Spicy-Sweet Pumpkin Seeds

One of my earliest and most profound sense memories was the smell of roasting sunflower seeds.

On crisp autumn days you could smell them for miles.

Through the chill bite of wind the scent of roasting nut meats brought with it a sort of warmth, an eddying respite.  Bemittened and freezing it was difficult, especially as a small child to not follow those perfumed eddies back to the source.

In my memory the sunflower seed vendor was always hidden right around the next corner.  Just where the smell became so overwhelming that you thought you might die of hunger right on the spot if you could not taste one of those precious pods with their crunchy nutmeats.

They were almost always women.  Older women; bundled up in scarves with their faces careworn and sad.

They sat over huge tubs of thin aluminum, dented and pockmarked with use.  Home rigged contraptions that involved ancient oil lanterns and a simple motor to turn the aluminum tub over the low flame.  Just enough heat to keep the seeds piping hot and to propel their aroma towards unsuspecting noses.

As a child it was difficult not to stare.  Watching the women stir the seeds with a practiced motion.  Their hands were cracked, the fingers calloused and dark with a lifetime of hard work.  Their skin was thinned with age appearing fragile and translucent on the backs of their hands.  But there was nothing awkward about the way they moved.  There was an odd beauty about them as their performed their complicated dance with large kitchen spoons keeping the sunflower seeds moving no motion wasted.

Purchasing the seeds required another dance all together.  There were no bags or cutesy cellophane pouches, the pitch black pods came in paper cones, twisted expertly from that morning’s Pravda.  From small to large, the cones were made in a single motion then filled just as quickly the seeds nestling down with the barest of practiced shakes.

And then they would be in your hands, warming them through your mittens the aroma now yours for your own personal enjoyment.  And no matter how cold, it was impossible to resist ripping off those mittens so that your fingers could wrap around the warm paper cone.  It was so hard to resist tearing open that cone and popping those pitch black shells into your mouth.

And the taste…rich, nutty and sweet…not salted, not oiled just simple unadulterated sunflower.

I was a particular child.  I liked to eat them one at a time.  Not like my brother did.  He being older would rake them in by large handful into his mouth and chew them whole, spitting out the fibrous mass of shells and meats when he was through.  But that was unthinkable to me.  To me the best part of eating the seeds was cracking open each and every shell to pull out the perfect, sweet nutmeats.  I wanted to enjoy every one last one of them on their own merits, breathing in the intoxicating breath of that roasting pan with each one.

And as much as I loved sunflower seeds I was completely insane for pumpkin seeds.  They were a much rarer treat, available for just the briefest of moments every year.  So quick that you could miss them in a day.

So it was my greatest delight to learn when we moved to the states that no only do you get the carve a whole pumpkin on Halloween (and dress up in all sorts of imaginative ways) but you also got a pumpkin full of seeds that you could roast and eat.

Is it any wonder that Halloween is my favorite holiday?

Most of the time, there are far too few seeds for me to actually use them in a recipe.  Even raw they vanish from the table with alarming speed.  My family silently giving nod to my memories.

So this year I got smart.  I hid them!

And while I still prefer both pumpkin and sunflower seeds plainly roasted I had enough this year to try something new.

It was Sandra Lee that gave me the idea with her caramel pumpkin seeds but as usual she insisted that the recipe contained something pre-made.  And while the idea caught my attention I really didn’t want to go the pre-made route.  I did however love her pairing of cinnamon, sugar and cayenne pepper.

I admit to a long standing love affair with cayenne.  I put it in nearly everything with the latest particular obsession involving adding it to sweets.  Even if the burn is not felt, much like salt I feel a little heat goes a long way towards enhancing flavor.

It is the same with these seeds, the cayenne provides just a background of warmth, a contrast to the predominantly sweet spice.  And it pairs really well with the ginger.

The recipe is fairly cobbled together but the amounts don’t matter nearly as much as the process.

Spicy-Sweet Pumpkin Seeds

2-3 cups pumpkin seeds, roasted and cooled [1]
4 tablespoons raw sugar [2]
¼ heaping teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
¼ heaping teaspoon salt
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Mix the spices together with 1 tablespoon of the sugar.  Add enough cayenne pepper to your liking.  Mine is 90,000 Scoville units so I don’t use very much at all.  Not all cayenne pepper is as hot!  And remember that sugar will take some of that heat away as well.

In a large pan over high heat, drizzle in the olive oil, add the seeds and stir to coat.  Sprinkle the other 3 tablespoons of sugar over the seeds.  Stirring constantly allow the sugar to melt and caramelize over the seeds, breaking up any clumps.  As soon as all of the sugar is caramelized, pour the seeds into a heatproof bowl.

Sprinkle immediately with the spice mixture and toss until cool.

[1]  To prepare the seeds, soak them overnight in water to loosen the pumpkin fibers and dry them in a 250 degree oven for a couple of hours.  To roast them set the temperature of the oven to 375.  Spread them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and bake for about 20 minutes, stirring them every 3-5 until golden,

[2]  I prefer the large crystal crunch of raw sugar but regular table sugar can be used.  I just don’t think it’s as pretty or tastes as good.

Comments

[Ari (Baking and Books)]

Just the other day my husband was telling me how much he loved eating pumpkin seeds (which I've never had). After seeing this picture I think we're going to have to buy a pumpkin and toast us some seeds!

[Kitarra]

Ari,

Pumpkin seeds are a great treat! They have a unique flavor that is very plesant! And they are good for you. They have loads of anti-oxidents! If you don't get enough from a pumpkin you can sometimes buy them raw this time of year. Trader Joe's sometimes sells them! Let me know how they turn out!

[bre]

i really liked your recipe it was easy and fun to do this holloween.

[Kitarra]

Bre,

I am so glad you liked it! Thank you for letting me know.