<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0l83Zw_0wMCQA6D00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0l83Zw_0wMCQA6D00" width="1202" height="1800" >Pumpkins are native to North America, with a zoomed-in concentration around northeastern Mexico and the southern portion of the United States. (Photo credit: Doug Young)Before you head to the patch, Linus, get to know your gourds to pick the perfect pumpkin.They’re the ultimate autumnal accessory. Be it perched on a porch, baked into a holiday pie or just on view in a field overflowing with them, there’s something undoubtedly delightful about fall pumpkins.But not all are created alike. Remember learning in elementary school how all rectangles are squares? It’s a good rule to apply to squash as well, but “to a point,” according to Harry Ludlow of Fairview Farm at Mecox in Bridgehampton (19 Horsemill Lane, 631-537-6154). “We’re essentially talking about the same thing, botanically,” he says. “But you’re not going to buy just an apple. You’re going to buy a Macintosh or a Jonah Gold. It’s the same way with pumpkins.”<h2>The History of Transatlantic Jack-O-Lanterns</h2>Native to North America, specifically northeastern Mexico and the southern United States, pumpkins are typically planted during warm weather months and are scientifically known as Curcubita pepo, a cultivated plant of the genus Cucurbita, more commonly referred to as squash. With over 200 different varieties grown all over the world, there are oodles of pumpkin patches on the South Fork, too, that offer pumpkins in all shapes, sizes and colors. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3ZL9l8_0wMCQA6D00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3ZL9l8_0wMCQA6D00" width="854" height="1280" ><figcaption>Those giant, orange harbingers of Halloween that you decorate your porch with? Those are known as Captain Jack and Howden pumpkins, the latter being a bit rounder in shape. (Photo credit: Doug Young)</figcaption></figure>For centuries, pumpkins have reigned supreme as the unofficial herbaceous fruit of the autumn season, serving as the ubiquitous mascot associated with Halloween. According to an article by Cydney Grannan for Encyclopedia Britannica, the Irish were the ones to bring jack-o’-lanterns to the states. Stingy Jack O’Lantern, an unsavory character from 18th-century Irish mythology, was punished after his death to roam the earth for eternity after tricking the devil for his own monetary gain. As the story goes, the devil took pity on Jack and gave him an ember of coal to light his lantern as he wandered, thus dubbing him Jack of the Lantern and eventually, Jack O’Lantern.“In Ireland, people started to carve demonic faces out of beets, potatoes and turnips to frighten away Jack’s wandering soul,” Grannan writes, as metal lanterns were far too expensive for most. “When Irish immigrants moved to the U.S. they began carving jack-o’-lanterns from pumpkins, as these were native to the region.” <h2>Decorating vs. Eating</h2>Ludlow grows dozens of different pumpkin varieties each year, noting there are definitely some pumpkins that are better for decorating that for consuming. “We have a really great variety of squash, gourds and pumpkins,” he says, “that really delve into the different and unusual.”Nowadays, Captain Jack pumpkins — the oversized specimen with a dark orange rind and thick, sturdy flesh — lend themselves best to decorative carving and porch-sitting, boasting that classic, tall barrel shape with a flat bottom (so it can easily sit on its own) and that tough yet typically symmetrical rind. They also feature a thick embedded handle, the stem, that matches the size of the pumpkin, making for easy handling. Howden pumpkins are similar, about the same size as a Captain Jack (a foot or so tall), but slightly rounder in shape. Although both are technically edible, they, along with most standard field pumpkins, are ill-suited for cooking, given their extremely stringy and watery innards and their slightly bitter-flavored flesh. Find them both at Hank’s PumpkinTown (240 Montauk Highway, Water Mill, 631-726-4667).For culinary purposes, kabocha squash (or Japanese pumpkin), fairytale pumpkin and delicata squash are among the best to be eaten, according to Ludlow. “Our old faithful is the New England blue Hubbard,” he says of the tough-skinned, blue lacquered squash. “It’s wonderful for eating.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3uNSbE_0wMCQA6D00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3uNSbE_0wMCQA6D00" width="1280" height="854" ><figcaption>Every year, the U.S. produces over a billion pounds of pumpkins, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. (Photo credit: Doug Young)</figcaption></figure><h2>Gourmet gourds</h2>Most pumpkins are suitable for eating, but some are tastier than others. BookHampton manager and former chef Kait Kelly of East Hampton, the general rule for cooking pumpkins is the bigger and softer they are (like the ideal ones for carving), the stringier and waterier the pumpkin will be. Small and firm pumpkins are best, especially for purées and baking, as they tend to have a more highly concentrated flavor and a