smashing pumpkins 263like trephination on our client, creating a battle- weary but still reasonably
presentable hollowed- out tureen. I rubbed the cavity with sea salt and
poured in milk I’d heated with plenty of sage and roasted garlic. (Regular,
lactose-free, or soy milk work equally well.) I set it carefully into the oven
to bake. According to the recipe, after an hour or so of baking I could use
a large spoon to scrape gently at the inside of the tureen, stirring the soft,
baked pumpkin flesh into the soup.
I’ll now add my own cautions to this recipe: don’t scrape too hard, and
don’t overbake. I confess I may have hoped for a modest flutter of kiss-
the- cook applause as I set our regal centerpiece on the table, instead of
the round of yelping and dashes for the kitchen towels that actually en-
sued. The whole thing collapsed. Fortunately, I’d baked it in a big crock-
ery pie dish. We saved the tablecloth, and nine- tenths of the soup.
My loved ones have eaten my successes and failures since my very
first rice pudding, at age nine, for which I followed the recipe to the letter
single-crop fi elds, utterly useless as wildlife habitat, doused heavily with fertiliz-
ers and pesticides. This approach is highly productive in the short term, but
causes soil erosion and kills tropical biodiversity—including the migratory birds
that used to return to our backyards in summer. Not to mention residual chemi-
cals in your coffee. In contrast, farmers using traditional growing methods rely
on forest diversity to fertilize the crop (from leaf litter) and help control coffee
pests (from the pest predators that are maintained). Although their yields are
lower, the shade- grown method sustains itself and supports local forest wildlife.
Selecting shade- grown and fair- trade coffee allows these small- farm growers a
chance to compete with larger monocrop production, and helps maintain wildlife
habitat.
Independent certification agencies (similar to those that oversee organic
agriculture) ensure that fair trade standards are maintained. As demand grows,
the variety of products available has also grown to include chocolate, nuts,
oils, dried fruits, and even hand- manufactured goods. For more information see
http://www.transfairusa.org, http://www.fairtrade.net or http://www.ifat.org.STEVEN L. HOPP