Pumpkin Soup

Back in October, I had coffee with two moms of boys from Josiah's class and was asking questions about food in Germany. They were telling me that I needed to make pumpkin soup - it is something that all Germans really enjoy in the fall. Nik's mom, Astrid, then took me to the grocery store to show me different vegetables to consider trying. Germans are quite straightforward, which can be refreshing at times and overwhelming at other times. While in the store, Astrid looked me in the eye and said, "While you are in Germany, you need to try one new thing a day." Just very matter-of-fact. "While I lived in China, I did this and really learned a lot about the country and the culture that way. So you need to make pumpkin soup soon. Just don't buy the pumpkin here as this produce doesn't look good." I didn't mention that this is where I shop everyday! I have really appreciated the times that Astrid has initiated with me and can tell that she has been in my shoes. She has been very helpful on more than one occasion. And her son was the first boy to invite Josiah over to play after school - that was the second week of school. Anyway, I finally made pumpkin soup....long after fall!

Just before Christmas, our upstairs neighbors, Barbara and Bernd, invited us up for soup one evening. Barbara served pumpkin soup made from a Hokkaido pumpkin. It is a variety of pumpkin that both the shell and flesh can be eaten. I had never heard of this kind of pumpkin...maybe they are just as prevalent in the states as they are here, but seeing as I have not used real pumpkins but maybe once before....well, I have no idea of whether they are common or not!

One day last month I was wandering through the Wochenmarkt, Farmer's Market, looking for something and saw a handful of Hokkaido pumpkins at one vendor's booth. Now that we are into the dead of winter, I don't see pumpkins very often. So I purchased one and endeavored to make my first ever pumpkin soup from scratch. It ended up turning out great - we all loved it! And I have two that really don't enjoy the taste of pumpkin. So I made it again the next week and the response was not quite so grand. Come to find out, there is something about the texture of cooked pumpkin that my family doesn't like. So the end result is that this is a soup that we will have once or twice a fall/winter and thoroughly enjoy it, but it won't be a staple for us!

This is a Hokkaido pumpkin - a little on the smallish side probably only
weighing a couple of pounds. I saved seeds so that we can attempt to
grow them in our garden next year.

Following the recipe below only allowed us to have one bowl per person...
not enough for these boys! So I also served bread and lots of it!

I asked Barbara for her recipe as we all liked it so much; however, I didn't get it from her in time to use for my first attempt. Because of biking to the store, I only purchase what I can carry so we don't have much on hand. In other words, I typically only have the food for the next day or maybe two. This was on a Sunday night and basically, we were having pumpkin soup that night or we were eating rice with a salad or maybe pb & j. All stores are closed on Sundays. So I took several recipes from on-line and developed what I thought sounded good together. Here is what ended up in the pot:

1 onion, diced and sauteed in a bit of butter
2 cloves garlic, add to the onion after the onion starts to lightly brown
1 Hokkaido pumpkin - cleaned out and cut into chunks - baked at 400 for 30 minutes or so
1 1/2 cups black beans
2 apples, cored, peeled and chunked
4 carrots, chopped
3+ cups chicken broth
2-3 T fresh grated ginger - I ended up adding more
cinnamon - sprinkle
cumin - sprinkle
salt/pepper to taste