The "coconut cream" sold in cans is, I believe, pulped coconut flesh which is pressed to remove anything that can be pressed out of it! It is the consistency of thin cream and is used widely in asian and indian cooking. We use heaps of it in Aus. and every supermarket chain has its own cheap generic one. Mostly comes from Thailand.

My fav. pumpkin soup for the winter (it's winter here now) is:

About 2 kg chopped peeled very ripe pumpkin
3 lge onions chopped
250g bacon chopped
can coconut cream (the tall one about the size of a baked bean can)
various asian spices such as salt, asafoetida *, pepper, curry powder and turmeric

beef fat.

1/2 litre boiling water

finely chop bacon and onions and fry in fat until soft
Throw everything into large pot (one of those old fashioned slow cookers is great)

cook until pumpkin falling apart

blend with a stick blender such as a "bamix". You should see the obsolete machinery I have in my kitchen!

eat on a cold day and die with pleasure.

If you are into dairy, also use sour cream.

Michael Gardner
Australia

* Asafoetida (Hing) powder is one of those things that smell like a boy's gym when raw, but delicious when cooked. Along the same principle as Vietnam fish sauce, parmesan, you get the idea. If you ever, in your misguided days, ate at a Hari Krishna restaurant and burped up a delicious onion and garlic aftertaste, that was asafoetida because vedic cookery prohibits the use of garlic and onion. I keep mine sealed in a container which is sealed in another container!