A few weeks ago I met a friend for lunch at a nearby cafe. It was one of the first cool days of the season, and so I scanned the chalkboard for soup options. "Pumpkin bisque!" I exclaimed. "I'm surprised to see it on the menu." I explained that pumpkin soup had become a favorite of mine while we lived in Melbourne. "I think you'll find that pumpkin has experienced a popularity boost here while you've been away," she replied.
It didn't take very many more days for me to realize that she spoke the truth. Pumpkin has always been a part of the American fall menu, particularly around Thanksgiving time where it takes front stage on the dessert table in the form of pie. Sometime during the past few years, however, pumpkin started popping up everywhere, from Starbucks lattes to ice cream and oreos. Never mind that the items on offer often don't contain any actual pumpkin. As long as they are sweet and contain some combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and/or allspice, they seem to be a hit.
I went ahead and ordered the pumpkin bisque. I was fairly certain it would be different from the savory pumpkin soup that is ubiquitous on Melbourne cafe menus. Even so, I was taken aback when it arrived with a generous amount of sweetened whipped cream on top. "It's pumpkin pie in liquid form," I remarked. In spite of the fact that it was sweeter than I had anticipated, I inhaled the velvety liquid. The warmth spread quickly throughout my chilled body and brought back memories of cozy Thanksgiving meals in my mother's kitchen.
I wonder if the association with comforting childhood memores is partly responsible for the current popularity that pumpkin enjoys this time of year in North America. I stopped in at Starbucks to try a pumpkin spice latte (It was so sweet that I couldn't drink it), and asked the barista how long it had been on the menu. "At least ten years," he replied, "but each year we sell more of them than the year before."
My next stop was our local bakery and favorite source of bread for toast and sandwiches. I happened to have my fourteen year-old son with me. Teen age sons are always hungry, so we walked out with twice the amount of bread that I normally purchase. In our bag, at his request, was a loaf of (sweet) pumpkin bread. He pronounced it to be more than edible, even delicious, although not as good as the pumpkin apple muffins my mom made us for breakfast two weeks ago.
The prevalence of pumpkins and pumpkin foods got me to thinking about just how differently this vegetable is handled in the United States compared to Australia. The word pumpkin in both countries refers to a large round vegetable with lots of seeds---It is what is done with the pumpkin after it is harvested that results in the difference. Almost without exception, pumpkin in the United States is served in a sweetened form, whereas Down Under (and everywhere else in the world?) it is invariably part of a savory dish.
Another popular way to serve pumpkin in Melbourne is in a panini with roasted pumpkin and feta cheese. As soon as we have an oven again, I plan to try and replicate it. Until then, we have plenty or processed options available from local sources: pumpkin oreos, pumpkin pop tarts, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin roll with cream cheese icing, and of course, pumpkin pie.
Oven or no, we had to participate in the pumpkin mania that surrounds us. Last weekend we piled into the van for a family trip to the pumpkin patch. It's an annual tradition in our family that has been restarted after a four-year hiatus.
This post put a smile on my face....good job on the pumpkin carving, kids!
There are way too many pumpkin flavored things these days. The pumpkin pop tarts stopped me in my tracks at the grocery store a few weeks ago..YUCK, I thought. The PSL is sweet, you might try a dark roast coffee at Starbucks with just their pumpkin flavor. It's still sweet but not as sweet the latte.
Posted by: Shanda | 11/06/2014 at 08:29 AM