lower water content.A relative of the butternut squash is the ever-popular Long Island cheese pumpkin. Known for its rich culinary history, the cheese pumpkin really has nothing to do with cheese at all. Prized for its smooth flesh and high nutrient content with a flat, stout body the lightly ribbed, buff-colored pumpkin gets its name for its resemblance to a wheel of cheese. Excellent in pies, they’re best roasted or pureed, although they would look absolutely darling on your front porch, too.Kelly says anything that falls under the category of sugar or pie pumpkins are the best to cook with. “Cinderella is a common variety but if anyone lives out here [on the East End] specifically they should use cheese pumpkin,” she says, noting the cheese pumpkin “is the most similar to butternut squash and is abundant, usually not too big or seedy, and easy to work with in a home kitchen.”The widely reliable Sugar pumpkins, aka sugar pie pumpkins, are great in – you guessed it – pumpkin pie and can range from the size of a softball to that of a cantaloupe. <h2>Hey pumpkin, get cookin’</h2>Besides cooking with obvious pies, cheesecakes and pumpkin breads she likes to make, Kelly has a couple of unique yet totally doable preparations even the most novice cooks can execute. Here are some of her favorites:Pumpkin purée. Forget about the canned stuff! Cut your pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds (we’ll get to those later) and the stringy guts, then season with salt and roast at 350°F, cut side down, on a baking pan until the flesh is soft and coming away from the skin. Add it to the food processor or mash it by hand and, voila, you’ve got puréed pumpkin.“If you make purée and freeze it in small amounts it’s really easy to defrost and add to any basic sauce,” Kelly says. “Include some sage and some nuts and you can have something classic that tastes of fall — think pumpkin and sage alfredo or pumpkin and coconut curry.”Pumpkin seeds. After scooping them out from inside the pumpkin, separate the seeds from the pulp (running water over them helps the process). Rinse them, drain and dry as best you can. Toss the seeds in butter or oil and whatever seasoning you like (Kelly recommends maple syrup, honey and cinnamon for sweet or chili powder, garlic salt and smoked paprika for savory.) Arrange the seeds on a baking sheet and cook at 300°F for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Pumpkin butter. Made from puréed pumpkin, this spiced slatherer is cooked low and slow with butter, sugar and spices until it’s reduced and concentrated, then chilled to firm up. Kelly notes that it’s perfect to add to pancake batter, to make ice cream with, or simply spread on toast. “It’s super easy,” she says.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4OASYk_0wMCQA6D00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4OASYk_0wMCQA6D00" width="640" height="795" ><figcaption>There are many pumpkin-prolific farms on the South Fork, chock full of edible and decorative pumpkins to pick, like these from Balsam Farms in Amagansett. (Photo credit: Doug Young)</figcaption></figure>To spruce up your green and yellow gourd displays, look to the Jack Be Little and Baby Boo pumpkin varietals. Widely available across the East End, most notably at Milk Pail’s U-Pick Farm (50 Horsemill Lane, Water Mill, 631-537-2565), these are the smaller format pumpkins, with the Baby Boos harvested prior to full maturity, resulting in a bone-white color. Boo! Get it?<h2>Don’t Pitch Your Pumpkin!</h2>When Halloween is in the rearview mirror, there’s a good chance you’ll have some leftover pumpkins kicking around. Instead of just pitching your pumpkin, maybe this is the year to do something a bit more sustainable, far less wasteful and potentially really delicious.Those jack-o’-lanterns shriveling up in the sun on your front porch may be beyond salvaging for any sort of edible use — and that’s OK. But tossing the pumpkin into the trash isn’t really a good solution. You can do better! We believe in you; don’t fear the compost.USA Today’s Emily DeLetter writes, “The U.S. produces over a billion pounds of pumpkins every year, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Of those billions of pounds most of those pumpkins end up in a landfill, which experts say isn’t great for the environment … in a landfill, pumpkins and other organic materials are buried and rot without oxygen, which creates the potent greenhouse gas methane.”If it’s not already, place the pumpkin in the sun, which helps speed up the composting process. Next, start smashing the pumpkin, spread it out over your garden and cover it with a layer of leaves. They should be easy to grab since they’re probably on the ground already anyway. See? Easy as pumpkin pie. </div></body>

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Pumpkins 101: Pro tips for pumpkin picking

Pumpkins are native to North America, with a zoomed-in concentration around northeastern Mexico and the southern portion of the United States. (Photo credit: Doug Young) Before you head to the patch, Linus, get to know your gourds to pick the perfect pumpkin. They’re the ultimate autumnal accessory. Be it perched...