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After low supplies in 2009, pumpkin is back

THE GREAT (canned) Pumpkin really is coming this year. As most pumpkin-pie bakers know, last year was a disaster for canned pumpkin. Heavy rains decimated pumpkin harvests in the Midwest, source for top producer Nestle's Libby brand. Grocery store shelves were bare for the 2009 holiday season - yet another way 2009 disappointed. Pumpkin hoarding was reported, with some opportunistic entrepreneurs even selling cans of the super food puree for $6 and $7 on eBay.

The Homemade Pumpkin Puree includes Grand Marnier. (ALEXANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer)
The Homemade Pumpkin Puree includes Grand Marnier. (ALEXANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer)Read more

THE GREAT (canned) Pumpkin really is coming this year.

As most pumpkin-pie bakers know, last year was a disaster for canned pumpkin. Heavy rains decimated pumpkin harvests in the Midwest, source for top producer Nestle's Libby brand. Grocery store shelves were bare for the 2009 holiday season - yet another way 2009 disappointed. Pumpkin hoarding was reported, with some opportunistic entrepreneurs even selling cans of the super food puree for $6 and $7 on eBay.

This year's bumper crop squashes this kind of gourd gouging. Local supermarkets, including Acme, ShopRite and Wegman's, report plenty of pumpkin on the shelf.

At least for now.

"Remember that everybody was out of canned pumpkin last year - the entire country," said Jeanne Colleluori, spokesperson for the Wegman's supermarket chain, whose local store locations include Cherry Hill, N.J., Warrington and Downingtown. "So all retailers need to be resupplied. We believe we'll get enough to get us through the holidays. We're very hopeful, but only time will tell."

Currently, Wegman's is selling 15 ounces of Libby's canned pumpkin for $1.79, with the same-size store brand priced at 99 cents and canned organic pumpkin at $1.99. This indicates about a 12 percent increase for Nestle, which has raised prices to cover higher costs. At Acme, Libby 15-ounce is $1.69, with the store brand priced at $1.29.

Even chefs who typically spurn anything from a can have a fondness for canned pumpkin. Take Ritz-Carlton pastry chef Monica Glass, for example. The West Chester native uses canned pumpkin for her decadent chocolate-chip pumpkin bread pudding, just one of the sweets on her groaning Saturday afternoon dessert buffet. Five selections run $20, a steal that is dangerously habit-forming.

"Canned pumpkin has a great flavor," said Glass. "And it's always consistent. You know what the water and sugar content is going to be every time. Sometimes with a cooked squash, one can be completely different from the next, which can affect the recipe."

Glass is playing with butternut squash, another seasonal ingredient that has fall written all over it. She uses butternut-squash puree to make ice cream and sorbet, and even candied cubes of the squash, which contains enough natural sugar to caramelize even without the addition of extra sugar.

If you're wondering exactly what kind of pumpkin goes into that can, it's not the typical jack o'lanterns you're carving for Halloween, which are known to be watery and relatively tasteless.

Generally, the larger the pumpkin or squash, the tougher the skin and the drabber the flavor punch. Small, sweet sugar pumpkins, the red-orange Cinderella pumpkin and Long Island Cheese pumpkins all make great eating, and great pies if you decide to make them from scratch.

Butternut-squash puree can also be substituted. The main differences between varieties are in sweetness and moisture content.

Chef Jeffrey Power, a Black Fish alum now at Dettera in Ambler, is serving a local pumpkin soup with warm pumpkin bread on his new fall menu. "It takes patience to work with fresh pumpkin," he said. "You have to really cook it down to get the intensity of the flavor. But it's completely different from using canned." He sources his favorite Peanut pumpkins from Maple Acres farms in Plymouth Meeting.

Mercato Executive Chef Mackenzie Hilton mainly uses fresh pumpkin at her busy BYO restaurant on Spruce Street. In her home kitchen, it's another story.

"At home, I'm not going to go through the extra steps," she said. "At work I have extra hands to help me. There are great products, including organics; some are even pre-spiced. . . . I don't think there's anything wrong with taking shortcuts in your personal kitchen. Everybody's busy."

Hilton uses canned pumpkin in her homemade fettuccine, currently on the menu, spiced with just a hint of cinnamon. Topped with a savory brown butter, pancetta and butternut squash sauce, this dish is the epitome of the season.

For his pumpkin pancakes served with candied pepitas (pumpkin seeds), Four Seasons chef Rafael Gonzalez and his staff cook off hundreds of pounds of Long Island Cheese pumpkins, prized for their natural sweetness and dense meat.

"We make puree to last all year long," he said, noting that the hardest thing about using a fresh pumpkin is peeling it before putting it in the oven. "Long Island Cheese pumpkins are ridged, so it's a little tricky. Best is to cut it in half, then lay the flat side down so it doesn't wiggle or jiggle. It's a little time-consuming, but the end result is so delicious."

Cutting through that tough skin is what scares a lot of people away from experimenting with fresh pumpkin, agreed Jen Carroll, chef de cuisine at 10 Arts at the Ritz. Carroll's new menu features pumpkin pasta made with three kinds of squash (butternut, delicata and kabocha), brown butter pumpkin sauce and a topping of toasted bread crumbs with a dusting of cayenne.

If the pumpkin you're working with fits, she suggests sticking it into the microwave for about 3 minutes. "Just long enough to soften up the skin. It's still raw, but at least you can get your knife in there."

She loves simply baking delicata squash, scooping the flesh and lacquering it with butter. Serving an autumnal squash soup in a hollowed, baked half of Cinderella squash is another crowd-pleaser.

But, still, canned pumpkin has its place.

"For pumpkin pie, I love canned pumpkin," Carroll said. "That's what I grew up eating."

Then again, if canned pumpkin comes up short during the holiday season, you can always do it the old-fashioned way and still get your pies on the table.