What's for Sunday lunch - Hokkaido pumpkin in Germany

If your corner of Germany is anything like mine in NRW, you're seeing Hokkaido pumpkins, like the one I bought the other day. Pumpkins are like every other seasonal produce one finds in Germany, we'll be awash with them for maybe a month, and then just like that they're gone until next year. So I'm buying them like the dickens, squirreling them away in my cellar storage area (they last up to 3 months when stored in a cool place), and making 4 meals a week with them in the meantime.

I must admit, I was not a pumpkin eater prior to coming to Germany. The only pumpkin I had ever had was the stuff that came out of a can and was made into pie, and we all know my aversion for desserts. The second strike against US pumpkin for me, is that a lot of recipes with it also include cinnamon and/or nutmeg, the only two spices in the entire world I abhor. So back to the Hokkaido.

Step 1: Buy one at your local farmer's market or supermarket. I bought one at Aldi Sued for 1.79, my local Kaufpark/Rewe affiliate and Edeka sells them for 2.75 each. My farmer's market connection is usually around 2 Euros or so. Mainly they seem to be coming from Holland. Go for a Bio one if possible, as one of the best things about the Hokkaido is that the skin is edible, so you save yourself the peel time/effort, as well as raising the fiber content of your recipe.

Step 2: Wash er up. Slice the top off. Scoop out the seeds.



If you're feeling ambitious you can set the seeds aside to wash and roast. Or you can throw them in your garden compost. We have a communal area in the small forest nearby for such biodegradable items which is where mine went. Either a forest creature is going to find a nice treat or next spring the Germans will begin to wonder how pumpkins are growing wild in the forest.

After I remove all the seeds, I use my small knife to give the insides a scrape, to remove all of the stringy bits remaining. Then I wipe the insides out with a paper towel to be sure I got them all.


Step 3: Into the oven. This is a great activity for cold rainy days like today to heat up the flat. I put it into a ceramic pan, then put about 1.5 inches of water inside the pumpkin. Then put the top back on, but slightly at an angle to allow for a little of the steam to escape. Next, give the whole thing a quick rub with olive oil. Finally, put a piece of foil lightly over the pumpkin, to allow the inside to cook without the outside getting overdone.

I try for around 195C, for around 50 min, but it depends on your pumpkin size, oven, etc. You'll know it's done when you poke it with a fork and the skin is easily pierced. If you want, pull the foil off for the last few minutes to allow the skin to brown up a little.


Coming out of the oven, it will look like this:






Step 4: The pumpkin is usually hot as heck, especially as the outside is oiled. So you can let it sit for a few minutes to cool, and then dump out the inside water. Then let it sit for a few more minutes to cool further. Or speed up the whole process and carefully dump the water immediately after taking it out of the oven.

Step 5: Slice and serve. Slice anyway you want. Sometimes I try chunks, today I went with slices.

Today's plate, starting at 12 o'clock is the pumpkin. I had a decent sized one, and here is about half of it. I so enjoy the warm rich taste of the Hokkaido, I purposely left it without any sauce or dressing for a change today. Continuing clockwise, in the 4 o'clock region are some pan-seared brussel sprouts, flavored with Bragg Liquid Aminos, although soy sauce would give you a similar result. 7 o'clock has some leftover beans which were spiced up with chili and onions when cooking them. 11 o'clock has some of those lovely Dutch sausages.


Because I take a lot of convenient 'one plate' meals to the office such as stir frys (due to our lack of on-site meal facilities and a shared microwave), on the weekends I like to prepare 'independent' items which aren't all mixed together in the same sauce.

The above is actually vegan, excluding the sausages which contain egg and milk. That wasn't my intention either way, but moreso to make something a little healthier as I was pretty run-down last week and wasn't eating so good in the days prior. In a time-saving maneuver I created double of the above, so tomorrow's dinner will be the same.