Winter squash and pumpkin in particular are symbols of the season. It simply isn’t fall without pumpkins, writes Kelly Brant.
While we get the word pumpkin from the Greek word for large melon “pepon,” the pumpkin is native to the Americas. The thick-skinned fruit, along with some other varieties of winter squash, likely originated in Central America roughly 10,000 years ago, according to Cindy Ott in her book Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon.
And while pumpkin pie as we know it was likely not on the Colonial table, pumpkin recipes are as much a part of our collective American history as any other New World food.
For details and recipes, read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Style.