Consider them one of Mother Nature's colorful surprises: pumpkins that are a shade apart from those normally found in the patch.
Pumpkins are no longer exclusively orange. The latest trend includes shiny orbs in crayon-box hues like bright red, yellow and even blue. Besides bringing a new aesthetic to seasonal decorating, colored pumpkins also add another dimension to cooking, with subtle variations in taste.
"Years ago, I only remember the regular orange pumpkins," says produce manager Allan Levitt of Sutton Place Gourmet, showing off the Pikesville store's eye-catching display of pumpkins and squash.
He pauses to thump a blue pumpkin - a medium-sized globe that actually appears a sea-foam bluish color. Next, he gently cups a tiny white pumpkin in his palm - the aptly named `Jack-B-Little.'
"Now there are so many different kinds of pumpkins," says Levitt, surveying the array of shapes, sizes and colors. He smiles and adds, "Some of them make for fabulous eating."
There are upward of 200 varieties of pumpkins, all with generally the same fleshy orange interior. But on the outside, the colors range from the vivid red `Rouge d'Etant' to the `Australian Blue' and `Crown Prince,' the latter with a steel-gray skin exterior and sweet orange flesh.
In between those extremes are tan or beige pumpkins - also sweet and widely used by commercial food processors to make canned pumpkin-pie fillings and purees.
Cheese pumpkins have multicolored green-, white- and brown-swirled skins, and are hailed for their flavor. Then there are assorted yellow and green pumpkins: The `Sweet Mama' is deep green with orange flesh that is good for pies, soups and roasting.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the somewhat rare white pumpkin, sometimes referred to by its varietal name, `Lumina.'
It's one of several different types of pumpkins grown on 46 acres owned by Frank Sensenig of Lancaster County, Pa.
"We plant in June, and harvest them in September and October," says Sensenig, noting that pumpkins thrive in well-drained soil, with plentiful amounts of nutrients and water.
Each week he sells his pumpkins and other produce at a 50,000-square- foot open-air market in Leola, Pa. (just outside Lancaster).
"Our pumpkins go all over the United States and overseas," he says. Technically classified as a fruit, the pumpkin's more common use as a vegetable dates back several centuries to its origins in Mexico, where it was a staple in everyday cooking.
