Pumpkin, Halloween and forgetfulness

Halloween Memory of a Pumpkin

Pumpkin, Halloween and forgetfulness, thinking that Halloween is yet another American prerogative could be misleading. It probably has its roots in the Roman tradition or, for the less nostalgic, in the Celtic tradition. Pumpkin, the main vegetable of peasant cuisine and an ingredient particularly loved by Chef Butticè of il Moro Ristorante, is always an ingredient to be translated, declined, with which to play and always make new and original combinations to be proposed in the Restaurant Menu.

Halloween celebrates departures, however, so remember the world of the dead.

Starting from curcubita, Apicius, (Marcus Gavius Apicius was a Roman gastronome, cook and writer who lived between the first century BC and the first century AD)

In De re coquinaria we find many recipes dedicated to pumpkin, accompanied with Apicius’ sauce, a combination of spices, onion, rue, pine nuts and garum, or fish giblets.

 

In addition to pumpkin, our dedication to pumpkin hosts the Raffadali almond and razor clams

The Renaissance is also a period that sees the pumpkin as the protagonist, with the addition of almonds and dried raisins from Corinth, or in the most famous Lenten tortelli di zucc.

Illustrious Renaissance chefs such as Cristoforo Messisburgo, Bartolomeo Stefani focused on pumpkin.

Escoffier’s wisdom and mastery he offers at the Grand Hotel in Monaco, like a soup finished in milk and garnished with angel hair.

Even the gastronomic Milan dedicates a dish to the pumpkin “ris e zuccaa barucca” or the pumpkin cooked in milk to which rice is added.

This strong synthesis confirms the double transversality of an ingredient, in this case the pumpkin, from one aspect goes through very long historical periods, becomes a cultural emblem of several cultures, for another aspect, the pumpkin begins with a peasant vision to land on the most important tables in Europe.