Devilishly Gourd

With Halloween just around the corner, Paola Westbeek shares ideas for how to use leftover carved pumpkins to cook with

ACCORDING TO THE climate change organisation WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme), approximately 9.5 million tonnes of food goes to waste every year in the UK. Those staggering numbers are especially disturbing if you consider that nearly three-quarters of that food (6.4 million tonnes) was perfectly suitable for consumption. Curbing food waste would not only reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by roughly ten per cent, but the food that ends up in landfills could potentially feed up to 2 billion people.

With the advent of autumn and Halloween right around the corner, I can't help but think about all of those handsome pumpkins that will mercilessly get discarded after they've served as festive jack-o'lanterns by our front door or as part of our indoor decor, adding seasonal colour to a mantlepiece or dining room table. With the exception of the rock-hard, dry and unpleasantly bitter gourds available at a garden centre, most pumpkins (if handled correctly) need not be thrown away and can be used in many delicious dishes, both sweet and savoury.