Pumpkin Eaters!

The month of October has seen pumpkins show-cased on every Manhattan street corner and Public Square. Indeed every eatery and coffee joint in Manhattan paid homage to the pumpkin in the form of spiced pumpkin lattes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin soups, pumpkin flavoured tea, pumpkin caramelised candy apples and my favorite, the pumpkin filled cream puff. All of which, culminated in the celebration of Halloween with pumpkins being carved into scary faces and displayed outside homes, in store windows, in lobbies of hotels and halls of restaurants.

As I marveled at the costumes of the little kids parading down my street, plastic pumpkins in hand, trick or treating, I could not help but wonder, how did the pumpkin become so synonymous with the Halloween festivities? In South Africa, we don't celebrate Halloween so pumpkins are used for cooking and eating only, it is never carved into scary faces.

The celebration of Halloween is an annual American festival held on 31 October, which traces its origins to the Celtic/Irish celebration of "All Hallows' Eve." And on All Hallows Eve, in Ireland and Scotland, the people would make "Jack o' Lanterns," and place these outside doors and in windows of homes and taverns. The reason for this was to frighten away a ghastly spirit they called Stingy Jack, as well as all other wondering spirits. The legend says that Jack was an unsavory character who had dealings with the devil during his lifetime. As a result of these dealings, when Jack died God wouldn't take him into heaven, and the devil couldn't take him into hell. So, just to be a nice guy, the devil sent Jack into the dark of night with only a burning coal to light his way, and that is how he has been roaming the earth ever since.

Now, the only difference between the American pumpkin Jack o' lanterns and the Irish/Celtic Jack o' lanterns, is that in Ireland, they were carved out of turnips and potatoes because there they had no pumpkins.

So where does the pumpkin fit into all of this?

Well, although the exact origin of the pumpkin is not known, it is widely believed to be native to the Americas. It is also believed that when the Settlers arrived on this land they found the Native Americans harvesting the pumpkin. And one of the earliest ways that the Settlers prepared the pumpkin was to pull out the seeds, fill the pumpkin with milk and spices and bury it over hot coals and ashes to cook for hours. Hmmmm delicious! 

It should therefore be no surprise that this vegetable, a staple of the American people, would form part of their celebrations on holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. 

In fact in the USA, pumpkins are synonymous with the Fall/Autumn season. It is the time when pumpkin festivals and pumpkin competitions are held all over the country. The festivals and competitions range from, who has grown the largest pumpkin, to who can chuck a pumpkin the farthest, to the best pumpkin pie, to the biggest pumpkin eater.  

So, in lieu of practicing for biggest pumpkin eater competition, I am off to my local diner for some pumpkin pancakes smothered with pumpkin syrup. 

Bon Appetite!