Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
it's possible. i think france and north america do have different "common" vegetables. the difference with scandinavia could also be related to the fact that france is a more agricultural country. pumpkins were grown in family gardens (not only on farms, i mean) during the war and were one of the few (fresh) vegetables which remained relatively plentiful. that, combined with the fact that they take a long time to cook, could have made them unpopular during the glorious 30 and only start to raise an interest again now. i'm not sure ; this is my friend's theory, although it does make sense to me. i've never heard of pickled pumpkin, but i think many vegetables are most commonly eaten as pickles in some countries, particularly where the growing season is short.
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I think the main reason they're not much grown here, is that it's a bit too cold. If you have a cold, wet summer, you won't get a lot of pumpkins/winter squash, so it's not a reliable vegetable - and it's probably too cold in Northern Scandinavia to even try growing them. It keeps well though, so it would actually be a good vegetable for a climate where you can't get freshly grown vegetables two-thirds of the year. I think that's why root vegetables play such a large part in 'traditional' food. Nowadays of course, we have freezers and import vegetables to a large degree, so it's not so much as issue anymore.
I also noted recently how much more common leaf vegetables seem to be in warmer climates. Apart from a large variety of salads, coarser, leafy greens are almost as rare as pumpkins.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kindlekitten
I have never heard of pickled pumpkin!!! I think you (collectively) are using "pumpkin" as a pretty generic term for a great deal of different squash. for instance, the GIANT ones that are even sold cut up here are Hubbard squash
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I am using it generically. Now I have looked it up on Wikipedia, and it seems that in USA (and perhaps also Canada) the generic term is 'winter squash' - pumpkin being a sub-group of winter squash. I wasn't aware of that. I only know one kind of squash, and that is what you would call 'summer squash'
no, wait, we also have a kind of orange soda called
Squash 
My 'standard' Danish-English dictionaries only give the suggestion of 'pumpkin'. My 'extended' dictionary states 'gourd' as a generic term, with 'winter squash' being a common American term, and 'marrow' in British English, and 'pumpkin' as a specific sub-group of gourds. So you see, it's suddenly complicated
I think it may be because winter squash[sic!] aren't much eaten here. They're certainly grown in private kitchen gardens, but they're just not commonly sold in shops. It's changing though - this year I have noticed Hokkaido squash regularly.
A recipe for Danish pumpkin pickle
(I think the translation is a bit clumsy - sorry)
Strips of pumpkin pickled in a sweet, spiced vinegar pickle. Typically served as a condiment in the same way you'd serve a chutney.
1 kg pumpkin (weight without rind and seed, so start with a bigger one)
Brine:
1 liter of water
100 gram salt
2 dl vinegar
Vinegar pickle recipe 1:
6 dl vinegar
2 dl water
4 whole cloves
50 g fresh ginger in slices
350 gram sugar
Vinegar pickle recipe 2:
6 dl vinegar
2 dl water
1 split vanilla pod
350 gram sugar
Day 1:
Mix the brine so that all salt is dissolved. Split and clean the pumpkin. Cut it into 1/3 inch (1 cm) thick strips, 2-3 inches long (5-7 cm), and let it soak in the brine until next day.
Day 2:
Remove the pumpkin strips from the brine, rinse them i cold water, and let them drip off in a colander.
Select one of the pickle recipes. Mix the ingredients in a pot and heat it up to boiling point. Depending on which kind of vinegar you use, it might be worth starting out with a little less sugar and adjust to taste. Add the pumpkin strips and boil gently for a few minutes - max 5. The pumpkin must not get too soft. Remove the pumpkin and put into scalded glass pickle jars. A preservative may be added to the vinegar pickle at this point. The warm pickle is poured over the pumpkin strips and the glasses closed immediately (the spices go into the glasses as well). Store them in a dark, cool place. After opening, the jar should be kept in the refrigerator.