A September trip back home from western Kansas produced some foraged buffalo gourds. The gourds had been sitting in a bowl for quite a while and it became time to roast the seeds.
I carefully cut the top third off each gourd (somewhat dangerous as the gourds are round and hard) and scooped all the insides out. The inner flesh, which is bitter and not to be eaten from what I've heard, is hard to separate from the seeds. So I did the best I could and got as much flesh off the seeds until I was just annoyed. From there I lightly sprayed oil on a Pyrex baking dish and spread the seeds/flesh out for baking in the oven. I used a temp between 350-375 degrees. I stirred a couple times throughout, and once the seeds started to brown, I took them out of the oven. To my surprise, the remaining flesh bits crumbled right off the seeds.
From 9 gourds I ended up with a half cup of seeds. The flavor is the similar to other roasted squash seeds but with a hint of bitterness. These should be good on a salad or in breads.
Image credit: Cale Ruiz
I carefully cut the top third off each gourd (somewhat dangerous as the gourds are round and hard) and scooped all the insides out. The inner flesh, which is bitter and not to be eaten from what I've heard, is hard to separate from the seeds. So I did the best I could and got as much flesh off the seeds until I was just annoyed. From there I lightly sprayed oil on a Pyrex baking dish and spread the seeds/flesh out for baking in the oven. I used a temp between 350-375 degrees. I stirred a couple times throughout, and once the seeds started to brown, I took them out of the oven. To my surprise, the remaining flesh bits crumbled right off the seeds.
From 9 gourds I ended up with a half cup of seeds. The flavor is the similar to other roasted squash seeds but with a hint of bitterness. These should be good on a salad or in breads.
Image credit: Cale Ruiz