How to process Fresh Pumpkin?

[Jon Tseng]

Tomorrow I'll stew this with some sherry, and milk, liquidise with a hand blender, sieve, correct seasonings, and finish with croutons, grated gruyere cheese, and chives, pour into and serve from the pumpkin.

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Reminds me of the Paul Bocuse recipe (otherwise known as "heart-attack-in-a-bowl") where he hollows out the pumpkin, fills it to the brim with double cream bakes it and ladles it out as soup...

J

[jackal10]

Reminds me of the Paul Bocuse recipe (otherwise known as "heart-attack-in-a-bowl") where he hollows out the pumpkin, fills it to the brim with double cream    bakes it and ladles it out as soup...

J

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I've never managed to make that work. If the pumpkin cooks soft enough to be part of the soup, the bowl collapses, even with small pumpkins.

Besides, I'd never manage to get that monster into an oven, not even a restaurant size one, let alone get it out again filled with hot cream..,

Bocuse does add croutons and cheese...

[Jon Tseng]

Bocuse does add croutons and cheese...

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ie fried bread and extra cow fat

This reminds me of my experiences making cream of pumpkin soup - you know the standard posh restaurant amue-gueule. General served with the ubiquitous slick of truffle oil on top and rather unnecessary curls of parmesan.

Well anyhow, I was doing the recipe by the book (can't remember whose... maybe gordon r or the first robuchon book making a propah chicken stock and everything. But it just wasn't tasting right. Sort of thin. Reedy.

The get to last step - chuck in about half again as much double cream... voila... EXACTLY like it tastes in the restaurants

J

Edited October 11, 2005 by Jon Tseng (log)

[Saffy]

Anyone using fresh pumpkin have any strange skin reactions? I got a couple pie pumpkins this weekend and roasted one last night to puree, but after handling it, the skin on my hands got so tight that they were throbbing and the skin started cracking. After several rounds of washing and gobs of lotion, I was doing ok, but then as a test put my hand in the bowl of seeds and the reaction was instantaneous. I eat pumpkin seeds frequently, so doubt I have an allergy.

Needless to say, after the reaction to my skin, I pitched the pumpkin. Most disappointing.

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I sometimes get this when I prepare a LOT of pumpkin, I think it must be something in the raw pumpkin that irritates the skin. If I only do one or two bits it's not an issue, but if I chop up a whole pumpkin I get the same symptoms as you descibe.

I've found that if I wash my hands frequently during the preparation it's not an issue. But you could also wear light rubber gloves.. problem solved

[ladyyoung98]

Anyone using fresh pumpkin have any strange skin reactions? I got a couple pie pumpkins this weekend and roasted one last night to puree, but after handling it, the skin on my hands got so tight that they were throbbing and the skin started cracking. After several rounds of washing and gobs of lotion, I was doing ok, but then as a test put my hand in the bowl of seeds and the reaction was instantaneous. I eat pumpkin seeds frequently, so doubt I have an allergy.

Needless to say, after the reaction to my skin, I pitched the pumpkin. Most disappointing.

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I sometimes get this when I prepare a LOT of pumpkin, I think it must be something in the raw pumpkin that irritates the skin. If I only do one or two bits it's not an issue, but if I chop up a whole pumpkin I get the same symptoms as you descibe.

I've found that if I wash my hands frequently during the preparation it's not an issue. But you could also wear light rubber gloves.. problem solved

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i agree..it could be an allergy to raw pumpkin..in which case i would use rubber gloves... washing frequently works as well...but gloves are better.....

Edited October 12, 2005 by ladyyoung98 (log)

[kthull]

Anyone using fresh pumpkin have any strange skin reactions? I got a couple pie pumpkins this weekend and roasted one last night to puree, but after handling it, the skin on my hands got so tight that they were throbbing and the skin started cracking. After several rounds of washing and gobs of lotion, I was doing ok, but then as a test put my hand in the bowl of seeds and the reaction was instantaneous. I eat pumpkin seeds frequently, so doubt I have an allergy.

Needless to say, after the reaction to my skin, I pitched the pumpkin. Most disappointing.

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I sometimes get this when I prepare a LOT of pumpkin, I think it must be something in the raw pumpkin that irritates the skin. If I only do one or two bits it's not an issue, but if I chop up a whole pumpkin I get the same symptoms as you descibe.

I've found that if I wash my hands frequently during the preparation it's not an issue. But you could also wear light rubber gloves.. problem solved

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i agree..it could be an allergy to raw pumpkin..in which case i would use rubber gloves... washing frequently works as well...but gloves are better.....

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I guess what threw me is that I've never had this reaction in all my years of pumpkin carving and seed roasting every Halloween. This really freaked me out, making me think it had to do with the pie pumpkin (we know the farmer and he's particularly proud of passing his test allowing him full use of all industrial pesticides).

[Wendy DeBord]

Chefcyn, I'd love to see your pumpkin turnover recipe and your pumpkin fudge recipe, if you don't mind sharing? Please and thank-you............

[Nyleve Baar]

Anyone using fresh pumpkin have any strange skin reactions? I got a couple pie pumpkins this weekend and roasted one last night to puree, but after handling it, the skin on my hands got so tight that they were throbbing and the skin started cracking. After several rounds of washing and gobs of lotion, I was doing ok, but then as a test put my hand in the bowl of seeds and the reaction was instantaneous. I eat pumpkin seeds frequently, so doubt I have an allergy.

Needless to say, after the reaction to my skin, I pitched the pumpkin. Most disappointing.

←

I sometimes get this when I prepare a LOT of pumpkin, I think it must be something in the raw pumpkin that irritates the skin. If I only do one or two bits it's not an issue, but if I chop up a whole pumpkin I get the same symptoms as you descibe.

I've found that if I wash my hands frequently during the preparation it's not an issue. But you could also wear light rubber gloves.. problem solved

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I get that reaction when I handle raw butternut squash - especially when I'm peeling it. My skin gets really tight and looks almost as if it has been scalded. It's so weird. No problem eating it, though. I don't think it's an allergy. And I have the sense that whatever causes that reaction is deactivated in cooking.

Never heard of anyone else having it happen to them. Glad I'm not just a freak.

[ladyyoung98]

oddly enough if i have ever had that reaction ive just never noticed it. im thinking about that last comment though on the farmer who has full use of pesticides and im thinking it very well could be that it may not be the pumpkin itself but rather the chemicals he may be using, and it si not as uncommon as one might think to go years without havign a reaction fo any kind to a certain thing and then all of a sudden have one. after all as we become older our body chemistry does change and as we age we do tend to become a bit more sensitive to some things... case in point...we may be used to eatig a certain food for many years and even take pride in having the so called cast iron stomach, and then one day we wake up and find there are now certan foods we can no longer eat without creating problems. it happens to all of us with something.

[Nyleve Baar]

When it happens to me - and it doesn't happen every single time - I get the impression that the substance causing the skin reaction is in the squash itself. I don't think that it's coming from the surface.

Well who knows, really. I made a pile of roasted butternut squash a couple of weeks ago and NOTHING happened. I was expecting it but my hands stayed fine. Feh - who KNOWS?