Why?
- sa elongated shape has nothing to do with the spherical shape of a real pumpkin; And
- its very sweet flesh has no not the stringy texture from the flesh of real pumpkins.
Under a false identity
Who called him pumpkin first? Very smart whoever answers this question! Thanks to the research work ofAshley Barbosa, a student of Indigenous Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, we now know a lot more about this heritage variety well from home.
In fact, she is not not Algonquin, but Algonquian! Ms. Barbosa discovered in 2017 that her culture was the work of the tribe Abenaki. This last confusion is easily explained: the Algonquins and Abenakis are part of the Algonquians, the name given to all the tribes sharing the Algonquin language.
As we sold it under the names of Algonquin andAlgonquin (English translation of Algonquian), we are correcting our past mistakes and will henceforth call it “Algonquian”
A variety of the land
It is believed that cultivation on Quebec lands is very old since before colonization, the territory of the Western Abenakis extended to the South-Central part of the province.
Even today, the territory of the Waban-Aki Nation of the Abenaki First Nation in the province begins at the St. Lawrence River, between Sorel and Bécancour, and descends widening towards New England. It thus covers part of Centre-du-Québec, Estrie and Montérégie-Est.
Like the majority of indigenous peoples, the Abenakis cultivated according to three sisters technique (squash-corn-bean), but they added the sunflower.
La chair 'Algonquian' pumpkin was traditionally eaten in soups, stews and vegetable dishes. We pressed his seeds to extract an oil which was used for cooking, but also to make dyes for the various artistic needs of the tribe.
The great expedition
This squash traveled West in great company, that of the members of the expedition Lewis and Clark early 19the century. Because of his excellent conservation and its high nutritional value, it was among the foodstuffs carried by the expedition. Lewis and Clack even exchanged some with the Mandan Native Americans who then lived on the banks of the Missouri and its tributaries, the Heart and Knife rivers. These exchanges partly explain why it was traced among other tribes.
A food treasure to preserve
A little smaller than the 'Long Pie' variety, this elongated squash zucchini-shaped turns from dark green to a beautiful orange color when ripe. However, the harvest is done as soon as the portion of the fruit that touches the ground starts to change colored; ripening continues long after picking. His flesh non-stringy has a wonderful taste of sweet hazelnut. Fruits stored for several months after harvest continue to ripen, becoming increasingly sweet.
The 'Algonquian' pumpkin therefore always wins A lot of success in purees, soups, soufflés, muffins and tarts!
