| If you were to ask the average American which | | | | tostadas and as a taco filling! Pumpkin is a versatile |
| Mexican vegetable is the most common in Mexican | | | | vegetable like many other hard shelled squash |
| food recipes, he or she would probably think for a bit, | | | | varieties and Mexican chefs are well aware of this |
| before replying either chili peppers or tomatoes. Chili | | | | particular quality. |
| peppers and tomatoes do appear in a lot of Mexican | | | | Pumpkin has been used as an ingredient in authentic |
| foods, but Mexican cooking is not limited to these | | | | Mexican meals for hundreds of years; these |
| vegetables alone. In fact, Mexican cooking is very | | | | vegetables are thought to originate in North America, |
| varied and, even though they are not widely known | | | | with Mexico, being where they are known to have |
| about outside Mexico, there are lots of traditional | | | | been cultivated the longest. Actually, pumpkin seeds |
| Mexican vegetable dishes. | | | | have been discovered in Mexico and some are |
| It is indeed unfortunate that Mexican vegetable dishes | | | | believed to be almost nine thousand years old! |
| have not yet won their rightful place as favorites on | | | | As you would expect from this fact, Mexican cooks |
| tables north of the border, but the more people learn | | | | have had a lot of time to become familiar with the |
| about these recipes and the more they try cooking | | | | pumpkin and to develop a lot of different Mexican |
| them for themselves, the more popularity they earn. | | | | pumpkin recipes. This vegetable is used in nearly every |
| Pumpkin is a common vegetable in Mexico and it | | | | way imaginable in Mexican cuisine, playing both starring |
| features in many Mexican dishes. Probably not the | | | | and supporting roles in a great many dishes. |
| vegetable you would expect to see on the menu and | | | | Every Part of the Pumpkin - Almost |
| of course, you probably are not going to see any | | | | You may find pumpkin braised with tomatillos and |
| pumpkin dishes at your local Mexican restaurant. | | | | chilies, blended into a spicy soup with beans and herbs |
| However, this is beginning to change, with well-known | | | | or in any number of other ways. Even pumpkin seeds |
| chefs like Rick Bayliss beginning to popularize the | | | | are a common ingredient in traditional Mexican recipes. |
| vegetable in a Mexican culinary context. This has led | | | | Roasted pumpkin seeds are used in many different |
| to some people interested in trying Mexican pumpkin | | | | recipes as well as being eaten on their own as a |
| recipes for themselves. | | | | snack. |
| Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere | | | | One of the best-known uses for pumpkin seeds in |
| Mexican pumpkin recipes include a lot of variety, from | | | | Mexican cooking is in some types of mole sauce. Not |
| the popular pumpkin candy dulce de Calabasas to | | | | every mole features these seeds, but the famed mole |
| Mexican pumpkin soups to dishes where it is braised, | | | | verde of central Mexico relies on this ingredient for its |
| stewed and even mashed and used as a topping for | | | | nutty flavor and satisfying mouth feel. |