In Australia, the term “pumpkin” refers to all forms of winter squash, according to mixologist Nick Tesar in All Day Cocktails, where he and co-author Shaun Byrne describe their Halloween cocktail “Trick or treat?” combining roasted pumpkin syrup with rye whiskey and cream soda to create a drink that’s “spicy, warming and a heap of fun.”
Australian pumpkins “differ from the rest of the squash family in that they are not harvested until they are mature and have developed their hard external skin,” Tesar explains.
“Blue pumpkins are the large, pale blue-skinned monsters of the pumpkin family, often weighing around 5kg (11 lb) each. These are the best roasting pumpkins. The kabocha, or Japanese, pumpkin has very sweet flesh, and is easily the most user-friendly, as cutting through it is far less of a chore than cutting through. the large blue ones. Butternuts are the variety that look like a bell, with a pale orange interior that is nutty, and my favourite for a rich pumpkin soup.”
