From 6 September to 18 October - Sensations don’t happen by chance

“Autumntastic” Culinary Weeks in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis

What could be a better time for experiencing delightful culinary moments than autumn? The forests are aglow with colour, leaves are falling off the trees and mushrooms sprout from the moss. Weighty pumpkins are lying in the fields and are turned into substantial meals in the country’s kitchens. Hearty or healthy –

pumpkins are an incredibly diverse ingredient. Once the colourful season sets in, culinary pleasures are at the centre of attention at the family resort of Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis. Tradition, customs and culinary art – that’s what comes to mind when people think of Tyrol.

“Simply scrumptious” are the weeks throughout Culinary Autumn.

Summer is nearly over and the leaves are starting to turn colour – that’s when the Sensation Weeks take place. Even the decorations are starting to reflect the autumnal mood: some corn on the cob here, a pumpkin there, some old tools here and a bale of hay over there … All contributing to a particularly cosy atmosphere. Romantic moments in the mountains paired with culinary pleasures. What could be better?

Another highlight: the Almabtrieb. Colourfully adorned cows are ceremonially driven down from the pastures into the valleys as soon as the days are getting colder. Year after year, the Almabtrieb is a magnet for tourists in the Tyrolean Alps.

Pumpkin - Culinary Autumn 2020

This year, the Culinary Autumn festival in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis is celebrating the pumpkin.

Autumn time is pumpkin time! The popular fruit vegetable is a pure all-rounder in cooking and perfect for decorative highlights in and around your home. Whether unicoloured or colourful, uneven or smooth, with freckles or stripes, edible or only decorative, round as a ball or bottle-shaped – autumn wouldn’t be autumn without pumpkins, right? They are as varied as life itself.

You can create far more than just a classic soup from a pumpkin. Whether delicious seeds in your muesli or home-made bread or the pulp of a pumpkin in dumplings, lasagne or grandma’s cake. It seems the pumpkin is an all-rounder.

Facts for better eaters and smarties

From a botanist’s perspective, a pumpkin is a berry. It is one of the largest berries in the world. Pretty mind-blowing, isn’t it?
In addition, a pumpkin is characterized by a hard shell. It can weigh up to 100 kilogrammes. Not bad!
Pumpkins are 80 to 90% water and low in calories. Thanks to its fibres, they are very filling.
The pumpkin is one of the oldest cultivated plants on earth and has nourished mankind for thousands of years. It originated in Middle and South America.
Not only delicious, but also healthy. Its seeds and also its pulp are rich in various nutrients. Pumpkin seeds are good for the urinary bladder. Especially orange-coloured pumpkins are very high in beta-carotene, which is converted by our body to vitamin A. Beta-carotene also acts as an antioxidant.
The zucchini is also part of the pumpkin family. Its name is the diminutive of ‘zucca’, which is Italian and means little pumpkin. However, the zucchini isn’t orange at all.
Knock on it. The pumpkin should sound hallow when you knock on it. This indicates that it is ready to eat.
With stem. When buying a pumpkin, check out if it has a stem. A pumpkin without a stem can indicate that it is no longer edible.
The three villages Serfaus, Fiss and Ladis are decked out with cobs of corn, pumpkins, old tools and hay bales. As the Culinary Autumn ends, the hay is given to farmers for feeding or to the cable car companies in order to revegetate land.

Three edible pumpkins in detail

Hokkaido – the classic one

Thanks to its bright orange colour, the Hokkaido brings the sun into your kitchen - even on dull Autumn days. By the way, the popular pumpkin is named after its originally home, the Japanese island Hokkaido. Alongside its unique sweet, nutty, chestnut-like flavour, Hokkaido fans love the fact that you don’t have to peel it. Hurrah! The skin softens during cooking. Other pumpkins have to be peeled.

Butternut squash – the tender one

No less delicious is the pear-shaped pumpkin called butternut. Smooth and sun yellow on the outside, light orange and very smooth inside. As its name already implies, the butternut squash is very tender and has a soft texture. The pumpkin is ideal for your baby’s first solid food.

Spaghetti squash – the Pasta alternative

Optically speaking, this pumpkin looks more than a honeydew melon than his fellow family members. The riper the spaghetti squash is, the more its colour resembles the sun – from creamy to bright yellow. You can create great Autumn dishes with this pumpkin. The spaghetti squash will surprise you! After cooking, the pumpkin has a spaghetti-like consistency.