Dia de los Muertos: 'Treasures of The Mexican Table' Cookbook

Pati Jinich, chef and host of the James Beard Award-winning PBS show, “Pati’s Mexican Table,” shares her favorite dishes for Día de los Muertos and recipes from her upcoming cookbook, Treasures of the Mexican Table: Classic Recipes, Local Secrets. Plus, she takes listener calls to answer their culinary-related questions.   CANDIED PUMPKIN IN BROWN SUGAR SYRUP / CALABAZA EN TACHA Makes about 4 cups Sweet pumpkin slices cooked in a piloncillo syrup with a stick of canela and orange juice and rind is traditional for Day of the Dead, but we also like to serve this sweet right through the Christmas holiday season, and you can find it year-round. In the U.S., it makes a great addition to the Thanksgiving dessert spread. The flavor will be more intense if you use piloncillo, but you can make this with dark brown sugar. I include the seeds and strings of the pumpkin, because as this cooks, the strings are transformed into something wonderful, and the sweet, crunchy candied seeds are to die for. The orange rind becomes candied too, and I always dive in for it. My favorite way to eat the candied pumpkin is cold, with crema or crème fraiche, but it’s wonderful with ricotta and it’s irresistible on top of vanilla ice cream. I also enjoy it with my morning yogurt. Ingredients 2 pounds piloncillo, broken or cut into chunks, or about 6 cups packed dark brown sugar 3 cups water 1 (3- to 4-inch) canela or cinnamon stick Juice of 1 large orange (1⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup), plus the rind 1 small (5- to 6-pound) pumpkin Instructions 1. Place the piloncillo or brown sugar in a large heavy pot, add the water, canela or cinnamon stick, orange juice, and rind, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until all the sugar has dissolved, about 15 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, rinse and scrub the pumpkin and cut away the stem. Cut the pumpkin from top to bottom into 1- to 2-inch-wide slices and remove the seeds and strings if you wish (I recommend leaving them; see headnote). Using the tip of a paring knife, score the skin so that the pumpkin slices can absorb the syrup from both sides. 3. When the sugar has dissolved, remove the pot from the heat and arrange the pumpkin pieces in the syrup, skin side down. Return to the heat and bring back to a simmer, then cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour. From time to time, spoon some of the syrup over the top of the pumpkin slices if they are poking out. The pumpkin should be drenched in the simmering syrup. 4. Uncover and simmer for another hour, or until the pumpkin is a rich brown color and saturated with syrup. Turn off the heat and let cool; the pumpkin will continue to absorb the syrup and the syrup will thicken and darken. 5. Serve the candied pumpkin warm, at room temperature, or chilled. It will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for a month.   Excerpted from PATI JINICH TREASURES OF THE MEXICAN TABLE: Classic Recipes, Local Secrets © 2021 by Pati Jinich. Photography © 2021 by Angie Mosier. Reproduced by permission of Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.