In the town of Nyons: Persimmons aspiring to be potirons.
potiron
(po-tee-rohn) noun, masculine
: pumpkin
French definition* of
"le potiron": "plante potagère voisine de la courge"
("vegetable plant,
related to squash")
*From Le Petit Larousse
Do
you know of any "potiron" terms or expressions… or would you like to
help translate the quote (below)? Perhaps you have a pumpkin story to share?
Anyone care to discuss the differences between a potiron and "une citrouille"?
Feel free to voice your "potiron pensées" in the comments box, for all to
see.
Je préférerais m'asseoir sur un potiron et le posséder bien à
moi que d'être à plusieurs sur un coussin de velours. –Henry David Thoreau,
from "Walden"
Listen to Jean-Marc pronounce the French word "potiron" and
read the quote: Download Potiron
. Download Potiron
The last time Mr. Delhomme (senior) stopped by, he
looked over to the picnic table… and sighed. "Well, what are you waiting
for?"
I stared back at the giant pumpkin that he had given my mom weeks
ago. (Or did she swipe it from Monsieur's potiron* patch, just below?) No,
the citrouille* was too heavy, even for her, to swipe, or to lift, or to drag
undeterred.
"Elle va le peindre,"* I announced. "Nature morte,"* I
offered, explaining Mom's "still life" plans for one imposing
potiron.
"Bah!" Monsieur's replied. His eyes scanned the countryside, where
real country women once resided — before the artists and writers decamped. In
their funny minds, vegetables were no longer edibles — vegetables were
vedettes!*
As for Monsieur's question "What are you waiting for," I
pondered that one for few weeks more. Meantime, the old pumpkin, cut from the
earth's cord, remained on that table, but a somber gourd…
And then
my Grandmother Audrey didn't answer her phone over at a Salt Lake City nursing home. Instead, another woman's voice declared:
"The number
you have dialed has been disconnected".
A pumpkin in
my throat, I dialed up my Uncle Rusty and soon, in the background, that
familiar family atmosphere whistled and hummed. What are you all
doing?
"Aunt Betty is making pies."
"Pies?"
"Yep. Nine
pies!"
"NINE PIES?" I pictured my aunt Betty at the kitchen stove. I
remembered her long hair that, as a child, I loved to brush and those delicate
lace-making fingers, from which she also produced handmade peluches.*
"What kind of pies?" I asked, easing into the atmosphere of
yesteryear.
"Oh, pumpkin, banana, cherry…"
"So you are all getting
together… with Grandma?…"
That's when the voice of reassurance sounded.
"I think I'll swing by [the nursing home] and steal her for the day… if
she'll quit fighting with Aunt Reta."
"Fighting? Fighting!" I giggled.
"She's fighting!!!" I imagined our occasionally ornery Audrey, grand-mère
extraordinaire. She may be fighting with Aunt Reta, but she is also taking
her daughter's, advice: to squeak! "It is the squeaky wheel that gets the
grease!" Grandma had shared Aunt Reta's tip during our last conversation. That
explains the disconnected telephone. (All that squeaking got Grandma transferred
to a more suitable room!)
And so, on a very light note, I hung up the
phone… but not before Uncle Rusty offered to send instructions for pumpkin
pie. He seemed to read my thoughts ("Who me, make pumpkin pie?) and his
humble answer, 'We just follow the instructions on the can" was all the
encouragement needed.
Soon things picked up round here. "Still life"
started to spark and that old, cold pumpkin found its way into the warm
hearth. Fueled by memories of family holidays with a feisty grand-mère,* and
aunts and uncles who show they still care–I marched out to the picnic table,
picked up that potiron and transformed the Gallic gourd into a piece of the
precious past: spiced up and sweetened for the present moment, at
last.
* * *
PS: In addition to soup and some pumpkin seed snacks, I
made the pumpkin pie! Monsieur Delhomme's son is coming for dinner and I just
can't wait for word to get back to old Delhomme that the "artful" pumpkin
(after lending itself to a still life painting… then a story) went on to
become a tart (as if artists and writers didn't have a country woman's
smarts!).
* * *
I once wrote a story about a French turkey and
shared a few of the ingredients in my mother-in-law's cognac riddled "farce"
recipe (!). Thanks for checking out the chapter "Dinde" in my book (which doubles as a great stocking stuffer, hint hint).
Comments,
corrections, and suggestions are always welcome in the comments
box.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
le potiron
(m) = pumpkin; la citrouille (f) = pumpkin; elle va le peindre = she's going to
paint it; la nature (f) morte = still life (painting); une vedette (f) = movie
star; une peluche (f) = plush toy, stuffed animal; la grand-mère (f) =
grandmother
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Comment dit-on “pumpkin pie” en francais? La tarte de citrouille?
Pumpkin pie from scratch, wow, impressive 🙂
Hi, Kristin — now that we’ve relocated from Florida to France, it’s a bit of a challenge, isn’t it?!
Our citrouille (as explained to me, a citrouille is only a jack-o-lantern) was made into a jack-o-lantern for the handful of trick-or-treaters we had here.
Our potiron (again explained to me that a potiron is a flatter, different species, best suited for cooking) was divided – part of it became veloute de carotte et potiron (yummy!), and the rest became pulp to be made into a pumpkin pie this afternoon.
I even found a turkey! Although they’re quite expensive here (about US$5/pound) we splurged and bought a gorgeous turkey from a farm near Nemours. I’ll let you know after tomorrow whether it was a success – but it looks like it will be. The birds are allowed to roam free in a very big, very clean yard — and they all looked fat and very well-suited to be the center of attention at our dinner tomorrow.
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to les americains in the EEUU, and here’s good wishes for the expat Thanksgivings that will be celebrated tomorrow.
