France just doesn’t do fall like the U.S. and that’s both good and bad. Good because I eat a lot less Halloween candy, don’t spend money on pumpkin-flavored everything and also good because I get to discover French fall treats instead. On the other hand, it’s bad because it’s pretty difficult to find a pumpkin to carve and I miss some of the American Halloween traditions. We found all types of squash and soup pumpkins but the orange jack-o’-lantern types remained quite elusive. Until last weekend that is…
Read on!
Pumpkins in France
I was getting a little discouraged on my pumpkin hunt and figured I’d have to settle with something close. So what did I come up with? I got a mini pumpkin that fits in the palm of my hand and a bigger “pumpkin” that if you look fast might pass as a pumpkin but is clearly not upon closer inspection. This pumpkin cousin is called a potimarron (apparently red kuri squash in English although I’ve never seen one in grocery stores in the U.S.) and I roasted it for dinner last night. It tasted like a chestnut-flavored pumpkin or butternut squash and was delicious with butter and a little brown sugar. You can read more about potimarron over at David Lebovitz’s blog.
And what else did I make? A homemade pumpkin pie made from real pumpkin. I boiled the chunks of pumpkin, then pureed them by hand with a fork and followed my regular pie recipe. While it didn’t taste exactly the same as a pie made with canned pumpkin, it was still delicious. Here’s proof. The pie was gone in three days.
Now about the pumpkins…. Tom, Dagny and I went to a little fall harvest festival last weekend where they had music, donkey rides, food and of course pumpkins and other gourds for sale! For 20 euros, we got two decent sized pumpkins that we have every intention of carving this week (thanks for the carving kit, Dad!) into ghoulish faces.
Are we going to be the only house on the block with pumpkins out on the stoop? Heck yes (better than last year when our apartment’s super asked if I had left my groceries in the hall for a reason. Pumpkins are to eat in France, not decorate with! haha). But that’s OK because our pumpkins will make us officially stand out as the coolest house on the block.
I’ve been on the hunt for pumpkins too! I actually found them at several locations (a flower shop near by, Marks and Spencers has little ones for 2 euros and a fruit/veg shop!). There’s always just a few though so I picked one up and carved a one fanged Dracula pumpkin last night at a Halloween party!! It will definitely be sitting on my window seal! 😀 Happy Halloween!!! I also heard that there’s a you-pick-it farm outside of Paris that has pumpkins!
Awesome, the little ones are cute — I want more! Happy Halloween to you too!
Wow, that’s quite the pumpkin finding! Very cool! Enjoy your carving!
Thank you! Happy Halloween!
Hi, if you really want pumpkins, you have to go to a Pumpkin Fair! We happened upon an enormous one in L’Indre à Tranzault on the 2nd weekend in October. They have a pumpkin competition of course. The winner when we were there weighed 600 kilos. You can buy every possible type of pumpkin imaginable. At our market in Blois on Saturday, lots of people were selling pumpkins. HTH!
Yup, the one we went to near us was very similar to the one you linked to. Lots of fun!
Glad to read that you found your loot! i’m an Aussie in Croatia and neither place does Halloween much, so it’s fun reading about all of these things I had no clue happened.