The following is a guest post by Becky Morales from Kid World Citizen.
We often associate pumpkins with
Halloween in the US, but did you know that many varieties of pumpkins have been
cultivated in Mexico for thousands of years!? In fact, archeologists have found
pumpkin seeds in tombs in Mexico dating back to 7000 BC! They also found evidence
that indigenous farmers cultivated the pumpkin from 6000-5000 BC in Oaxaca and
Tehuacán in Central Mexico (which coincidentally is also where the first maize
was ever cultivated). The pumpkin shell was used as a recipient and cup by the
Aztecs and other Mesoamerican indigenous groups, and pumpkin seeds were ground in
sauces (such as mole or pepián).
The Aztecs celebrated Mictecacihuatl (Queen of the
underworld and afterlife) during their fall festival commemorating the dead-
which eventually combined with the Catholic “All Souls Day,” and evolved into
the current Day of the Dead celebration. During this fall festival, they cooked
the pumpkin pulp in clay pots. This dish- “calabaza
en tacha”- is enjoyed by people around Mexico and Guatemala during the fall
when pumpkins are harvested. Typically bought in mercados or ferias (fall
festivals) to celebrate Day of the Dead, here is a version you can make at
home. It’s a simple, delicious, and nutritious recipe
that your kids will love!
Ingredients:
1-2 pumpkins that will fit in the pot you are using
piloncillo (dark, unrefined cane sugar)
the juice from 1 orange
cinnamon sticks
optional: butter, cloves, anise seeds, sweetened condensed milk;
Piloncillo is normally sold in Mexico in conical shapes. I ran out of the piloncillo I had brought home from Mexico, but fortunately found that Goya makes and distributes it in this packaging in the US at local supermarkets. If you cannot find it, you can use brown sugar and molasses (in the US), or golden syrup (in the UK, Australia, New Zealand).
First, cut the pumpkin into wedges.
Normally in Mexico they leave in the seeds and pulp, but sometimes I remove
them to roast the seedsJ.
My daughter also like me to take out the “strings.”
In a large pot, put in the pumpkin chunks, the piloncillo, the cinnamon sticks, squeeze the juice out of an orange, and add a couple of inches of water. Sometimes cooks in Mexico add in anise seeds and or cloves to the water, and some cooks also put in a couple of pats of butter.
Cover and simmer until the pumpkin is
very tender (15-30 minutes- keep checking), spooning the juices over the
pumpkin and stirring the slices so they all get down in the syrup.
Serve warm with the juicy syrup, and if
you have some on hand, sweetened condensed milk (this is my family’s favorite
part!).
¡Aprovecho!