Kristin, we’re all happy that your grandmother is still as feisty as ever. It must have been a challenge to make that pie from a pumpkin, and without Carnation milk!
How does one say in French the question M. Delhomme asked: “Well, what are you waiting for?”
And as long as I’m asking, could you please translate the quote from Thoreau?
Love the picture…
Hi Libbie,
Re Carnation milk… I used crême fraiche or sour cream instead (condensed, canned milk didn’t seem appetizing!)
Mr Delhomme’s “Well, what are you waiting for” would be “Alors, qu’est-ce que tu attends?”
… And here’s a translation, for today’s quote that I received from Sarah, in Moncton, Canada (hi Sarah!):
“I would prefer to sit on a pumpkin and have it to myself than to be one of many on a velvet cushion.” Sarah adds, “One of many examples of how one must be flexible in translation rather than literal…”
“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” Henry David Thoreau. It’s nice to see the French translation – thank you.
While we had no potiron yesterday for our thanksgiving meal away from the U.S., we saw a shop called Potiron in the Gare du Midi in Brussells yesterday. We gave our Merci’s over Belgian beer, grilled salmon, and a waffle for dessert.
Kristi,
Your stories bring back so many memories for me, of course I clearly remember that
beautiful crisp October morning in Monsieur Delhomme’s garden. Everyone was off doing
errands, I could entertain myself with that
darling man in the pumpkin fields. Even though he is almost 30 years older than me I think he is so beautiful, my French crush.
JULES
Juste en passant
having a little rest, but must go back to my garden before it gets dark. Today, at last, the weather is fine for what I want to do!
1) I think un potiron has 2 flat poles – une citrouille is much ronder.
2) In the fairy tale “Cendrillon”, Conte original de Charles Perrault, (fairy tale -> Cinderella) the Fairy Godmother turned “une citrouille” (NOT un potiron!) into a carriage.
3) The flesh from “potiron” is tender and tastier than the flesh from “citrouille”.
In France and in UK (don’t know about US):
-> Potirons are used in soup and gratin recipes & pies.
I have 2 recipes of –> Potage au potiron, NOT “… à la citrouille”
and a recipe of –> Gratin de potiron, but NOT “… de citrouille”!
I used to have a recipe of Tarte au potiron (I lost it!)
-> I don’t know anything about tartes “à la citrouille”, but “graines de citrouille rôties” are great!
4) just checked:
-> potiron n. m. = Cucurbita maxima = in English, Winter squash
-> citrouille n. f. = Cucurbita pepo = pumpkin (used for Halloween pumpkins)
Stems of potirons & citrouilles are different in shape and texture.
Back to my bulbs…
Kristin, Thank you so much for this post and to all the comments that followed. It has been driving me crazy trying to understand the difference between potiron and citrouille since Autumn a year ago! – Christie
Inspired by an uninvited muse two days before le jour de l’action de grace, this geezer rolled up his sleeves, cleared a crowded kitchen counter, and proceeded to create deux pain complet weighing at least two pounds each.
Nancy et moi were to meet George and Marilyn as our quests for dinner just about the time the loaves had surrendered enough heat to be sliced; it was time to leave. One loaf was intended for George and Marilyn but there was considerable concern about the interior of the bread as a never-before-tried method was used (no machine and easier than expected). The gift was given.
Upon returning home a test slice had to be made. It is noted that these loaves had not one grain of white flour in them or on the kneading board — whole wheat all the way!
Later, chez nous, une premiere tranche of the saved creation revealed a soft and even bread. Back from celebrating Turkey Day with rellies, our friends reported with praise and gratitude; George wanted to know how much I charge!
Love your blog! It is in my faves!
By the way, ladies (and guys wandering through the kitchen!)– en France, evaporated milk is “lait concentre, non sucre”.
Sweetened condensed milk (or Eagle milk, if you are my grandmother) is “lait concentre sucre”
Brown sugar is cassonade (a dry brown sugar, so adjust for moisture in your recipe) or Vergoise, blonde or brune (this is the brown sugar you’re familiar with – the soft, slightly sticky, molasses-flavored stuff, in light or dark.)
Baking powder is levain chemique, and dry yeast is levain boulanger. Baking soda is bicarbonate de soud, and could be found in the baking aisle. It might also show up next to the salt…or it might be at the pharmacie (go figure).
Hope this helps someone trying to adapt recipes from home…no tragedy for me, just bumps in the road.
I guessed that the difference between the two words for pumpkin might have to do with cooking pumpkin vs. ornamental pumpkin. Sunny’s post seems to back that up, though apparently it’s not a 100% distinction. Bravo to you for thinking to make pumpkin seeds. My husband did that one year when I was overly ambitious and had a real pumpkin. (I usually go with Libby’s for pumpkin dishes.) Thanks also to Sunny for the lesson on what to look for on French market shelves. Almost as much fun as figuring out English recipes! (demera sugar, caster sugar, etc.)
Sorry you had that shock with your grandmother’s phone being disconnected, but it all turned out well enough. Phew.
Apropos of turkey. Too late for thanksgiving this year, and I missed the opportunity with an American friend locally too, but here in Lunel and presumably anywhere you find Halal butchers you seem always to be able to get turkey – chaply too, and delicious. We often get spiced brochettes, but you can get really large breasts whole to roast, and legs. I shall remember to remind American friends next year in October!
I once saw “potiron lumineux” somewhere as the translation for “jack-o-lantern.” Is anyone familiar with that expression?
Congrats on your pie, Kristin! I made one a few weeks ago for some French dinner guests — they loved it but were HORRIFIED to learn I used pumpkin from… a can! Shocking!
Sunny, thanks for all those cooking translations — extremely helpful! I wish someone would publish a dictionary of food terms (a real dictionary, alphabetized — not arranged by category as is the Marlin menu master).