70 years ago, Foia de Castalla planted two very peculiar types of pumpkins dedicated to satisfying the demand of her workshops, at the request of the Xixona nougat growers. Valuable angel hair is obtained from one, while the other is turned into candied fruit that adorns Christmas roses. Innovative agricultural products have spread to neighboring regions, becoming a source of livelihood, or at least an important economic contribution, for many families. However, the situation of the past years has changed radically, as the activity has lost weight due to the lack of intergenerational exchange and a rather limited profitability. As if that wasn’t enough, the high temperatures recorded in recent months have significantly reduced the harvest this season, so the usual four million kilos will not be reached.
Torres Gisbert company, which has plantations in Castalla and Ibi, is now one of the few producers remaining in the area. José Torres runs the business with his partner, Juan Ramón Gisbert. He emphasizes that he dedicates his whole life, body and soul to this crop. “It was our parents and uncles who started with pumpkin – he remembers – because there was a lot of demand from nougat makers. There were many people who chose this product at first, around 40 in this region, but even more if you count those from the Biar, Villena and even El Comtat regions. Yes All families worked at harvest time, albeit in small-scale fields that stopped being profitable in the long run.
This led to the gradual decline of the crops and the remainder to register a significant concentration period. Torres points out that it’s the same law that favors major owners. In his own words, “We’re not even close, but we have more muscles to adapt to things like the analyzes we have to go through in external labs or the endless demands that make efficiency increasingly complex.”
The absence of a generational change and the prices that are not enough to launch rockets are added to all these negativities. “We – he emphasizes – are better off than many farmers because we can negotiate directly with our buyers. But things are getting more and more complex with rising costs of energy, fertilizers and phytosanitary products, so it’s inevitable that this type of crop is headed for extinction. Actually, I don’t know how long we’ll last.”
This black omen, if fulfilled, will practically mean the end of plantations at the national level. White pumpkin, i.e. dedicated to candied fruit, is produced only in a small region of Extremadura, outside of Foia de Castalla, outside the Alicante region, you have to go to the Valladolid plateau to find angel hair pumpkin. . One of the factors causing these crops to be so scarce is climate, given that very specific conditions are required, especially in relation to temperatures. According to the person in charge of Torres Gisbert, “the flowering is very delicate and if it exceeds 36 degrees, as has been quite regular lately, the plant will shed its fruits.”
This is exactly the problem crops are facing this year, to the point of affecting production completely. White squash, which is in the middle of the harvest phase, has reduced its harvest by 30%, which means 240,000 kilos less. “We’ve endured very high temperatures for weeks, peaks above 40 degrees, which, in addition to a reduction in the number of pumpkins, caused them to be lighter than normal,” he complains. In the current campaign, they weigh between 20 and 10 kilos, which in practice can reach 40.
Also, and for exactly the same reasons, the angel hair pumpkin campaign, which is harvested from November to December, is now live. “These plants are very susceptible to heat – because the leaves are so large and absorb high heat more easily. This has affected flowering from the very beginning, and now we wait to see if it will rain because otherwise we will doom ourselves.”
Although José Torres assumes that pumpkins are found in major brands, manufacturers sell to intermediaries responsible for distributing to confectionery and confectionery companies nationwide. All in a context where desserts containing angel hair and candied fruit are also reduced. “Previously, pumpkin fudge was used, and nougat with such ingredients was also very fashionable. Now almost everything has been reduced to roscones de reyes and some pastries,” he complains.
Handling before sending to furnaces
The work of white squash producers is not limited to planting and subsequent harvest, but a pre-processing process is also carried out before it is sent to confectionery and sweet and nougat production companies. Juan Ramón Gisbert of Torres Gisbert notes that such zucchini “looks like nothing and is practically transparent.” That’s why it’s so appreciated by pastry chefs, because they can give it whatever flavors and colors they want when it comes to sweetening».
Thus, immediately after the pumpkin is collected from the field, it is cut into large pieces and placed in barrels for preservation. Then, when orders are received, they are divided into smaller pieces again according to the customer’s instruction. At that moment, the fruit is completely ready for candy and waits in barrels again until shipment.
José Torres points out that in the beginning, customers are responsible for all this preparation. They then had to take care of peeling the pumpkin, and eventually they finished preparing the product completely, so bakeries only had to deal with making confit. This is another factor complicating activity and reducing the spread of crops, he emphasizes, because “our workforce needs have increased exponentially.”