Hope you are enjoying the Autumn weather.

It is time to think about some great soups to
warm the chilly nights.

Pumpkin, the star of this hearty brew,
Its golden hue and flavor true,

Roasted in an oven's warm embrace,
Enhancing its taste, adding grace.

This is a perfect show stopping dish for the Fall season,
and perfect now that pumpkins are on sale.

Get one for carving a spooky face,
and another one to use for
one of the funnest soups you can make.

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Is Pumpkin really popular in Germany?

Pumpkin or Kürbis
came to Europe

Pumpkin is a relatively new vegetable to Germany and all of Europe. While it was
cultivated in the North and South Americas for 8000 years
it was not introduced to Europe until the late 15th century, when
Columbus brought them back from the Americas.

While the word "Pumpkin" has a fun origin that comes from PomPom that you
would put on a hat......

Kürbis comes from the Latin Cucurbita, which is the Latin word for all
the genus; squashes, gourds, even cucumbers.

Read more from my Food History blog,
The History of Pumpkins

Pumpkins or Kürbis are growing in popularity in Germany and now
They have,

The Largest Pumpkin Festival in the World!

Pumpkin Sculpture of
Spongebob
at the
Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival

Now there is the largest pumpkin festival in the workd held at the
castle grounds (Ludwigsburg Schloss) in Ludwigsburg, Germany

There are contests for the largest pumpkins, pumpkin sculptures
and even boat races with hollowed out pumpkins turned into floating vessels.

Read more about it here

Here is a video of some of the festivites...

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As the festival and love for pumpkin grows, so do the recipes.

One of our family favorites is Pumpkin Soup.

This Pumpkin Soup (Kürbisuppe) ia not a sweet soup,
this is not pumpkin pie in a bowl,
it is a Savory Soup,
pureed silky smooth, blended with the waxy potatoes.

I do think the Australians have mastered this and I have learned much
from their recipes.
Pumpkin and Pumpkin Soup is very popular in Australia.
In fact a chunk of roast pumpkin in some areas like Adelaide that I visited,
was served with every dish, like we would potato or starch in the US.

This dish however is as fun to serve as it is to eat and super
for a Halloween get together.

You actually, Serve the Soup in the Pumpkin, that acts as a Tureen
but the inner meat of the pumpking becomes part of the soup itself.

Pumpkin Soup
(Kurbissuppe)

Carve the pumpkin as you would normally and take the seeds and goop out scraping with a spoon.

Now let's prepare the soup ingredients.

All good German soups start with a Suppengrun, which is the German equivelant as the French "Mirepoix" or
the Spanish and Italians call it "Sofrito", and the Cajun's call it "The Holy Trinity"

They are all a underlying flavor for soups and stews, that give it body, and fill in the cracks so you don't have a soup that feels "incomplete" or has a bland after taste. Soups need to have a rounded flavor profile, a
balance of sweetness, tartness, salt and even some earthy tones, sometimes referred to as Umami. For years
the Umami can be found as MSG. It is now called Hydrolized Protein amongst other names and is in most soup bases, which is what I use most.

I didn't have celery root so just used celery and it works fine, but doesn't have as much flavor as the
root. I do use the butt of the celery as there is a lot of flavor there and this soup is going to be
pureed.

Add the ingredients and bake in the oven....

Puree it with an Immersion blender or regular blender.

Silky smooth...... lets get the bowls!

Ready to serve...

This was such a fun Halloween BBQ,

I did a couple German Brewmeister Chickens and salad to go with it.

Go Here to Make Pumpkin Soup
with
Step by Step Pictures

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Our German Cookbook

German Music

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