I am no fan of fall. The shorter days seem sad and the cool, crisp air means little more than chapped lips to me.

That said, the one thing I do enjoy is the ubiquity of pumpkins. No, not pumpkin scent or flavor; I reserve my affection for the real, orange squash. Pumpkins are a fascinating plant. You plant a seed and you birth a monster, as dozens of creeping green tendrils tamp down anything remotely nearby. And all this without so much as an hour of weeding or tending (assuming it’s not too wet).

As a full, ripe food, they can withstand jostling and then weeks of sitting around, waiting for their turn on the stove. Pumpkins are famously healthy, offering a great source of fiber, vitamin A, potassium and more. It’s easy to see why these things were so popular among Native Americans and it’s equally easy to see why this food has become a worldwide hit.

Indeed, when I was living in East Timor as part of my time with Peace Corps, people in my village would eat the leaves and the pumpkin vines themselves after harvesting the squashes.
And in Haiti, the squash is the celebrated on Jan. 1, Independence Day, when everyone cooks soup joumou or pumpkin soup. Haiti maybe isn’t famous for it’s foods, though its cuisine is exciting and their traditional pumpkin soup is something worth trying.

It is a shame most people associate pumpkins with either pie or jack o’ lanterns. Which is not to diminish the pie. Indeed, years ago as I was beginning to get into cooking I was determined to make a pumpkin pie from scratch and so I set about chopping, scooping and scraping and then steaming and then pureeing and then, finally, baking a pie that tasted, to me, pretty much exactly like what you’d get out of a can.

Bully for food science, I suppose. Though, if you add enough sugar and cream to anything, I suppose you’re bound to get a hit.

I enjoy the ritual and so I still make a pie from scratch each year, but there are so many other things one may do with a pumpkin than serve it as an afterthought, after a meal.

More recently, in 2010, I discovered cookbook writer Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for “Pumpkin with Everything Good Inside of it.” If the recipe title seems a bit ambitious, it is not—this recipe delivers on its promises. The downside to this recipe is, it involves a lot of prep work but it’s worth it, especially if you’ve got family coming.

But for the most part, all across most of America, we seem each year more eager to be substitute a shorthanded substitute for the thing itself. There are more products offering pumpkin spice this or pumpkin-scented that than there are actual pumpkins being eaten.

While the squashes set out for decoration are nice enough and while pie is fine once in a while, it is sad that this ubiquitous fall centerpiece gets such short shrift on our menus.

Just once, just one fall, I wish I’d see less pumpkin-flavored coffee and doughnuts and things. It’s about time the pumpkin should get back in the stove where it belongs.

 

Jesse Wright is the editor of the Port Arthur News. He can be reached at jesse.wright@panews.com