In Greece we don't have Halloween...we have apokria. The literal meaning of the word means "an abstinence from meat". It is what we call a "moving holiday" meaning we don't celebrate it at the same time of year every year, as opposed to Christmas.
What I've always liked about Halloween, is the custom to curve pumpkins in any image and shape one can ever imagine. In my head I imagine that it must be beautiful at night with all these pumpkins lit up and the costumes and the candies...
We may not have the pumpkin-curving custom in my country but we know how to make and eat...pumpkin sweets! Here is the recipe in order to make a delicious, fat free, desert with the 'insides' of the pumpkin you curve lol
You'll need:
1 kilo of orange pumpkin
750 grams of sugar
1 glass of water (preferably a wine glass)
2 vanillas
1 spoon of lemon juice
a few white almonds (optional)
You'll do:
Clean the pumpkin in a way that you would clean a watermelon and cut the insides as if you were cutting potatoes to fry them (in long and-a bit-fat pieces).
Put the pumpkin-'potatoes' in boiling water, leave them in for two minutes and drain them.
Put the sugar and water in a pan (or pot), on the stove, and let them boil. When it starts boiling put the pumpkin pieces in and leave it like that for 20 minutes (in medium temperature) till the syrup is ready.
Before we finish boiling the fruit and the syrup together we add the vanilla (it is the powdery one, not the sticks) and the lemon juice.
When our sweet is cold you may add the almonds and put it in glass jars and in the fringe.
Tip: be careful, you don't wanna melt the pumpkin so if you think that the fruit is boiled and the syrup isn't done yet you can take out the fruit and leave the syrup boiling. Don't boil the syrup too much though because it is going to turn into a caramel.
image found on google image search, recipe after an on-line search and a talk with my grandmother :)
Happy Halloween
xoxo
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