The Poor Man's Pumpkin

Who would have thought pumpkin would be an important survival food? In 18th century America, it was a staple for poor folks. Watch to see how they prepared pumpkins for food and what sort of folks were using them.
Other Pumpkin Videos on the Channel:
Soup • Historic Harvest Soup ...
Bread • You've Never Had Pumpk...
Pie • Pumpkin Pie Recipe fro...
Campfire • How 18th Century Soldi...
Note about cooking: If you are planning on cooking some pumpkins we recommend pie pumpkins, they will have a better taste and texture than the larger decorative pumpkins (thanks to @palominogirl2732 and others)
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[@townsends]

For more information on the etymology and migration of the pumpkin kzbin.info/www/bejne/hafWpqGVarprmKs (thanks to @rtengstrom9620)

[@kaylahall1219]

I would love a pumpkin cookbook!

[@sergiomedina1099]

You could boil diced pumpkins with sugar a cinamon quil and a clove until it softens and is nearly caramelized, let it cool then refrigerate and ad some milk

[@user-lh1ef1st9k]

in my home country they used to make porridge with this fruit/vegetable heheheheheh

[@itsxinstinct5556]

​@@sergiomedina1099 😅b bb 😅😀

[@hoilst265]

When you mentioned storing pumpkins, the classic Australian rural example is pumpkins on the corrugated iron roof of a tin hut or the verandah of a bigger house. They'd be up there for months, same as in America, a dozen or so Queensland blues holding the roof on, away from rats..

[@archeantyl9452]

Who else wishes they had Jon as their High School History Teacher 😃

[@ThesmartestTem]

I probably would have actually enjoyed history class in school. I actually enjoy history, but hated learning it in school.

[@mikakestudios5891]

Also if we could have had a Home Economics course, that would have been nice too.

[@PT5-Shorts]

Cooking class teacher also

[@russellzauner]

@@PT5-Shorts yep 100% wish this guy would have been in home ec classes in HS

[@AaronGrosch29]

I had someone like Jon and so I took 2 AP history courses and electives in High School. People who love their subject areas are infectious

[@crieseasily16]

It is just wild to me how much quality these videos are. It is like im watching a documentary on discovery channel.

[@thesparkypilot]

Yesss! I had one history teacher who was pretty dang close but Jon is soo talented. He should have an honorary doctorate in American history education ❤

[@FruitMuff1n]

A documentary from before Discovery turned terrible! :)

[@BluJean6692]

It's like what the History Channel USED to be but even better due to the personal touch and hands-on re-creation.

[@iandhunt80]

I was just commenting on the cinematography as well. It is phenomenal.

[@sneakerbabeful]

No, Townsesnds is far _superior_ to Discovery Channel.

[@Sam-lm8gi]

Comparing a politician to a pumpkin is an insult . . . to the pumpkin!

[@Charok1]

"thousands of years ago" apparently, haha

[@Miss_Kisa94]

Agreed pumpkins are much more useful 😂

[@marquisejoubert6129]

@@Charok1 yeah I think he’s mistaken about that because pumpkins and squash for that matter are native to the Americas unless the word pumpkin meant something other than squash in rome

[@newbleppmore7855]

Based

[@jacobv3396]

​​@@marquisejoubert6129 Either that or his source mistranslanted the expression. Pumpkins are indeed indigenous to the Americas.

[@YakYo]

The "Poor Mans" series on this channel is far and away my favorite that has ever appeared. Possibly because it is surprisingly relatable in this day and age lol

[@ijemand5672]

Not only that. His recipes are actually really good. I'm actually quite poor and rely on this kind of food. His videos have helped me improve my cooking 😌

[@ISawABear]

Really glad you mentioned the Three Sisters in this episode. Itd be awesome to have a first nations (native american) guest host on sometime if possible to cook up some food!

[@Pineapple-zg4pg]

i sawn a beer (REAL)?!?!?!?!? (your content is a service for the community and its cool seeing you around, makes me think about possible mechanics for rations in foxhole)

[@dizo-jp2td]

If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus Is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. -Romans 10:9

[@kukuri007]

We are native. This is our native country.

[@lawriefoster5587]

Oh yes!!

[@devlosirrus]

@@kukuri007 Get a load of this guy

[@reeseprince8]

I made pumpkin soup yesterday with carrots onion and butternut squash was delicious. Greetings from Suffolk, England

[@AbsyntheAndTears]

That sounds fabulous. I make a chicken and rice dish with similar ingredients. I need to make a pumpkin soup now!

[@davidwoolsey2135]

Thank you for the "short" on pumpkins. I find it amusing that Europeans had some disdain for the pumpkin as a crop because of the lower amount of effort. The Three Sisters farming concept was high ingenuity by the indigenous peoples of North America. Corn was planted in "hills"... a short time later beans (the climbing type) were sown near the growing corn stalks, the stalks would then later become the "trellis" for the climbing beans, and the pumpkins were planted a while after the beans. The vines would be "trained' to remain and "run" between the corn/bean hills, the broad leaves reducing sunlight and thus reducing unwanted plants (aka weeds) among the food crops. Thus less man-hours and less people needed to feed a large population. After harvest of all three, the dried corn stalks and pumpkin vines could then be burned, the ash providing nutrients back into the soil for next Spring's planting. "Survival food"? More like "thrive-all" food, eh?

[@cnam1258]

Extremely interesting.

[@aslandus]

Shaming people for using low-effort crops sounds like the kind of attitude that would mainly come from people who get other people to do all the actual labor in the fields

[@Jordan3DS]

​@@aslandusDon't you think it would be the opposite, though? The people shaming others for using low effort crops were likely the ones that took great pride in their farmwork, and saw growing crops that didn't require doing as much as taking the easy way out. It's like if a chef sees two people prepare a meal, one putting a lot of time and effort into it and the other not. Which one are they going to be more impressed by?

