Abenaki Pumpkin Candy
Source of Recipe
TriTownDeb
List of Ingredients
2 lb pumpkin (2 to 3)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
Juice and zest of 1 lemon (optional)
3 sprigs fresh cilantro (optional) (3 to 4)Recipe
Peel and seed pumpkin and cut it into 2X4 inch strips. Stir baking soda into enough water to cover the strips. Add pumpkin strips and allow to soak 12 hours. Drain and rinse pumpkin in running water. Drop pumpkin strips into a pot of boiling water and cook until tender, but not soft. Remove the pumpkin strips and crisp in a bowl of ice cold water, then drain.
Combine sugar with 1/2 cup water, lemon juice and cilantro in a saucepan. Heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, then boil slowly, without stirring for 10 min. Add pumpkin strips, cover the pot, and simmer for about 20 min, until syrup is thick and strips are brittle. Spread candy out on a rack or on a wax paper-covered tray to dry for at least 10 hours. Roll in additional sugar if desired and store in an airtight container.
Notes: Makes about 1 pound.
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Coiled strips of pumpkin and melon drying in the sun were a common sight in the late fall at the turn of the century. Simmered, often together with dried apples or berries, and if available, added sugar, they made a popular dessert. Pumpkin candy is another treat. Traditionally, the strips of pumpkin in this recipe are soaked in a bath of water and wood ashes to soften, however today, most indians use baking soda as a substitute for the ashes. Those who prefer a less sweet candy sometimes add lemon juice and thin strips of lemon zest to the sugar syrup and flavor their syrup with cilantro. Those with a real sweet tooth, roll the dried candy in coarse grained sugar.
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