Halloween
Pumpkin Soup

Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was the night of their festival of Samhain, Lord of the Dead. Samhain signifies "summers end" or November. Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and beginning of a new one. The ancient Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits to pass through. The Druids (Celtic priests) believed that, above powerful and wild, some spirits were evil. This is why the Celtic people wore costumes during the Samhain festival. The purpose of the costumes was to frighten the spirits. Plus, this way, the spirits wouldn't be able to recognize them. This is the origin of costumes. To please the spirits, the Celtic people left food outside their houses on Halloween. If any hungry spirits came by, they could take the food and leave the Celtics in peace. This is the origin of 'trick or treating'.

When Halloween is coming, the first thing come into my mind always is the pumpkin or pumpkin lanterns. So, I decided to share a pumpkin soup with you all.

Pumpkin soup recipe:

• 500grams pumpkin (discard skin and seeds, chop into small cubes)
• 6 mussels
• 6 prawns
• 1 shallot chopped
• 6 slices ginger
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup fresh milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons chopped coriander

• Add water, mussels, prawns, ginger, white wine into a pot. Cook with medium high heat until mussels open shell.
• Take out mussels and prawns, remove both mussels and prawns shells.
• Remove any sediment from the broth with a sieve. Keep the broth for later use.
• Add butter in a large saucepan and melt it with low heat, add shallot and stir fry with medium heat till soft. Add in pumpkin and stir fry for a while.
• Add the broth that from cooking mussels and prawns, simmer for around 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft.
• Transfer the soup mixture to a blender and blend until smooth.
• Return to the saucepan. Add milk, salt and pepper, mussels and prawns. Warm over medium low heat for a minute.
• Garnished with chopped coriander and serve warm. (Also can serve with French bread)

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