[@SkellyHertz]

Ah, but history is full of effort full food being prized as rarer and thus more valuable or luxurious.

[@littlekong7685]

@@Jordan3DS I think those calling pumpkins low effort food were not farmers at all, but rather landowners who had people to farm for them. They likely saw it as a moral failing on their part to allow their workers to have an easy time farming. There are certainly ideas that when the landlords came by, everyone had to go into the fields to look busy lest the landlord feel they aren't taking their work seriously enough.

[@resourcedragon]

We use pumpkin as a vegetable quite a lot in Australia. Some years ago I met an older English woman who had come to Australia as a "ten pound Pom". She was horrified by her first meal in Australia: they were given whiting (a type of fish) with pumpkin as one of the vegetables. Her view of the meal was that whiting was cat food and pumpkin was animal fodder. [I think there was a third item that she found similarly shocking and that Aussies consider good to eat but I can't remember what it was at this distance in time.] Given that she was old enough that she would have been through WWII rationing, I was a little surprised that she regarded so much good tucker as animal food. Regarding Spaniards and pumpkin: little squashes are called zapallitos and of course the larger ones are zapallos.

[@NTNG13]

Mexicans call it calabaza and calabacín/calabacita. Sounds like a spell: KHA-LABAZAH!

[@uma7894]

Fellow Australian pumpkin eater. If the Brits and Americans don’t eat them much except in desserts I wonder why they took off here. I never do a roast meal without pumpkin.

[@wallythewondercorncake8657]

We don't eat pumpkin at all in Britain

[@mattk04]

Our local Asian Indian market sells pumpkin. Cook it as a side dish to the main rice & curry meal.

[@MorbinNecrim86]

​@@wallythewondercorncake8657weird. Its so good

[@WildWestRosie]

In the "Little House" books, Ma uses a green (unripe) pumpkin to make an "apple" pie. She slices the pumpkin thin, then adds spices and apple cider vinegar. Maybe you could try this? It's in "The Long Winter", and there are modern recipes.

[@AreYouKittenMeRtNow]

Omg I forgot about that…. I need to re-read!! ❤

[@jitterbug9595]

You can use zucchini to replace apples in recipes too!

[@gailsears2913]

Thank you, Jon! An even easier way to grow pumpkins is leave your jack-o-lantern on the edge of the porch, kick it off to the ground in spring and forget it. My granddaughter did this and now has four large pumpkins for Halloween.

[@agirly1503]

Lol us too!

[@ek-nz]

I just end up with pumpkin seeds in the kitchen compost. That goes on the vege patch the next season and the pumpkins look after themselves.

[@emilinebelle7811]

We did this but nothing came of it. Don’t know where we went wrong. It was thriving and even got blooms but that was it

[@collapsedlung_]

​@@emilinebelle7811Well pumpkin is a fruit which are produced when those flowers get pollinated. So it's not always a garuntee you'll get fruit from it unless you go in there and pollinate it yourself or hope some pollinators do it for you.

[@emilinebelle7811]

@@collapsedlung_ we had plenty of bees in our dandelion patch not three yards away. But thank you. I guarantee that’s where we went wrong.

[@mrschurch1979]

I love that you used whole wheat flour for your crust, because they wouldn't have had white. I've tried it, and never did quite get it right. It would be too dry and crack. I know you mostly focus on the colonial days, but there's another pumpkin recipe that captured my imagination. It was in the book "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and it was a green pumpkin, likely of the pie size. They cut it into thin slices, layered it with brown sugar and spices, put in some apple cider vinegar, and a pat of butter on top, then the top crust. Caroline managed to make it seem like an apple pie, and it even fooled Charles at first bite.

[@dianaarmitage512]

I remember that from reading the Little House books 😊 I also have never forgotten something Caroline said: "hunger makes the best sauce"! True that!!

[@MorbinNecrim86]

That sounds great

[@karenblohm3279]

I haven't read that book in years.

[@workingguy6666]

@@dianaarmitage512 "Little House on the Prairie Cookbook Pumpkin Pie Recipe - Just Like Ma Ingalls Made!" is a youtube video. I'll watch it right now.

[@workingguy6666]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3q8d2aFZch1Y6c

[@ImmortalLemon]

My girlfriend and I have started a little personal challenge where we’re trying to eat 100% in season. Using what would naturally be available to us at this time of the year for as much food as we can, and gourds like pumpkins are going to be our main source of food alongside corn and beans from now till spring so I’m very excited to explore what kinds of things I can do with all sorts of gourds

[@Trenz0]

What a cool and fun idea

[@jacobshelt01]

Yum lots of pumpkin 🎃 bread 🍞 and pie 🥧 in your future

[@macsarcule]

The first year I was married in the early 90s, we were still university students and that fall we took 50 pie pumpkins we’d grown over the summer back to married student housing along with other garden things we’d canned and dried so we’d have something to eat. Only 5 of them didn’t get eaten. My goodness, I’ve eaten pumpkin every way you can imagine. My favorite is slicing pumpkin into matchsticks and stir frying with sliced onions and red pepper flakes. My storage record for a pie pumpkin was one that lasted until the following June! I kept it in a dark, cool, unfinished portion of my basement. I’m not sure how much longer it could have gone, but I felt like I was testing fate. When I sliced it open, it was perfect. I baked it and then made it into a big oval baker of pumpkin custard. ✌️🙂🎃

[@agirly1503]

Zoinks!!😮

[@ianlang9312]

Great job storing them! I’ve never made it too June! My record is april

[@ivanbrownflower9828]

Had one last till the harvest the next October. Never did get round to eating it though.

