Pumpkins

The pumpkin (Curcurbita pepo) is thought to have originated in Central America about 5500 BCE. It was widely disseminated throughout North America in pre-Columbian times. With its thick shell and solid flesh, the pumpkin can be stored through the winter. Native Americans also preserved pumpkin by slicing and drying it.

Pumpkins were introduced into the Old World shortly after the first European explorations of the New World. They are mentioned in European works beginning in 1536. They were originally called pompions, or large gourds, and they were cultivated in England by the mid-sixteenth century, well before Thomas Hariot mentioned them in his Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1588). Hence, English colonists were familiar with pumpkins prior to settling in North America and immediately began growing them when they arrived. Although pumpkins are related to squash, American colonists carefully distinguished between them and used them culinarily in different ways.