COLD SPRING, N.Y. — A experimental seed grow-out organized by Glynwood last year has evolved this year in a way that merits an official title: Kitchen Cultivars. Representing the symbiosis between growers and culinary professionals, and to encourage the use of regionally produced ingredients among home cooks, the “brand” also serves as a marketing tool for participating farms and restaurants to promote events and products that are related to the annual project.
From January 23 through February 6, across the Hudson Valley and beyond, this year’s special menu items or events showcase a stellar crop of Long Island Cheese Pumpkins, one of the oldest varieties cultivated in the United States. A host of celebrated restaurants and venues are participating this year, including:
Amuzae, Angry Orchard Innovation Cider House, Brushland Eating House, Crabtree’s Kittle House, CrossRoads Food Shop, Duo Bistro, Fish & Game, Gaskins, Glynwood, Gramercy Tavern, Lagusta’s Luscious Commissary, Le Express Bistro, Made in Ghent, Panzur, Phoenicia Diner, Pound Ridge Organics, Purdy’s Farmer & the Fish, Restaurant North, Soons Orchard, Swoon Kitchenbar, Talbott & Arding, 251 Lex, 273 Kitchen, Roundhouse, The Village TeaRoom.
For more information, visit glynwood.org. For event details and reservations, please contact each restaurant or venue directly. Participating as a venue, Glynwood is hosting Chef Jay Lippin (Crabtree’s Kittle House) for its Farm Dinner on Thursday, January 19, from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Tickets are still available.
About the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin
This classy cucurbita is prized by chefs for its culinary versatility. As a member of the species C. moschata, the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin (LICP) is much more similar to butternuts and crooknecks than the disposable Halloween varieties (C. pepo). Hidden inside an elegant buff-colored shell, its dense, smooth, intensely orange flesh is ideal for cooking and baking. So called for their resemblance to a wheel of aged fromage, these pumpkins shine in applications far beyond a prize-winning pie. Not only is the flesh delicious, but the shell, flowers and seeds are also edible.
Long Island farmer, seed saver, and founder of the Long Island Regional Seed Consortium, Steph Gaylor, collaborated with Hudson Valley Seed Co. (HVSC) to supply seeds for Kitchen Cultivars this year. Her seeds were grown from those originally cultivated by Ken Ettlinger, a professor at Suffolk County Community College and founder of the Long Island Seed Company. Like last year’s cultivar, Hank’s X-tra Special, the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin is on-board Slow Food USA’s International Ark of Taste as part of the organization’s effort to preserve and revive regional food traditions.
In total, approximately 3,500 pounds of pumpkin were harvested for restaurants. Hundreds were grown at eleven Hudson Valley farms, including Common Ground, Dirty Boots, Fishkill Farms, Glynwood, Hawthorne Valley, Hearty Roots, Maitri, Lineage, Meadowland, Soons Orchard, Blooming Hill Farm. Many more were grown at Glynwood’s Farm Business Incubator in New Paltz specifically for seed-saving by HVSC for future sales. As part of this process, HVSC organized a community “scoopfest” at the Incubator, from which pumpkin flesh was donated to local food pantries via UlsterCorps and Pound Ridge Organics. Because of the sheer size and weight of the crops, Farms2Tables, a new digital application that connects farms with wholesale buyers, assisted growers with purchasing and delivery.
The LICP made its culinary debut in the Hudson Valley last November at the first-ever Drunken Pumpkin. Organized by Glynwood and hosted by Fishkill Farms, this preThanksgiving holiday market featured sweet and savory bites from six chefs who are participating in Kitchen Cultivars, with tastings of New York State farm- and orchardbased hard ciders.
About Kitchen Cultivars
Your taste buds play a role in protecting, promoting and proliferating seeds that are locally sown and grown. A partnership between Glynwood and Hudson Valley Seed Co., Kitchen Cultivars unites farmers and restaurateurs in raising awareness for regional biodiversity and Hudson Valley food culture. Through coordinated plantings, restaurant features and special events, the goal of Kitchen Cultivars is to increase production, awareness and value of regionally adapted seed varieties. Last year’s grow-out was of Hank’s X-tra Special Baking Bean, a nearly extinct legume hailing from Ghent, New York. Twice as many local growers participated this year; seventeen farms produced one or both of the Bridge to Paris Pepper (harvested for seed earlier this summer) and the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin.
About Glynwood
Located in Cold Spring, NY, Glynwood’s mission is to ensure that the Hudson Valley is a region defined by food, where farming thrives. We farm, train farmers, promote regional food, and collaborate to realize our vision. We work to advance regenerative agriculture that benefits the natural environment, energizes local economies, enhances human health and strengthens rural communications. Our vision is a Hudson Valley defined by food: where farmers prosper, food entrepreneurs succeed, residents are nourished and visitors are inspired. www.glynwood.org.
–Glynwood
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