[@valkyrie1066]

Yum, I have to try that!

[@Green.Country.Agroforestry]

When green, match sticks in salads, when orange, omelets, with duck eggs, walking onions fresh garlic, salt and pepper, if I have any. Rolled in herbs, panko breaded and fried in butter is another favorite ..

[@valeria_sue777]

Pumpkins are aboveground potatoes, both are immensely versatile in usage and overwhelmingly delicious😋Those people who started the "pumpkins are a lazy man's meal" prejudice were missing out big time!

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

Maybe they had my tastes and found pumpkins extremely distasteful unless drenched in butter, garlic, and savoury herbs. Every time I mention that I dislike winter squash I get someone promising they'll make me "the best squash you ever tasted! It's a secret recipe!!! Everyone loves it!!!!" And it's always the same: brown sugar 🤢 and cinnamon 🤢. Awful.

[@lindagates9150]

@@Ea-Nasir_Copper_CoI mash buttercup squash up and add it to wild caught salmon with a ton of finely diced onions and sprinkle garlic scapes on top nearly forgot the real sour cream and hemp seeds 😮perhaps this will Change your mind. One of my grandma’s recipes used carrots to make pumpkin pie 😂 if it was orange it was fair game if she wanted a pumpkin pie lol 😊

[@davidwoolsey2135]

I'm confused..., potatoes are from the nightshade family, while North American squash including pumpkins are curcurbita, and not part of the nightshades such as potatoes and tomatoes

[@tenthousanddaysofgratitude]

@@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Coif you like curry soup, I take winter squash, roast it, put the flesh in a pot with broth with garlic and onion and heat it up. Add some Thai curry paste and coconut milk and it’s a sweet and spicy soup.

[@spinderella3602]

Thank you for the great ideas. I just bought a food dehydrator. I'm going to dry and powder. 💐

[@someguy4324]

Jon, pumpkins are New World plants. They were introduced to Europe in the 1500s. There's no way the Romans had pumpkins of the kind we know, they were probably referring to some kind of gourd.

[@zinniagarden]

Gourds are also from the Americas. The word pumpkin though is derived from an ancient Greek word for melons. It is described in the wikipedia pumpkin page under etymology and terminology.

[@marquisejoubert6129]

@@zinniagarden except for the African bottle gourds aka calabash

[@zinniagarden]

Ok, fair, but I would still think the Ancient Greek and Roman references come from "the Ancient Greek word πέπων (romanized pepōn), meaning 'melon'.[6][7] Under this theory, the term transitioned through the Latin word peponem and the Middle French word pompon to the Early Modern English pompion, which was changed to pumpkin by 17th-century English colonists"

[@davidwoolsey2135]

@@zinniagarden So the word for the Roman vegetables was later applied to the New World squash, because the people who came into contact with the New World plants thought them similar enough to use their Old World term

[@oaksparoakspar3144]

When I first started trying to homestead a bit on my place, I found that often I had to rotate crops year to year to starve out the pests - much like the oaks naturally do by producing acorns more abundantly in alternating years. So, I couldn't grow pumpkins and butternuts two years in a row with success, but on the years where I could, they were incredibly productive with almost no effort. Get them started, put them in mounds (no tilling needed), and then let the field go wild. The only difficulty was finding all the produce under the knee high sea of giant leaves (and I would always miss a few / find a few) every time I went out. Kept cool and dry, sitting on towels on shelves in my dining room, some of them lasted over a year before starting to go bad. This was especially useful for the butternuts that tend to start turning at the stem and thus you could use them when the stem base got soft without much loss in meat. We would always slice them into strips, toss them in oil and salt, then bake them and eat them like French fries. The pumpkins we would usually go ahead and cook into breads and pies early on - as we don't care for the taste of the straight pumpkins. If things fell apart, early in the first spring I would be dedicating a great deal of space to pumpkins and butternuts - as I can think of nothing easier and more certain for converting space currently kept as lawn into useful food production without depending on cultivating the whole area (you just need mounds).

[@mondopinion3777]

I had such a struggle with striped cucumber beetles that I almost gave up growing pumpkins Then almost by by accident I learned to lay black plastic over well manured ground, and insert the young pumpkin plants into the ground through small cuts in the plastic. I then close the cuts with duct tape on either side of their little stems.. The early cucumber beetles lay eggs on the leaves but the larvae cannot enter the ground to feed on the roots. Result : zero beetles. It works well for squash too.

[@oaksparoakspar3144]

@@mondopinion3777 Interesting. I found that I got the best results skipping a year or two and then getting the starts going inside extra early rather than sowing them outside and getting as much of a head start as I could. If I was harvesting by June I knew I would get a ton before the pests caught up and could take out the plants. I did something like that with Japanese beetles on my grapes by putting down fabric and letting chickens run underneath (high vines on an arbor keeps the fruit out of their interest range). Would work better with Guinea fowl.

[@shadowsoulless6227]

I love how he doesn't shame people that buy pie crusts, but he encourages people to try and make them on their own. :)

[@Marlaina]

Has Jon ever shamed anyone for anything though? 😅

[@EliotChildress]

Here in japan I regularly eat pumpkin roasted with turmeric and other spices. Absolutely delicious. I’m definitely going to try this for this thanksgiving dinner with my friends. Can you add a little more details of the recipe you did to the description? Apples are very expensive here and don’t want to waste a bunch on test pies 😅

[@farmerboy916]

Most importantly is making sure you get a variety of apples that are meant to be baked, rather than the type meant to be eaten raw, or it will just be disappointing. If they’re that expensive and only imported it may not be possible; I’d expect you could also substitute some sorts of persimmon, as long as they don’t turn to mush while baking. Failing that, I wonder about using a processed apple product like applesauce to give a similar flavor and sweetness

[@KairuHakubi]

I always get kabocha when they are in season here. so sweet and tasty, beats the hell out of regular pumpkins that require you to add a lot of sugar and butter to be any good. Kabocha you can just toss right into something and it's good.

