[Sca-cooks] Pumpkin

[Terry Decker]

> >I am working on a feast menu for January based mostly on Apicius. There 
> >are several recipes calling for Pumpkin -
>>
>>Just what sort of pumpkin should I be looking for?  Big Orange 
>>Jack-o-lantern just seems wrong.  Isnt' it a new world thing?
>
> All of our standard pumpkins and squashes are New World. There are old 
> world vegetables that look rather like some squashes. At least some of 
> them are Lagenaria Siceria (sp?), the white flowered gourd, which is still 
> used in modern Chinese cooking and I think perhaps in Italian.
>
> What translation of Apicius are you using? The fact that it translates the 
> relevant word as "pumpkin" is at least some evidence that it may be an 
> unreliable one. I gather that Vehling is about the least reliable of the 
> translations, Flowers and Rosenbaum the best.
> -- 
> David/Cariadoc

Vehling translates Apicius Book III (the Gardener) Chapter IV as being 
"Pumpkins, Squashes."  Flower and Rosenbaum translate the same section as 
"Marrow."  The Latin text is "Cucurbitas."  Vehling appears to be using the 
Linnean taxonomy to translate the word, while Flower and Rosenbaum are using 
a term in English usage specifically for some New World squashes.  Neither 
of these is a correct translation given the history of the genera Curcubita 
and Lagenaria.  I would suggest that the Mary Ella Milham translation might 
be the best for precisely (as possible) determining the translation from the 
Latin.

According to my notes, in Latin "cucurbita" can be generally used to 
describe gourds, cucumbers and melons, in the specific it tends to refer to 
gourds,  "cucumis" to cucumbers, and "pepon" to melons.  The precise useage 
may vary according to the source.

Looking at the recipes, they appear to be for some variety of Lagenaria 
siceraria AKA bottle gourd, calabash, birdhouse gourd, white flowered gourd, 
basket gourd, etc.

Bear