on top of the above squash.

If kept in a cooler, well ventilated area, even it it’s on a shelf, any of these will keep for months, keeping their original claim to fame. Why not pumpkin muffins in January? Add once cooked and pureed, will keep frozen for some time. Ready for your next bowl of soup.

Explore some of our early history today by eating one of these gourds as you see fit, you will be sure to enjoy!