Priest's Hat Pumpin (Cucurbita maxima)

Priest's Hat Pumpkin REGGIANA (Cucurbita maxima): traditional pumpkin of the Reggio area, where it becomes the stuffing of the fabulous typical tortelli. The availability of seeds is rather reduced even though crops are widespread in its area for both purposes, commercial and self-production. The pumpkin is small, rarely exceeds a kilogram and a half, its name comes from its particular shape (also called turban) double-brimmed, resembled the hat that parish priests used until the first post-war period. The skin, colours raging from grey to blue, it contains a firm pulp with almost no liquid, which renders it perfect for the recipes to which it is intended. The plant is rustic and it also grows where other varieties would struggle a lot, it is vigorous and covers a large area, it gives an average of six to eight fruits.
Pumpkins with this particular shape are the first of the Cucurbita genus to arrive in Europe from the Americas (the lagenaria were already present) and traces of it can be found in several paintings from the 1500s.