Good question. And it turns out there are some good answers you might not have considered. Pumpkin Spice flavour has trancended the seasonal flavour rotation, and become nothing less than a cultural fixture…
Not just for pie anymore…
You hear both raves and rants about Pumpkin Spice flavouring. It’s an old combo that has achieved legendary status over the past few decades, since Fast Food purveyors and packaged food makers latched onto it…
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Pumpkin Spice flavour is, indisputably the unofficial ‘official flavour of Fall’. How and why it achieved cult status is a great story. And it demonstrates some interesting aspects of human nature as it re-lates to food…
An unbreakable association
It didn’t take long for Pumpkin Spice to take over as the signature flavour of Fall. That’s an interesting development, if only because other seasons all have collections of classic flavours usually attached to specific foods. But Pumpkin Spice neither contains pumpkin not is a single spice. But it is a specific blend that traces its roots to a specific dish.
Classic roots
Pumpkin Spice (PS) is irrevocably tied to the Fall and Holiday classic dessert, Pumpkin Pie. It’s still specifically called ‘Pumpkin Pie Spice’ in some regions.
Curiously, PS is not a single, set blend of spices. There’s no agreed upon, set recipe. Rather it’s a flavour concept that varies widely from region to region according to the locals’ tastes and traditions. Nevertheless, there are some main ingredients all variants appear to have in common…
What’s in it
“It’s primarily cinnamon,” says University of Minnesota food scientist Gary Reineccius. “The others round it out and give it balance.” ‘The others’ commonly include ginger, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. And their proportions are entirely up to you.
But baking sphere influencer and long-time blogger Sally McKenney adds one more ‘secret’ ingredient: Black Pepper.
“This sounds weird, but I always add a touch of freshly ground black pepper. […] No one will even know it’s there except for you! And they will all be wondering what makes your pumpkin-spiced treats so much better than any they’ve tried before.”
Sally also stresses that you should use the freshest spices you can get when assembling your PS blend. Especially if you’re making a big batch designed to last you all season.
Some history
“In 1934, McCormick and Company came up with pumpkin pie spice with the idea it would help people make better tasting pumpkin pies,” CBS news relates.
The iodea od a pre0mixed PS blend caught on fast. But using it in other foods didn’t. In fact, it wasn’t until Starbucks débuted its Pumpkin Spice Latté in 2003 that the whole PS phenomenon took off. Starbucks told USA Today the chain has since sold more than 400 million PSLs.
More significantly, Starbuck’s experiment, pairing PS will the savoury, umami flavour of coffee was so successful that it inspired countless other food tinkerers to try it in… Just about everything.
Today, it’s everywhere
Literally, from OREOS to yogurt to SPAM to lip balm to dog food. Because, flavour experts say, ‘it just works!’ Nielsen ratings show annual sales of pumpkin spice flavoured products in the States exceed (US)$511 million (US).
But praise for PS isn’t as universal as its use might suggest. Like any cult classic, PS has both its fans and its detractors.
‘I hate PS everything!’
So says
“In a sign of how far the pumpkin spice conspiracy has come, seeming impossibilities include pumpkin spice latte deodorant (when Old Spice isn’t enough), pumpkin spice protein powder, pumpkin spice Jamaican-style salsa, and pumpkin spice Greenies dental dog treats. Not even the pets are going to escape the season unscathed.”
Rodriguez insists that even the ‘relatively innoffensive’ Starbuck’s PS Latté was a turnoff: “All I could say was the same thing the one food critic said about Pumpkin Spice Spam: the flavor wasn’t that bad. Which is to say, I would drink it under the same circumstances as I’d eat SPAM—during a long power outage, in the dark.”
Psychological stressors
At a funadamental level, it’s a matter of perception, both sensory and paychological. Some folks say they’re turned off by the very idea of products like PS SPAM, PS, PS Coffee Liqueur or PS Instant Ramen. Others, say they’ve tried some PS products but found the flavour was out of place, or even clashed with the foods it was paired with.
Lately, however, there’s been talk of another factor: Pumpkin Spice Fatigue.
Even PS fan Jim Myers, writing in The Tenneseean, admits: “Like the non-sequitur of Christmas music in October, the relentless flood of P-spice products now begins in August, setting us up for the aromatic assault.” It’s no wonder that many folks are PS’d-out by the time US Thanksgiving – much less Christmas – rolls around.
My take
In spite of all the ‘I hate PS’ rhetoric on social media, figures show sales of PS products continue to grow, year over year. And the PS season starts earlier and Earlier. PS ‘seasonal’ products and specials started to appear in my food news feeds before the end of July, this year.
Pumpkin Spice is here to stay, whether we like it or not…
~ Maggie J.