There are certain signs that fall is on its way. The days get a little shorter. The first leaves begin to change. Sweaters return to the front of the closet. And suddenly, pumpkin seems to be everywhere.
Pumpkin coffee, pumpkin candles, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin decorations begin appearing while summer is still hanging on. Long before the first jack-o’-lantern is carved, pumpkin season has officially arrived.
But our fascination with pumpkins didn't begin with pumpkin spice.
The story of the pumpkin stretches back thousands of years, and its journey from an important food crop to an unmistakable symbol of autumn is a uniquely American one.
And what better way to welcome pumpkin season than with a loaf of warm, spiced pumpkin bread?
An American Original
Pumpkins belong to the squash family, and squash has been cultivated in the Americas for thousands of years.
Long before Europeans arrived, Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas grew different varieties of squash alongside other crops. Squash provided food that could be prepared in numerous ways, while some varieties could also be stored for extended periods.
When Europeans began settling in North America, they encountered pumpkins and other unfamiliar varieties of squash and incorporated them into their cooking.
Pumpkin was practical. It could be roasted, boiled, stewed, and eventually incorporated into breads, puddings, and pies.
Over time, however, the pumpkin became more than an ingredient.
From Harvest Crop to Symbol of Fall
Pumpkins naturally fit the imagery of the autumn harvest. They mature toward the end of the growing season, can be stored after harvesting, and certainly aren't easy to overlook in a field.
As American Thanksgiving traditions developed, pumpkin became increasingly associated with the holiday table. Halloween gave the pumpkin another starring role as the jack-o’-lantern became one of the holiday's defining symbols.
By the 20th century, images of pumpkins could instantly communicate an entire season.
Today, we don't even have to see an actual pumpkin. A combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves is often enough to make us think of crisp afternoons, falling leaves, and Thanksgiving.
So What Exactly Is Pumpkin Spice?
Here's the funny thing about pumpkin spice: it doesn't necessarily contain any pumpkin.
The name generally describes the blend of warming spices traditionally used to flavor pumpkin pie. Cinnamon usually takes the starring role, accompanied by spices such as ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and sometimes allspice.
Eventually, that familiar combination escaped the pie plate.
It found its way into coffee, cookies, cereal, doughnuts, and countless other seasonal foods. The flavor became so closely associated with autumn that “pumpkin spice season” is now practically a season of its own.
But before pumpkin spice became a phenomenon, those warm spices were doing something much simpler: making pumpkin taste delicious.
That's exactly what they do in this classic pumpkin bread.
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