[@TheBLGL]

You should be able to sub apples for a local fruit,especially if they have bears. I did this when I lived in Vietnam, made cobbler with local fruit instead of apple. I used mango instead and it was delicious.

[@milosterwheeler2520]

Trader Joe's is selling Pumkin & Apple Handheld Pies this year for Halloween. It is interesting to see that the idea goes back so far.

[@jackrabbit4545]

I grew seminole pumpkins one year, they lasted quite a while, almost a few of them almost made it to a year mark. I had so many i didn’t know what to do with them lol

[@cerberus6654]

As a Canadian who lived in Mexico for some years I used to create recipes using all pre-Columbian ingredients. One that everyone seemed to like was a pumpkin soup made with pumpkin, ancho chiles, huitlacoche (a fungus that grows on corn) and whole boiled cacahuacintle, those giant corn kernels that are used in pozole. It needs some salt and I cheated by throwing in some butter - definitely not pre-Columbian - but served in the hollowed out pumpkin, well, it was incredible.

[@rainbowconnected]

That sounds amazing! If ever I can get some more huitlacoche, I will have to try this for sure!

[@jeromethiel4323]

Pumpkins are squash, and squash is good food. Whenever i order seasonal vegetables in a restaurant, and i get squash, i am a happy man. My mother actually grew and harvested pumpkins. I grew up eating homemade pumpkin pies made from actually home grown pumpkins. And we kept our harvested pumpkins in a root cellar. They (as you pointed out) kept for a good bit if kept cool and dry. Not only that, the pumpkin seeds taste good if toasted, especially with butter and garlic.

[@brianedminster7556]

I think it's sad, really that many urban/suburban folks (who can't grow their own pumpkins) only have pumpkin pies made from that stuff they called 'canned pumpkin pie filling'. Thankfully I haven't had one made from that canned 'stuff' for years! Only pies made from fresh pumpkin here! And you're right - the roasted seeds are both delicious, and nutritious.

[@PeterEmery]

In Australia, we do not differentiate much between pumphinns and squashes. For example, a butternut squash is called a butternut pumpkin here.

[@BryanStutesman]

It feels very crisp hear in southern california...very crispy.

[@gabriellehitchins9182]

I love pumpkin best as soup, or roasted with kūmara (sweet potato) and parsnips. Pumpkins are still a popular vegetable in New Zealand

[@S_H9260]

I love sweet potato and I don't have parsnips often but they're good too. I can't remember having pumpkin as anything but dessert, pie, bread, muffins, so I am going to try this blend. It sounds tasty.

[@gabriellehitchins9182]

@@S_H9260 l A Tray of mixed roasted veg is our household’s favourite side dish to Roasted meats

[@Simlatio]

My babcia (grandmother) is nearly 100 years old, and though here in Australia most people eat a lot of pumpkins, to her the concept was entirely foreign until she moved here after the war. Being from a time so long ago, she herself feels like a piece of living history. Vestiges of her time long ago include things like always removing the toxic skin of potatoes and her mother's method of checking for poisonous mushrooms by soaking them with an onion in a pot of water overnight, which makes me feel a little bit like I'm time traveling. Its always cool when Townsends videos mention cultural practices from long ago that still persist to this day within your own family. In our case, the influence of my grandmother from our nuclear family living situation, has meant that the use of pumpkin in our family recipes is non-existent, and cooking pumpkin based foods is as foreign to us as making tamales.

[@RaeSyngKane]

We had pumpkins growing out of our compost bin last year and I cooked the green unripe ones like zucchini. Absolutely delicious on their own or in soups or with noodles.

[@b.savage8953]

Traditional pumpkin pie has the same texture of sweet potato pie , fibrous and thick . It's the pumpkin custard pie that is so well favored. Made with cream and with a smooth pudding like texture, it's the pumpkin custard pie that gets the blue ribbon 👍😊

[@j.j.savalle4714]

Love this time of year when the squash and pumpkins are being harvested. So many ways to cook and enjoy them. We do an apple/squash/pumpkin bake by simply cubing up the items and baking them tossed with some raisins, cinnamon and brown sugar. Kinda like that pie! Everyone loves it.

[@robzinawarriorprincess1318]

Hey, Team Townsends! You all are out there making the world a better place. Thank you!

[@susan3200]

1 tablespoon of pumpkin powder tossed into your sourdough dough ...equals an exquisitely good sourdough bread. No pumpkin taste... but a tasty bead that is extra nutritious. Enjoyed this episode!

[@darthguilder1923]

0:30 that’s impossible since pumpkins are a new world plant that weren’t brought to Europe until the Colombian exchange. Romans might have called politicians “melon-heads” but not pumpkins, as they had never seen those. One theory on the etymology of pumpkin is that it comes from a Greek word meaning melon

[@dallasb1105]

I was very confused about Romans knowing about a New World crop. Thanks for adding some clarity with the melon.

[@JS-wp4gs]

Pumpkins and squash did not exist in europe until after 1492. They're explicitly new world crops. There is a genus of gourd thats native to africa but they aren't considered pumpkins and weren't very common in europe until fairly modern times

[@tenthousanddaysofgratitude]

I still have squash from last year in the freezer. I finally cooked and froze the last flesh in May. Kabocha is great fibre because you can even eat the skin. Just made butternut squash risotto, I have had kabocha in chili and curry and any kind winter squash is a nice filler in vegetarian lasagne. And don’t get me started on soups! Such a good crop. Great for winter storage.

