PUMPKIN
Besides their use in Halloween and other festivals, pumpkins make fine dining vegetables, as long as we know how to use them in the kithen. Pumpkin belongs to the squash family (Cucurbita species), and is therefore good with other vegetables of its own kind, e.g. zucchini. And even though really pumpkin is a fruit (since it contains seeds) its taste is not sweet enough to classify it as a fruit in the kittchens. However, it can be used for dessert dishes as well as main courses and entrées. The use of pumpkin not only includes its orange flesh but also its seeds that can be roasted and then eaten after removal of the thin hull. Pumpkins contain lots of precursors to vitamin A, which is good for our eye night vision - could it be why pumpkins have their season in the autumn, when it gets darker?
In cooking, pumpkins can be boiled or baked/roasted until just soft, and this is where they taste best. Often, pumpkin is puréed and used as a main flavoring ingredient in pies or breads, or even in soups. In a traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, the vegetable is either used alone or with other fruit. Pumpkin has also found its usage in alcoholic beverages. As for the seeds, they contain lots of minerals like zinc and iron, and they are green due to their high chlorophyll content. Pumpkin seed oil, commonly used in salads, has been reported beneficial for prostate health by inhibiting the cellular transformation by testosterone or dihydrotestosterone; it contains mainly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Pumpkin seeds also contain lots of tryptophan. Pumpkin seeds are eaten as a snack, but in Mexico they can also be used for thickening sauces.
One fun thing about pumpkin seed oil (extracted from heated seeds) is that it changes colors, or at least it appears this way, depending on how thick a layer of it you have. In a bottle it looks dark brown because of all the carotenoid molecules that absorb light. In a thin layer though, the oil looks green because of the chlorophyll that dominates over the lower amount of carotenoids.
Pumpkin is good to cook in butter or olive oil, and can be seasoned with black pepper. Other traditional additions include cheese, nutmeg, garlic, onions, or cream. For a more spicy feel you can add cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mint, sage, thyme, or vanilla - all depending on your needs and what kind of dish you are making. Pumpkin can also be combined with pumpkin seeds to give it another dimension of flavor. As for the sweet things, pumpkin can be mixed with brown sugar (and also with plain sugar, but the effect is different!), caramel, nuts, honey, or some fruits e.g. apples. Pumpkin can further be enhanced in flavor by adding some alcohol like sherry or rum, although don't overdo it! Now, with all these alternatives, just don't get carried away. It is best to keep things simple, and add only as many ingredients as necessary for a good flavor. Less is more. Remember that. Here we just listed what possible combinations of pumpkin and other ingredients work, but there is certainly no need to use them all. Now go and create your own pumpkin dishes!