Now that we’re officially in pumpkin spice season, it made me wonder … what is the history of pumpkin spice?
How did this seasonal staple come about in the first place?
And what makes it so embedded in “fall culture?”
While the craze took off after Starbucks debuted the pumpkin spice latte in 2003, the pumpkin spice blend itself is over 200 years old, with two spice-filled pumpkin pie recipes found in the 1798 cookbook “American Cookery.”
By the 1930s, spice manufacturing companies combined the ingredients into a single product, so people no longer had to buy the separate spice ingredients – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves are the core components.
Its purpose is to enhance the flavor of pumpkin. It doesn’t contain any actual pumpkin.
While this might be common knowledge to many, Reddit threads tell us otherwise, as there are people on there that are shocked to learn that there is no pumpkin in pumpkin spice, similar to how there is no hamburger in Hamburger Helper.
Pumpkin itself is bland; you wouldn’t even want your latte tasting like actual pumpkin.
It is mostly made of water (up to 90%), and so the pumpkin spice is needed to make it more appetizing in various pumpkin dishes.
These days, however, pumpkin spice anything (latte, donuts, cookies, cream cheese, yogurt, etc.) have more sugar than authentic pumpkin, if it has any at all, and may have some, all, or none of the spices of pumpkin spice.
Basically, food companies make pumpkin spice products to remind you of pumpkin pie, which we usually have positive associations with (Thanksgiving, family time, cozy nights, cooler weather, etc.).
Because we like joy and happy memories, food that reminds us of this (plus the scarcity effect that it’s a limited time) prompts us to buy it.
The high sugar content also makes us come back for more.
Some food companies simply put caramel coloring in the product to make it look like pumpkin, and various preservatives to give it a look and taste of pumpkin pie without actually putting pumpkin or pumpkin spice in it, solely to capitalize on the pumpkin fad during this time of year.
More marketing than pumpkin goes into it.
In fact, you may recall the outrage over a decade ago when Starbucks customers learned that there wasn’t any pumpkin in the pumpkin spice latte, leading Starbucks to change the recipe and add pumpkin puree to the pumpkin spice flavored syrup in 2015.
But based on the popularity of it before then, it’s clear that pumpkin wasn’t even necessary taste-wise, but people demanded it based on principle.
So, are your pumpkin spice foods really made with pumpkin, just the spices or just flavoring agents and preservatives?
You will have to read the ingredients list to find out.
And it’s not just food.
Pumpkin spice candles, air fresheners and hand soaps are also popular this time of year.
The scent is just as powerful as the taste in evoking comforting memories.
Have you ever had a pumpkin-spice product during the other months of the year?
It just doesn’t have that same comforting effect.
So whether you love or hate this pumpkin phrenzy, it’s safe to say this fall tradition is here to stay.
Shari Bresin is the Family & Consumer Science Agent for the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension Pasco County, An Equal Opportunity Institution.
