The Greater Pumpkin

Experienced cooks know that there are pumpkins for carving and there are pumpkins for cooking. Guess which one you’re more likely to find at this time of year.

Decorative pumpkins are bred for a number of attributes--size, shape and depth of color. Flavor is not among them. Try to cook a jack-o’-lantern and you’ll wind up with stringy, pallid stuff that in no way resembles anybody’s image of the perfect pumpkin pie filling.

More and more, though, you can find edible pumpkins at grocery stores and farmers markets. They’re labeled “pie pumpkins” or “sugar pumpkins.” Too small and too pale to be considered scary, they have a smoother texture and deeper flavor than the decorative variety and for 364 days of the year, that counts for something.

To prepare one of these pumpkins, treat it like any other hard-shelled squash. That means cutting it in sections, discarding the seeds and stringy material from the inside and then either roasting or steaming it.

Roasting gives you a more intense flavor, though the texture may be a bit drier (all the better for beating in butter). To roast a pumpkin, put the unpeeled sections--quarters will be fine--in a roasting pan, cut side down. Add about a quarter of an inch of water to the bottom to keep the meat from sticking, then bake at 400 degrees until you can easily pierce the pumpkin with the tip of a sharp knife, about 40 minutes to 1 hour. When it is cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh from the skin with a spoon.

Steaming a pumpkin goes a little faster and gives a smoother puree, though the flavor is milder. To steam a pumpkin, peel it (a large chef’s knife works best) and cut it in at least eight and preferably 12 pieces. Place the pieces in a steamer basket over rapidly boiling water and tightly cover for about 30 minutes.

Even if you follow these directions, the flavor might seem a little pale if you’re used to canned fillings. To get a really deep pumpkin flavor, you’ll probably need to use a butternut, banana or kabocha squash; they’re a pumpkin’s first cousins.

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Carolyn Olney of the Southland Farmers Market Assn. says Raul Cuevas of Cuevas Farms near Perris has Jewell and Garnet sweet potatoes. He sells at the Fullerton and Santa Monica markets on Wednesday, Redondo Beach on Thursday, Whittier on Friday, Santa Monica, Torrance and Pasadena on Saturday, Alhambra on Sunday and Torrance on Thursday.