'Tis Autumn!

I should have been writing so much before the first week in November, but I got caried away with enjoying the best of Autumn 2024. I love autumn it’s the best time of the year I’m not saying that in some Christian Girl Autumn Instagram clone girl way. Its sincere. This seasonal shift is the main reason I chose to live in Zurich which beat out a return to my hometown in NJ only because I thought the dating prospects would be better. LOL!

After leaving my hometown when I was 11 for various locations in the South, starting with Miami, I always longed with unrequited nostalgia for a Northeast fall. Each season distinct from the next held its own magic! I was never a fan of endless summer or endless winter or endless anything and only came to this appreciation with the moves I made across this Earth.

Fall in Zurich this year has been JUST right. Crisp with a spooky fog rolls across the hills and settles in the valley early in the morning. Some days the thick fog burns off and a clear blue sky and piercing sunshine warms us enough that I have been running out during lunch for a walk to take deep breaths of damp earth and admire the vivid changing leaves. Now that we are in November the golden yellows are deepening into orange and red. The sun doesn’t shine every day and I also love the moody feel of walking in the forest, as I did yesterday with brown leaves gently gliding down from the treetops sort of like little harbingers of the next seasons coming snow.

On a rain-soaked September weekend, I picked up pumpkins from the nearby Junker Farm kurbis (pumpkin) festival. Raincoat and boots on I tromped through the mud and carried enough pumpkins and mums home to do the appropriate seasonal decorating in the house. After getting home it was onto soup and bread! With all the nostalgia swirling about me in my fall haze of happiness, I wouldn’t help but think of pumpkin soup. Nope definitely not the kind you’re thinking of. I’m talking about my Aunt Mary’s pumpkin soup. Seeing as I didn’t have the proper ingredients for a Caribbean Pumpkin soup (I text my Aunt Mary’s daughter and confirmed this fact) I made do with what I had on hand. Now one cannot just say Caribbean pumpkin soup and mean one thing depending on the island and family, even within my family pumpkin soup means different things but my Aunt Mary makes the BEST pumpkin soup you will ever be blessed to taste.

Caribbean Pumpkin Soup

  • 3 tbsp. unsalted butter

  • 4 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 stalks of celery, minced

  • 1 large carrot, minced

  • 1 medium white onion, minced

  • 1 Scotch bonnet pepper, stemmed, seeded, and minced (this is not optional… but I didn’t have it so I used a red chili)

  • 3 lb. pumpkin, such as calabaza or butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2" pieces

  • 4 cups chicken stock

  • 4 sprigs thyme (this herb is the essence of the Caribbean kitchen)

  • 2 sprigs parsley

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 1 cup coconut milk

  • 1⁄2 tbsp. mild curry powder

  • 1 tsp. fresh lime juice

  • 1⁄4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Method:

Melt butter in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add garlic, carrot, celery, onion, and, scotch bonnet; cook until golden, about 8 minutes.

Add pumpkin, stock, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium; add coconut milk and cook until pumpkin is very tender, 30–35 minutes.

Discard thyme, parsley, and bay leaf;

Working in batches, purée soup in a blender until smooth.

Return soup to saucepan and curry powder, lime juice, nutmeg, salt, and pepper; simmer until slightly thick, 4–6 minutes.

Dumplings should be in the soup; however, I opted to make focaccia bread as an accompaniment. If you’re interested in the recipe or have any fond memories of autumn please leave a comment below.

FOODFlorence Merrymanautumn, fall, pumpkins, pumpkin soup, recipe, Junker Farm, CaribbeanComment