[@RetroNook]

Ahh sweet Autumn, together at last. The cool crisp air, low humidity, the aroma of a nearby fire pit fills the air as I sip my coffee on my back porch, the changing of the leaves, due to the humidly being low I can hear the whistle of a passing train in the distance, cookies baking in the oven, windows opened a bit to let in a soft breeze as I take a nap, the spirit of the holidays can be seen and felt, pumpkins begin to fill the grocery stores along with decor and sweets, etc, ahhh yes indeed it's the little things in life that are the greatest.

[@Morris_Minor]

I pictured this being narrated in a movie 😂

[@AbsyntheAndTears]

My brains must be pumpkin blasted. Haha. I love the flavor of pumpkin, acorn squash, butternut...so yummy this time of year. Chicken with maple, onion, carrots and butternut squash or pumpkin is an amazing fall dinner. Especially served over rice. Peasant food is the best food, in my opinion. ❤

[@shavanerad9038]

Don't forget the Hubbard (winter) squashes! In Vermont you are more likely to find them in pies for Thanksgiving, than pumpkin. They run to blue (!) or white, irregular tapered oblong shape, often run up toward 50lbs, simple to grow and short seasoned. They are also less watery than a pie pumpkin, more like an acorn squash texture. But they are short season, huge, and prolific and a staple of the "lazy" New England farmer, at least as recently as half a century ago. They are also good animal feed, but the tough warty skin makes the animals favor jack-o'-lantern types more.

[@lorrainemarcone6912]

Hubbard is the absolute best for taste and texture imo

[@Junkinsally]

I had a very successful Hubbard year! I was able to can, freeze bake and make soup from one 30 pound squash!

[@whosweptmymines3956]

Hubbards are great.

[@donnavorce8856]

Right about the pies. Grandma would easily substitute a deep orange squash for actual pumpkin. Butternut was one of her top choices.

[@gege0298]

@@donnavorce8856 Butternut is such an excellent squash in general

[@catherine59226]

Pumpkin soup is delicious! Another enjoyable video! Thank you.

[@Mark-sl4bw]

Ancient Romans did not have access to pumpkins. They were familiar with some gourds and melons, but pumpkins come exclusively from the Americas. That's like saying ancient Europeans were eating corn, potatoes, or tomatoes.

[@Gamefreak924]

he did say "Roman "*times*"

[@Aerindelprime]

@@Gamefreak924 that doesn't help.

[@Gamefreak924]

@@Aerindelprime it does, it means he is specifying the time period, not the location. I figured that Mark misinterpreted John's statement as being about the actual Romans.

[@jacobv3396]

​​@Gamefreak924 He said that Europeans were dealing with pumpkins back in Roman times, which is false because Europeans would not arrive in the Americas until several centuries after the fall of Rome. The English word "pumpkin" is thought to have roots from the ancient Greek word for melon; so his source mistranslated.

[@guillaumedep1]

The actual Roman insult was "cucurbita". It referred to cucumbers, gourds and melons during that period. Cucurbita was used to refer to squash and pumpkins by Europeans when they encountered it because of the physical similarity. The Romans clearly had no knowledge of actual pumpkins.

[@earlshaner4441]

Good morning from Syracuse NY brother and everyone else

[@catherine59226]

Good morning from Vermont!

[@Morris_Minor]

Good afternoon from UK 🫡

[@cozyflannel]

Greetings on this breezy, chilly fall morn in southeastern PA

[@fellspoint9364]

SU …. Good times !

[@PackerBacker23]

Good morning from Richmond, VA!

[@roberthofmann8403]

They didn't just cook them. The word Squash actually comes from the Narragansett, meaning 'eaten raw.' I've never heard anything about the Romans being aware of squash. As far as I know, all squashes originate in the Americas.

[@eklectiktoni]

The Romans were likely referring to what we in modern times call melons - which did originate in the Old World and are part of the cucurbit family along with actual pumpkins.

[@lendavoice60]

I’d love to try the pumpkin apple pie . It looks delicious as you say it is !

[@elijahsanders3547]

Great video! Thank you :) I also heard that the three sisters also compliment and help eachother when grown together. I think it's: the beans provide nitrogen for the corn, the corn stocks let the beans have a natural lattice, and the pumpkins provide ground cover.

[@dwhallon21]

Thank you for teaching us about pumpkins. I love learning about the past

[@NoBSFilms]

There's nothing better than waking up, and having a coffee with Jon and the crew!!! It's a great day 😊

[@wildedibles819]

That's weird 😂 I was cooking up apple sauce and almost ate it all Then I had too much hubbort squash to fit in the crock pot so I added the rest to the apple sauce :) I haven't tasted it yet but it's just finished cooking

[@S_H9260]

Please come back and update us on how it turns out.

[@KnightsofGaming2016]

I love pumpkins! My grandmother recently made a Pumpkin kaya (it's a type of spread here in Malaysia) and I love it. Don't usually eat pumpkins daily, but I love when October arrives because it just gives me more of an excuse to eat pumpkins. Not like there is a stigma towards pumpkins here in Malaysia, just that it feels traditional to eat pumpkins in October 😅

[@lemagreengreen]

Even to this day the association between the Americans/USA and pumpkins persists in the UK. While some pumpkin and squash is definitely eaten in the UK it's not a very significant ingredient in many recipes and up until relatively recently the big orange pumpkins weren't even very easily available, just home grown sometimes. Squash is used mostly as a soup ingredient, sometimes roasted in chunks as an accompaniment but isn't usually the key component of any recipe. Of course they're available now because of the Americanisation of Halloween as an event, the Halloween from my youth (Scotland) was a sort of hybrid version but pumpkins did not feature, we used turnips (swede, rutabaga) just like in Ireland. Now any supermarket sells the big 'American' pumpkin along with countless farms who grow them for this reason. To this end the big orange pumpkin is probably just as associated with the USA in modern times as it was in the past, at least in the UK. Squash is a more common ingredient in mainland Europe though.

