Steirisches Kürbisgemüse (Styrian Creamed Pumpkin)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Box grater (coarse side)
• •Wide heavy-bottomed pan with lid (28cm)
• •Colander

Instructions

1. 1

   Grate and salt the pumpkin

   Grate the pumpkin flesh on the coarse side of a box grater. You want shreds about the length of your thumb, rough and uneven. Toss the grated pumpkin with a teaspoon of salt in a colander set over a bowl and leave it for ten minutes. The salt draws out excess moisture, which matters. If you skip this step, you'll end up braising the pumpkin in its own water and the finished dish will be thin and washed out instead of concentrated and sweet. After ten minutes, squeeze the pumpkin gently with your hands to press out the liquid. Don't wring it bone dry. You want damp, not dripping.

   Hokkaido pumpkin is closest to what Styrian cooks use. Its flesh is dense and sweet, and the skin is thin enough to eat if you prefer, though I peel mine. Butternut works well as a substitute. Avoid watery varieties like standard Halloween carving pumpkins. They'll dissolve into mush.
2. 2

   Soften the onions

   Melt the butter with the sunflower oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat. The oil stops the butter from burning, which gives you more time and a gentler heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it turns translucent and soft, about five minutes. You don't want color here. Golden onion would push a nutty flavor into the dish where you want sweetness and cream instead. Add the garlic in the last minute and stir until it smells fragrant.

3. 3

   Braise the pumpkin

   Add the squeezed pumpkin to the pan and toss it through the onions. Sprinkle in the pinch of sugar. This isn't about making the dish sweet. It's about coaxing out the pumpkin's natural sweetness, the same way a pinch of sugar in tomato sauce rounds out the acidity. Pour in the broth, stir once, and cover the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let it braise gently for fifteen to eighteen minutes, stirring a couple of times, until the pumpkin is tender and the shreds have softened but haven't collapsed into a puree. You want texture. Some pieces holding their shape, others breaking down into the sauce. That contrast is the whole character of the dish.

   Check it at twelve minutes. Different pumpkin varieties cook at different speeds, and the difference between tender shreds and baby food is about three minutes of inattention. Lift the lid, press a shred against the side of the pan with your spoon. It should yield easily but not disintegrate.
4. 4

   Finish with cream and vinegar

   Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the sour cream until it melts into the warm pumpkin and coats every shred. Add the white wine vinegar. This is important. The vinegar cuts through the richness of the cream and the sweetness of the pumpkin, and without it the dish tastes flat and one-note. Start with one tablespoon, taste, and add a splash more if you think it needs it. You're looking for a gentle brightness, not a sharp tang. Season with salt and white pepper. White pepper because black specks in a golden dish look wrong, and because white pepper has a cleaner, more direct heat.

   The sour cream goes in off the heat. If you add it to a boiling pan, it can curdle and turn grainy. Residual warmth is enough to melt it through. Stir gently.
5. 5

   Add dill and serve with Kernöl

   Fold in the chopped dill, reserving a small pinch for the top. Transfer the Kürbisgemüse to a warm serving bowl or spoon it alongside your main dish. Now the moment that makes the whole thing Styrian: drizzle the Kernöl over the top in a generous swirl. The oil is so dark it's nearly black, with a green shimmer when the light catches it. It smells intensely of toasted pumpkin seeds and tastes nutty, rich, and slightly bitter. Don't stir it in. Let it sit on the surface in pools and streaks so every spoonful picks up a little. Scatter the last of the dill over the oil. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •Kernöl is not optional. It is the dish. You can find Styrian pumpkin seed oil at good delicatessens, online Austrian food shops, or sometimes in health food stores. Look for a bottle that says 'Steirisches Kürbiskernöl g.g.A.' on the label, which means it has the EU's Protected Geographical Indication. The cheap imitations from other regions taste thin and bitter. A good bottle costs more but lasts for months because you use it a few tablespoons at a time.
• •Never cook with Kernöl. Heat destroys its flavor and turns it acrid. It is strictly a finishing oil, drizzled cold over warm food, salads, soups, and vanilla ice cream (try it, the Styrians are right about this).
• •This dish is best in autumn when pumpkins are freshly harvested and dense with flavor. In winter, a good butternut from the shop will do. In spring and summer, don't force it. Make something else. Austrian cooking respects the season, and so should you.
• •Kürbisgemüse is the traditional side for Steirisches Backhendl (Styrian fried chicken) and boiled beef. It also sits beautifully next to pork roast or Schweinsbraten. At my restaurant in Salzburg, I serve it alongside a simple piece of grilled fish in October and people lose their minds over it.

Advance Preparation

• •The pumpkin can be grated and salted up to four hours ahead. Keep it in the colander in the fridge, covered. Squeeze out the liquid just before cooking.
• •The finished Kürbisgemüse can be made two hours ahead and gently reheated over low heat. Add the sour cream, vinegar, and dill only after reheating. Drizzle the Kernöl at the table, always fresh, never reheated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 275g)