While turkeys, hams, fish, and even tofurkeys often hog the spotlight on the winter holiday dining table, there are plenty of holiday food traditions from around the world that put heirloom vegetables front and center.
First up, a few of our favorites for the American Thanksgiving table.
Pumpkins
Even though it was certainly not on the menu in the fall of 1621, when English colonists and Wampanoag tribal members gathered to celebrate a successful harvest, pumpkin pie is ubiquitous at American Thanksgivings today.
With its creamy, smooth texture and sweet flavor, Winter Luxury Pie pumpkin is a classic for pie. This 6-pound heirloom was introduced by Johnson and Stokes in 1893.
Seedsman Bernard M’Mahon introduced Cheese pumpkin to American gardeners in 1807, so named for its flat shape and tan exterior, like a wheel of cheese. The sweet, rich flesh of the Long Island Cheese pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) richly commends it for use in pie filling.
While it is a top choice for carving a jack-o'-lantern, the Connecticut Field Pumpkin is also a fine choice for pie, and at 20 or more pounds apiece, you could really feed a crowd! This pre-1700 variety is one of the oldest known varieties native to the U.S.
And we can’t forget the New England Sugar Pie pumpkin, a selection introduced in 1863 by Fearing Burr. This little beauty has serious pie bona fides.
Squash
The genetic malleability of Cucurbita, combined with centuries of selective breeding, and the plants’ propensity to cross pollinate, make the squash family deliciously diverse. Squash was a primary crop of indigenous communities in the Americas for centuries, one of the ‘three sisters’ crops of corn, beans, and squash. The word squash is a shortened form of the Narragansett word ‘askutasquash,’ which means ‘eaten raw or uncooked.’
Squashes are a cornerstone of winter cooking, and they are especially well represented on holiday tables.
J.H. Gregory introduced the Essex Hybrid squash (C.maxima) in 1883, describing it as a ‘cross between a turban and a hubbard, with the shape of the former and the skin of the latter.’ We love this striking, warted variety for making everything from soup to pumpkin bread – or as an ornamental conversation starter!
In addition to turning heads with its brilliant red-orange color, the buttery, custardy Boston Marrow squash (C.maxima) has a multitude of culinary uses! Fearing Burr, author of Field & Garden Vegetables of America, wrote about the squash in 1831, recalling the story of J.M. Ives of North Salem, Massachusetts, who received seeds from a friend and then passed them along to members of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
Root, Root, Root for Root Veg
The Danvers Half Long carrot gets its name from Danvers, Massachusetts, where local farmers developed it in the early 1870s, focusing on color, flavor, and its adaptability to heavy clay soil. Burpee Seeds helped popularize the Danvers Half Long. We sell Danvers Half Long 126, an improved variety developed by the Eastern States Farmers Exchange in Massachusetts in 1947.
Macomber Turnip Rutabaga turnip: Local lore in Westport, Massachusetts, holds that in 1876 brothers Adin and Elihu Macomber brought seeds home from the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition and planted them near radishes in their garden. The brothers thought they were turnip seeds (Brassica rapa) but they were really rutabaga (Brassica napus var. napobrassica), which is a cross between the turnip and cabbage (Brassica oleracea). Historians for the D. Landreth Seed Co., which had a huge presence at the Philadelphia exposition, think the Macomber brothers got the seeds of Sweet German rutabaga at the company’s booth. Led by farmer Bill Braun of Ivory Silo Farm, the folks around Westport have taken its preservation and celebration to heart.
We will always be fans of the Detroit Dark Red beet, which D.M. Ferry Seed Co. introduced with much fanfare in 1892, raving about its "most perfectly shaped and smoothest roots.” The greens are especially good, too, especially when picked young!
Sweet Potatoes
Forget the marshmallows for your sweet potato casserole: heirloom varieties are too good to cover up with sweet, sticky goo!
Nancy Hall is an heirloom sweet potato with deep roots in the southeastern U.S. For decades, it dominated the commercial sweet potato market and was once so popular that in 1939 the folks in Paris, Tennessee, held a “Nancy Hall Sweet Potato Jubilee.” It’s not clear how this potato got its name; one story from the late 1890s claims that it was an accidental cross of potato and flower seeds by Miss Nancy Hall.
You might not think of it straight away, but New Jersey is a major producer of sweet potatoes in the U.S., and the dry-fleshed, cream-colored Jersey Yellow has been a favorite on Jersey tables since 1780. They hold up well to cooking in curries, stews, and yes, casseroles.
Check out our recent blog post to learn more about the history of sweet potatoes.
We will be featuring heirloom varieties for holiday dining traditions from around the world in future posts!