[@WaddedBliss]

I grew my own squashes here in the UK. Giant pumpkins for the local church's harvest festival (inedible otherwise) and crown prince and butternut squash for eating. The latter are brilliant fried, roasted or in a curry.

[@oakmaiden2133]

The big orange ones are grown specifically for holiday decor, not eaten. The taste is bland. Other large warty squash are becoming more popular as decor, still not eaten. Seems like people can’t recognize food anymore, lol 😅😅😅😅😅

[@WaddedBliss]

@@oakmaiden2133 A lot of ornamental squash are grown. They look great but are inedible.

[@ArchaicAnglist]

​@@oakmaiden2133Mini pumpkins - the ones that are the diameter and depth of a cereal bowl, or somewhat smaller - first showed up in my favorite local grocery store twenty or so years ago. On a whim I tried cooking one whole in the microwave, after stabbing it with a fork several times, and was delighted at the smooth, dense flesh and rich flavor. A particularly large one would easily feed three people as a side dish, and was a sought-after autumnal treats on my table for years. But the last several years, the ones I bought cooked oddly and were insipid. I don't know whether I'm seeing a different cultivar now or whether the minis on the market have been dosed with something to increase their life as mere decorations. Sigh.

[@stannieholt8766]

When Jon talks about comparing stupid politicians to pumpkins in Ancient Rome, he’s probably referring to the “Apocolocyntosis Divi Claudii,” or “The Pumpkinification of Claudius,” a hilariously mean satire written shortly after the death of the Emperor Claudius, around 60 AD. That long word is the anonymous author’s parody of “Apotheosis,” or being promoted from human to a god, as the Romans believed about some of their most revered emperors. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocolocyntosis The “colocynto-“ part is commonly translated as “pumpkin.” But as several commenters have pointed out, squash weren’t known in Europe till around 1500. It actually means “gourd,” most likely the bottle gourd (which was widely used).

[@marcoguidetti9913]

Pumpkin is also widely used in Northern Italy. For example, it's a key ingredient in "tortelli di zucca", a type of ravioli filled with pumpkin, amaretti (almond biscuits), mostarda (candied fruits preserved in mustard) and Parmigiano Reggiano server with melted butter and more Parmigiano Reggiano on top. They are a typical holiday dish in Emilia and Lombardy.

[@77Shiloh7]

Thank you for this Video. I consider myself "The Pumpkin Lady " . I decorate with them and have a few on my front porch each Fall.. I experiment with Heirloom Pumpkins , buy a new kind of seed each year (Had a hard time finding Tom Fox Pumpkin seeds this year ...all sold out ? ) .I always have a small (sometimes it turns into a huge patch ! ) patch each year . Even with health issue's,I manage to get out there and plant a few seeds. This Video has inspired me to perhaps make a Pumpkin Pie or use cut up Pumpkin slices in a stir fry ! The Autumn is my favorite season (with Spring coming in second) I thank God I live in a beautiful area of Ohio where you can really witness the changing of the seasons. The colors are AMAZING ! So there is beauty even when things are dying. Happy Fall everyone ! Enjoy this wonderful season !

[@drewk9547]

We use pumpkins and squashes several times a week for at least 5 months of the year. Cubes, stir frys, soups, and more often also a pumpkin and apple bake. Made exactly like John describes, but without a crust in a large pyrex pan or even in a slow cooker. This is not a desser, but part of the meal. One of my favorite foods!

[@melissasears6145]

You guys are such a blessing thank you for all you do 🙂

[@olddawgdreaming5715]

Thanks for sharing this pumpkin and apple pie with us. Gonna have to try that out, they are both favorites of mine. Stay safe around there and have a wonderful Holiday Season this year. Fred.

[@Magmafrost13]

Here in Australia a pumpkin is just an ordinary vegetable cooked like any other vegetable, and is available more or less year-round. They're best roasted, but people who hate flavour will boil them instead. Pumpkin soup is also popular here. We dont really use the term "squash" here either, its all pumpkin. Pumpkin pie however is extremely not a thing here

[@abbym9954]

Hey, even modern pumpkins can be kept for SO much longer than people think- no shellac or bleach required! Just choose pumpkins that are not damaged in any way and keep a close eye on them for signs of mold on the stems or the bottoms. Keep them cool and dry and in the shade and, most of all, don't let that thick skin get damaged- they'll get infected with mold SO fast if that skin breaks. I often manage to keep a pumpkin on my shelf from October, when they show up in the grocery store, until AUGUST of the following year before they give up. Keeping them until the spring crops arrive is easy!

[@Emeraldwitch30]

I grow lady Godiva pumpkins and honeynut squash. My grandkiddos love the naked seeds(shelless) and i roast and candy or roast with cheese and garlic. Ive even done done nutritional yeast for a vegetarian friend who was cutting back on dairy. The flash of them is not very good but the chickens love them and since they last way into winter we open one up to rast the seeds and the pumpkin itself is enjoyed by my chickens in the cold of winter. I grow the small butternut shapped honeynut for eating. Its so rich and sweet and creamy. Perfect for sides roasted and in pie once I sieves it smooth.

[@k7l3rworkman97]

This is very helpful info for someone prepping to live off-grid 💯💪🏻 Potatoes and Pumpkins 🥔🎃

[@tenthousanddaysofgratitude]

Don’t forget Jerusalem artichokes but be wary - they are invasive if prolific.

