I have a question: When did pumpkins become so chic?

Pumpkin muffins. Pumpkin donuts. Pumpkin latte. They’re everywhere.

If it’s true that orange is the new black then, well, pumpkin is the new…er…um…big thing.

I even saw pumpkin-tinged ale displayed in the supermarket this past weekend.

We’ve been enjoying loaf after loaf of Lisa’s special pumpkin bread this fall. And, as Halloween approaches, we even have our trusty electric pumpkin on display to light the way for Thursday’s trick-or-treaters.

The subject of the trendy gourd even came up across the pond where Holly and her compadres were discussing various delicacies. The French, she says, can’t imagine that we actually eat ‘potirons.’

I guess that means you wouldn’t find cans of the stuff in the local épicerie!

Don’t get me wrong: I love it. I love how warm and inviting the house smells after Lisa bakes the latest loaf of pumpkin bread. I love the blending of these senses to herald the arrival of our favorite season.

I just don’t get it. When did we fall in love with “The Great Pumpkin?”

(Notice I didn’t call it ‘punkin’ as in ‘punkin pie’ which is a savory sensation I never really cared for and, besides, it shows up later on the calendar anyway).

When we were growing up, the one and only association for pumpkin was, of course, Halloween. Last year, I wrote about the time someone stole our melon and smashed it in the street. My mom and sister still hold a slight grudge about the incident years later. 

As a wee trick-or-treater, I even had a plastic Jack-o-Lantern/basket designed to house neighborhood candy donations. These days, it has been re-purposed. Instead of it being a repository for confection collection, it houses the sweet treats we plan to dole out.

In fact, it is on display just inside the front door even as we speak. The packets of plain and peanut M & Ms we plan to pass out Thursday night have been purchased and fill the basket just waiting for action late this week.

It’s not real, though, and it certainly isn’t trendy. My childhood keepsake only provided the tasty treats I would round up. No, this current culinary wave is something different.

I went searching, online, for the ‘Holy Grail’ of pumpkin popularity postulates and I really came up empty. I found comparisons to bacon (as in “pumpkin is the new bacon…” - perhaps that completes my earlier comparison) and apple (pumpkin has replaced apple as the popular fruit for October).

The most basic explanation I found, however is: we like a symbol for the season. And pumpkin says autumn. 

It makes all the sense in the world, then, that our need would go just beyond the traditional Jack-o-Lantern. Shoot, if it’s good for a week, why not the whole month; if it’s good for the whole month, how about the entire season?

Works for me. If this means I get to enjoy more of Lisa’s yummy pumpkin bread, I’m all for it! 

JG

Originally posted 10/28/2013