00:00The color alone can make you feel warm inside. Pumpkin soup, a German favorite
00:06perfect for the start of the cold season. It gives you a lovely warmth, pumpkin
00:12soup. It fits the season. You could eat it every day. It tastes like fall and I
00:18love fall. At the Park Cafe restaurant in Ludwigsburg, Laura Leidig shows us how
00:25to make a proper pumpkin soup. It's not difficult. There are many different
00:31recipes for pumpkin soup. You can work with various spices and herbs, with ginger
00:39for a fine spicy note or curry, turmeric and cumin. That leads us in the
00:46direction of Asian cuisine. We'll get to Laura's favorite variation shortly but
00:53first let's dive into the wonderful world of pumpkins. We visit the world's
00:58largest pumpkin exhibition in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart. There are some 700
01:03varieties and show here but beware you can't serve up any old pumpkin.
01:08Ornamental gourds like these with their funky colors and shapes are just for show.
01:15In Germany, ornamental gourds must be labeled. The toxins they contain can cause
01:25serious illness or even death. Not the case for the beloved butternut squash, fortunately.
01:34Most pumpkins are harvested from the beginning of August. But some varieties need to ripen longer
01:41and can only be harvested in autumn. Like this jack-o'-lantern. It was bred specifically for Halloween.
01:48While they're perfectly edible and great for a warming soup, many prefer to carve them into ghoulish
01:54lanterns.
01:59Originally, pumpkins were native to Central and South America. They arrived in Europe after
02:06voyages of Columbus. Today pumpkins are grown worldwide. European leaders in pumpkin
02:13cultivation are Ukraine, Spain and Italy. But how to turn a pumpkin into a delicious soup?
02:21For this recipe, Lara uses Hokkaido or butternut squash. The biggest challenge is cutting the large,
02:28hard fruit. But she shows us a hack for easy carving.
02:37With Hokkaido pumpkins, it's important first to cut off the top and bottom to have a little
02:43more surface area. Then you go in with the knife down to the middle and pull down. Do the same
02:51on the other side and you have your perfectly halved Hokkaido. You can eat Hokkaido's skin,
02:59but with other pumpkins, not so much. Hokkaido's skin is quite fine, so it cooks down well. With other
03:06pumpkins, it's a bit thicker. So you can eat the skin, but what about the seeds? Rather than throwing them
03:15away, try roasting them in the oven, whole or shelled. For Lara's favorite pumpkin soup, she uses finely
03:25chopped ginger and diced onions. First we put the oil and the onions in a pot. Then we add the ginger.
03:36We add it at the beginning so that it can better develop its flavor. You do the same if you add curry,
03:42cumin or fresh herbs. Sweat them a little. Right at the beginning.
03:49Then it's time to add the pumpkin. For acidity, Lara adds some orange juice.
03:56Then the soup is topped up with vegetable broth.
03:58The Hokkaido has a very nutty flavor of its own, so you don't need many spices. As for other types of
04:10pumpkin, like butternut squash, you need stronger and more spices because it only has a light buttery aroma.
04:18To give it some oomph, you'll need more spice accordingly.
04:21To get that beautifully silky consistency, cream is a must. And it's vegan friendly too. Just use coconut milk instead.
04:33Cut down for about 20 minutes. And voila, the soup is ready for pureeing.
04:38There's nothing quite like a bowl of pumpkin soup to capture the essence of fall. A true comfort food
04:51for a cozy evening in as the days get shorter.
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