[@erikjohnson9223]

​@@tenthousanddaysofgratitudeAlso indigestible. Why grow "food" of no caloric value and only modest micronutrients (vitamins & minerals)? Of course, everything also depends on local climate: potatoes and fartichokes both eventually fail in Florida but sweet potatoes and many sub/tropical root crops do well.

[@eldonramon]

Thank you! As a German speaker, I'm very much confused by the whole squash/pumpkin distinction, which we don't do in German (summer squashes being the only exception, as we know "Patisson" and "Zucchini/Zuchetti"). Also, I have a more European view on pumpkins, where it was until quite recently indeed seen as food for the poor; and people mostly just eat it as soup these days. I have discovered a whole range of alternate recipes by now, and enjoy pumpkins a lot, as does my whole family. Thank you so much on this historic view on the topic, it clarified so many things for me!

[@SouthernBelleReviews]

I love pumpkins. Thank you for the wonderful piece of history. I just subscribed. 🎃 Such important history that I didn't even know about - And most of us don't! I would love to do more cooking with pumpkin and even make the pumpkin and apple pie recipe at the end of this video! 🎃🍎

[@FrenziedManbeast]

After checking a few websites to confirm: The squash Genus pumpkins/zucchini belong to appear to originate from North America and were not part of Roman/European culture. The other squash Genus belonging to calabash/bottle gourd were native to North Africa. I enjoyed the video of course, but take a peak at your sources for origins of pumpkin since this video is specifically covering their background and history.

[@Dank_Lulu]

Used to grow pumpkins as a kid. They were very simple, fun to play with (training the vines) and an absolute treat oven-baked with lots of sugar on top. They have their pests and diseases to look-out for and I've lost a few crops but I highly recommend it for anyone that has a free patch of land, a shovel and a couple of bucks for the seeds. You don't really have to do anything but it's still rewarding watching the vine grow like the weed that it is and then later picking the fruit. You can also deep-fry some of the male flowers just before they open if you want to really min-max the crop. 😁

[@b.savage8953]

I'm originally from Connecticut and pumpkins abound there . The fall fairs often have a pumpkin growing contest and I've made my weight in pumpkin pies and bread , cookies ect... But I hadn't had pumpkin roll until I moved to the southern states 😋 I've watched videos where whole dishes were cooked right inside a pumpkin. I love all kinds of squash but pumpkin to me is a desert 👍

[@petergray2712]

The classic orange pumpkin cultivar is officially named the Connecticut Field Pumpkin.

[@b.savage8953]

@@petergray2712 👍😊😊

[@chicoarraes]

Seems like pumpkins are the yuka of North America... I'm Brazilian and back in the colonial days, yuka had the same fame of being peasant food that Europeans would frown upon, but they were the main staple of native peoples and around here everyone would proudly eat it.

[@lexington476]

Is a gardener who grows a lot of different vegetables, I definitely agree with the statement that potatoes are planted and forget it. Potatoes like corn and carrots you really don't have to do anything with them aside from water them until they're ready to harvest.

[@David_Avidmind]

Great video! But sorry, Pumpkins as you identified them are a new world food. They did not exist in Europe so the Romans did not have them, did not eat them, did not have recipes with them. The Roman's were probably eating something like cucumbers in any Roman recipe.

[@crescentwalker]

Thank you for this 9 minute education in pumpkin history! I especially loved the pumpkin apple pie lesson.

[@ChrisTopher-zo1vg]

Video posted 3 hours ago. And already has 14,000 views?? You are the man, man!! Great video!

[@rustyschackleford5800]

Don't forget the seeds! They're highly nutritious.

[@Verlisify]

My headcanon is the revolutionary war is that is was because we were mocked for our pumpkin usage too much

[@metime4325]

Most of us are "poor" these days, at least I am.

[@MorbinNecrim86]

Baked potatoes and pumpkin with crispy skin is yum. Didnt know they could successfully be dried.

[@WaynJul]

Pumpkin seeds are also very healthy. Thanks for the history lesson. Who could not like pumpkin pie?

[@Marialla.]

So "Peter Peter pumpkin eater" was an insult calling the guy low class, lazy, or stupid? Cool.

[@Bob-Bob1]

Honestly my favorite way to eat pumpkin is either pumpkin soup or massive chunks baked with honey, salt, cinnamon and a couple dashes of cayenne pepper.

[@MaGiCMushroomClouds]

Not so honestly my favorite way to eat pumpkin is off the floor covered in fecal matter with all my teeth knocked out and a rectal injury sustained during a 24 hour blackout causing searing pain for which I have no explanation.

[@jefreyjefrey6349]

Central Asians are still eating food with pumpkins in big bakeries. i loved the Samsa with minced pumpkin meat + onions + black and white pepper and sometimes carrots to make it sweet..

[@MarkMeadows90]

My grandmother would make a similar pumpkin apple pie during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time months many years ago when I was a kid. Oh, how I missed her cooking! She would add spices to the pie and somewhat precook the apples and pumpkin to soften them up even more. Almost like how she made fried apples on the stovetop. She would add clove, cinnamon, and of course NUTMEG. She made her own pie crusts too! Wish she was still around today. She passed away back in 2007, right before Halloween. RIP Lorene.

[@leegrisham6892]

Absolutely love this channel!

[@sierra565]

I can just look at a pumpkin and immediately feel comforted.

[@lisam5744]

I'm in Florida and we have a native pumpkin species down here we call Seminole pumpkins. They're the only pumpkin I've been able to grow in the hot Florida summer. They're small like pie pumpkins but the vines put out A LOT of fruit. I've grown them before and cured them and have had some last almost 10 months. When I heard you talking about the small pumpkins in Florida...yep, I know those!

[@isatq2133]

We’re gonna need these recipes soon enough. Thank you Jon!!

