Ripe at last! These are the Musquee du Provence pumpkins. They are very big pumpkins but the flesh wasn't too hard to crack into, cutting up was a breeze, just using a sharp knife. The flesh is a very dark orange colour. I roasted some of this but I imagine it would do well in a soup as the flesh was soft and creamy. In the seed catalogue it mentions this variety of pumpkin is often seen at farmers markets where it is sold in wedges - I can see why, it would take us forever to get through a whole one! Never mind, we are hoping to have more pigs soon and they will get through them all (we must have about a dozen) in no time!
Also in plentiful supply at present is kumara. We were gifted this haul from a friend who grew it in his garden. Some of the kumara are huge!
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| Homegrown kumara from a friend |
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| Look at the size of this one! |
So far I have made kumara chips in the deep fryer, also mashed kumara and
these little cakes below which were very nice:
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| Kumara 'cookies' | | |
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5 comments:
Wow look at those pumpkins! I'm thinking pumpkins are not a good crop for me, all I got this year were 2 fruits off the same vine, but I had about 6 vines sown of different varieties. Think I might just go find a farmers market and ask for Musquee de Provence...
Might be just as well to buy them, they take up A LOT of space in the garden! Good luck with finding that variety.
Your pumpkins are huge. Its interesting to read that they were not hard to cut into as I find both pumpkins and squashes quite a task to chop into.
Funny you mention such pumpkins being sold in wedges. There is an African grocers in Glasgow that always displays huge pumpkins and I wondered who on earth woud buy such a large pumpkin. It was later I learned that they sold them by the weight of the wedges (duh!).
The biscuits look good. I am assuming Kumara are what we know as Sweet Potatoes in the U.K, if not please do let me know.
I have seen those pumpkins on sale in Caribbean shops in the UK. How do they compare to other pumpkins. I find most pumpkins just too slushy and watery. I just adore the Queensland blue.
Hi Mangocheeks
That's interesting about the African grocers. Now you know eh!
Yes Kumara is the NZ version of a sweet potato. They were widely grown by the indigenous Maori people here before the settlers arrived. There are several varieties with skins ranging from orange to purple. They are very tasty.
Hi Matron, I have yet to use the big pumpkin for any other cooking, but thought I might try it in a pie soon. The texture of the flesh is less solid than the Queensland Blue for sure. Not sure at this stage if I will grow them again next year (the MdPs) but the QBs are a definite winner.
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