Autumn is full of healthy foods such as pumpkin, low in calories and packed with beta-carotene.

Sweet, tasty, rich in fibre and antioxidant qualities, it can help you lose weight and have a clear and glowing skin.

Orange like autumn leaves, it is a versatile ally in the kitchen, lending itself perfectly to so many delicious dishes: risotto, fresh pasta, soups, velvety, side dishes, cakes and biscuits.

Pumpkin belongs to the cucurbit family, and has a very high water content, estimated at around 94.5% and is low in calories – in fact it contains only 18 Kcal per 100 grams.

And its diuretic and calming action is very beneficial.

For example, the pulp can be applied to inflamed skin and the seeds contain cucurbitin, that can help prevent and treat urinary disorders, like cystitis.

This vegetable has a long culinary tradition with typical recipes from cuisines the world over.

It can be prepared in so many ways: boiled, roasted, steamed or cooked in a pressure cooker, sauteed, baked and fried.

An easy, quick and tasty side dish?

Take the pumpkin, cut into cubes, add a little oil, salt, pepper and rosemary and sauté in a pan like sautéed potatoes. The sautéed pumpkin will be deliciously crispy but lighter.

An ideal base for cakes and desserts?

Boil the pulp in a saucepan or large frying pan or use the microwave.

Once cooked, it will be very tender; just stir for a few minutes or mash with a fork to get a smooth puree, which can serve as a base for original cakes and desserts to be enriched according to your imagination.

Seeds or flowers?

The seeds are excellent, to be eaten first salted and then dried or even baked in the oven while « pumpkin flowers », which can be fried – try them stuffed with cheese – or sautéed in a pan, are so tasty!

Pumpkin was first brought to Europe from America by Spanish conquistadors;  the first mention of this vegetable in Europe dates back to 1536 and it is the symbol of Halloween.

Dark legends, ancient castles and the largest pumpkin festival in the world, which lasts a full two months in Blühendes Barock.

Halloween in Germany is spooky but tasty: with pumpkin side dishes, stews, meatballs and desserts on the table!

Germans have been passionate about this festival since the early 1990s, and today it is very popular!

Halloween is a rite of Celtic origin, which precedes the Christian holiday of All Saints.

The vigil of All Saints’ Day, it is celebrated on October 31st.

The name Halloween in fact derives from the words All Hallow’s Eve (All Hallow Even), which translated from Celtic means « The vigil of All Saints ».

Halloween Run in Berlin is a fun race where you can run in costume with other monsters, zombies, skeletons and haunted pumpkins.

Many enjoy decorating their gardens with large pumpkins and carving others on their doorstep.

The tradition of this Anglo-Saxon festival is closely linked to the legend of Jack O’Lantern, a notorious and stingy slacker to whom the devil gave a burning coal as a gift, to light his way to the underworld.

Jack, in turn, placed the burnt coal in a hollowed-out turnip, so that it would burn as long as possible.

So, the pumpkin was not originally the symbol of Halloween, but the turnip!

It seems that the change is linked to an important historical event: the great migration around 1800 of the Irish people to the New Continent, which was full of pumpkins.

The migration was driven by the scarcity of crops and in particular the shortage of turnips.

And so, tradition has it, that Jack’s famous lamp was made with an orange pumpkin, also to keep evil spirits away.

Some connect it to the feast in honour of Pomona, the Roman goddess of seeds and fruits, or even to the Roman “festival of the dead » known as Parentalia.

The disguise and the door-to-door begging, which later became « trick or treat », is even a custom that dates back to the Middle Ages, heir to the practice of begging on days dedicated to the dead.

And one of the most loved desserts of Halloween which has now spread all over the world is definitely pumpkin pie.

Recipe for Pumpkin cake (22-24 cm tin)

Ingredients:

• 500 g pumpkin 
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 100 g brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 300 g flour
• 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil
• 150 ml milk
• 1 packet of baking powder for cakes
• a pinch of salt
• powdered cinnamon, to taste
• nutmeg, to taste

Method

Cut the pumpkin into cubes and simmer in boiling water for 20 minutes.

Once it is soft, drain, leave to cool and blend to a smooth puree.

Whip the eggs with the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until they become frothy, add the oil and milk, then the pumpkin puree and set aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder, pinch of salt in a bowl and sift them into the mixture.

Stir and when the mixture is smooth, pour it into the cake tin.

Cook for about 40-45 minutes in a preheated oven at 170°C and happy Halloween!

Finally, let’s stay in the kitchen, but to prepare some homemade cosmetics, such as refreshing and moisturizing pumpkin masks for the face and eyes, hair wraps or smoothing body scrubs.

Smoothing face mask with pumpkin and honey

Boil the diced pumpkin and let it cool.

Blend and mix with a little honey.

Apply the mixture on your face and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Rinse with warm water and voilà! – your skin will be fresher and smoother.

Scrub with pumpkin and brown sugar

Mix well 300 g of pumpkin pulp and 50 g of brown sugar.

Apply and massage the scrub on your body and rinse off.

The mixture is perfect to use even in the shower.

Your skin will be softer and smoother.