[@maryettabeck1967]

Pumpkin is a perfect food. Easy to digest. Babies first food!

[@notgonnahappen7899]

I absolutely LOVE real pumpkin dishes! Soups, ravioli and more!

[@johncave3334]

Bravo! What great videos you produce. Thank you!

[@MorganBrunson]

Ummm can you please provide source material for your historical claim of Roman and middle age pumpkins? I can't find anything about the cucurbit family being outside the Americas before Columbus.

[@ravenpineshomestead]

Exactly what caught my attention

[@XBluDiamondX]

Same. My guess is Townsends mistakenly misinterpreted a word that is closely related to the word pumpkin.

[@WaddedBliss]

​@@XBluDiamondXYeah. The ancient Greek word for melon. Melon-headed would be a better translation.

[@andersjorgensen2674]

Or gourd. There are edible gourds native to North Africa/the Med.

[@MorganBrunson]

@@andersjorgensen2674 genetic test have concluded that gourds originated in the Americas and made way to Asia some 8k to 10k or so years ago. There is a definite genetic separation in the 2 first cultivated species but same variety. Totally separate from other cucurbit species which I have not been able to find anywhere in the historical record before discovery of the Americas by Europeans...not that the Americas were lost or such as that to warrant searching for to find...

[@lordgong4980]

Be poor in the 18th century eating Lobster and Pumpkin Pie

[@ravenpineshomestead]

Hey John, love the videos but your claim that they where in Europe pre first contact is entirely false. Perhaps your researcher got confused with translation or read an unscrupulous source. Gourds and mellons existed in Europe but NOT pumpkins. It a discredit to first nation peoples who stewarded this crop for thousands of years.

[@kitkakitteh]

I’ve made bread pudding in pumpkin halves, and baked tapioca cream puddings in whole pumpkins. I think the recipe was from my oldest Joy of Cooking. Both were delicious.

[@Direk091]

Ah pumpkin one part of "the three sisters" the crops long used to keep people fed and the soil usable.

[@KenJohnsonUSA]

The Romans didn't have, or eat, pumpkins. Pumpkins are strictly a New World plant...like >90% of the foods we eat today. The word "pumpkin" comes from the Greek word "peopon" which means "large melon." The Latin word associated with the Roman "pumpkins" Mr. Townsend referred to is "cucurbitae" which means "gourd." So, they were calling people "gourd heads."

[@onemanarmy8499]

Just in time after my work. Thank you for your dedication and love for history and culture ❤

[@persimmonpuddin]

haven't checked in to this channel is a long time, but i always enjoy it. The quality of the video is wonderful - beautiful lighting.

[@milabirch7356]

wait, I thought punkins were a new world food? how did the romans know about them pre-columbian exchange?

[@hippothehippo]

Glad to see someone talk about how important this food was for a very long time. Its always very funny to me that European cuisine, even today, looks down on indigenous crops like beans, squash, corn, potatoes, tomatoes as these like, "cheap" or "easy" foods. Most weren't "simple" to develop, native people didn't stumble on pumpkins or corn in the wild, they created them and their hundreds of varietals through advanced agricultural techniques. These foods are the primary reason millions of people Europe didn't starve to death in the 19th century. Maybe it's some kind of resentment for the fact that the foods came from far away and they had this xenophobic reaction to them as a result, but its always fun pointing out the fact that corn, squash and potatoes have probably shaped modern cuisine more in the last 500 years than wheat has in over 2000.

[@OhioDan]

If they don't want to eat these foods, it's really their loss.

[@Mattheq]

I never knew they were talking about pumpkins in Roman times. Most pumpkins are native to the americas, aren't they? Was there some related kind of squash they had back then?

[@soilbiogeochemist]

Yeah he's wrong for sure.

[@andersjorgensen2674]

It was probably a type of edible gourd or a melon. Not the sweet type we're used to, probably something more like the Asian wax or winter melon.

[@soddinnutter5633]

While pumpkins are native to the Americas, the Old World also has several edible gourds, like the calabash and the luffa.

[@PulseOfOpposites]

I must say, your videos are a genuine pleasure to watch. It's the best kind of entertainment; the kind that you both have a good time watching and learn new things while doing so. Thank you for your continued output of polished videos.

[@shhhsplain1708]

did they have pumpkins in precolumbian europe?

[@ravenpineshomestead]

No they didn't, must be a research error

[@resourcedragon]

Well, yes. The Romans called stupid politicians pumpkin heads so they must have known pumpkins. The Romans also knew other member of the pumpkin family in Europe, like cucumbers (Latin name cucumis).

[@ravenpineshomestead]

@@resourcedragon the word pumpkin didn't come about till around and after the revolution, it's likely linguistic translation error. The early French when first introduced to the cucerbita genus they simply called them melons. Some of townsends earlier videos even highlights this

[@rabeandre2]

We had certain kinds, such as the calabash, back in ancient Greece. But the kinds we mostly see grown today, such as zucchini (courgette), squash, or the big orange jack'o'lantern type pumpkins are only known from sometime in the 16th century

[@ravenpineshomestead]

@@rabeandre2 interestingly the calabash is of a completely different genus, more closely related to common gourds such as the birdhouse or bottle gourds. Lagenaria being it's genus rather than the cucerbita that is native to the Americas

[@Willy_Tepes]

Australia has a folk song about a man named Pumpkin Paddy, which is a similar character to Johnny Appleseed.

[@Willy_Tepes]

"Pumpkin Paddy was his name, pumpkin planting was his game. Wherever he passed through the land, he planted seeds in soil and sand."

[@PoppabearsCave]

I have never craved pumpkin. Until now..

[@hillbilly4christ638]

The three sisters do well in close proximity to one another in the garden.