Pumpkin Spread
Eyal Shpringer
The inspiration for this pumpkin spread comes from Arab restaurants across Israel. In my family, we call it the Abu Gosh spread as we tasted similar dishes in restaurants in Abu Gosh village near Jerusalem.
The spread is best when the pumpkin is still warm. Despite the specified amounts in the recipe, we prepare the spread according to taste – sometimes, the tahini is dominant, and other times, garlic or parsley takes the lead. Feel free to discover the combination that suits you.
Ingredients:
Piece of pumpkin (about 1/2 kilo)
5-6 crushed garlic cloves
Small bunch of chopped parsley
About 1/2 cup tahini
Olive oil to taste
One teaspoon salt
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Preparation:
Cook the pumpkin in a covered pot with water until softened.
Remove the pumpkin from the pot and place it in a large bowl—Mash with a fork.
Mix in the remaining ingredients, adjusting flavors to your preference, and it’s ready!
Optional additions:
Fresh mint leaves
Curry leaves
Basil leaves
The Pumpkin spread recipe through the lens of traditional medicine
This is a classic late summer-autumn recipe. The heavy, large, moist, sweet pumpkin represents the end of summer’s earth quality. The garlic, olive oil, lemon, and tahini represent the drying, metallic autumnal qualities.
The parsley foreshadows winter as a warm, aromatic, spicy herb, balancing the coldness and dampness of the Israeli winter.
As part of a diet for diabetics, the recipe is filling and satisfying yet has a low glycemic index.
Eyal Shpringer, A Chinese medicine practitioner and a clinical herbalist specializing in Chinese nutrition and traditional nutritional approaches. Eyal holds a master’s degree in research of East Asian medicines. Since 2007 he has been teaching a postgraduate training program in Chinese and oriental nutrition according to the TEF method and other courses and workshops for practitioners. Eyal co-authored the bestselling book Cooking for Life: A Traditional Nutrition Cookbook for Cancer Patients (Hebrew).
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