Pumpkin pie

It is as American as Apple Pie (1697), if not more so. True, the English had the name pompion, from which pumpkin derives, before they had any American colonies, but the first pumpkin pie was apparently served on our side of the Atlantic. Even the first attested use of pumpkin is in writing about America, The Simple Cobbler of Aggawam in America (1647). But it is in Edward Johnson's 1654 History of New England...until...1652, or the Wonder-Working Providence of Sions Saviour that we find both pumpkin and pumpkin pie given their just desserts: "And let no man make a jest at Pumpkins, for with this fruit the Lord was pleased to feed his people to their good content, till Corne and Cattell were increased." He also mentions pumpkin pies, but regrettably without a recipe: "This poor wilderness hath...plenty of wine and sugar...quince tarts instead of their former Pumpkin Pies."

If any holiday can be called American it must be Thanksgiving (1621), and there are no more American foods for that day than Turkey (1607) and pumpkin pie. Later our menu expanded to include pumpkin pudding (1805), pumpkin bread (1819), pumpkin soup (1884), and pumpkin butter (1893).

But even in Johnson's affirmation we find the pumpkin treated with less than full respect. To call a person a pumpkin or pumpkin head does not show admiration, as in a 1768 satire: "Come shake your dull noddles, ye Pumpkins, and bawl." Pumpkin head also refers to the earliest of American hair styles. The barber supposedly put a pumpkin shell over the head of a New England colonist and cut along the shell's edges to trim the hair into the proper Puritan shape.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: pie made of mashed pumpkin and milk and eggs and sugar

Pumpkin pie

Pumpkin pie is a traditional North American sweet dessert, eaten during the fall and early winter especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The pumpkin is a symbol of harvest time and featured also at Halloween.

The pie consists of a pumpkin-based custard, ranging in color from orange to brown, baked in a single pie shell, rarely with a top crust. The pie is generally flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger.

This pie is often made from canned pumpkin or packaged pumpkin pie filling (spices included); this is a seasonal product available in bakeries and grocery stores, although it is possible to find year-round.

History

A can of pureed pumpkin, typically used as the main ingredient in the pie filling

The pumpkin is native to the continent of North America. It was an early export to France; from there it was introduced to Tudor England, and the flesh of the “pompion” was quickly accepted as pie filler. The Pilgrims brought the pumpkin pie back to New England, but it subsequently died out in England itself.^[1]

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote in his 1850 poem "The Pumpkin"^[2]

“

Ah! on Thanksday, when from East and from West, From North and from South comes the pilgrim and guest; When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board The old broken links of affection restored; When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more, And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before; What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye, What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

”

The holiday carol "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays" makes a reference to homemade pumpkin pie being looked forward to by a man returning to his family's home in Pennsylvania. "Sleigh Ride", another popular Christmas song, also mentions sitting around a fire after being out in the snow and eating pumpkin pie. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" contains the lyric, "Later we'll have some pumpkin pie / And we'll do some carolling".

Many companies produce seasonal pumpkin pie flavored products such as ice cream, coffee, cheesecake, pancakes and beer. Several breweries produce a seasonal pumpkin ale. All over the United States, it is traditional to serve pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving dinner.

See also

A slice of pumpkin pie topped with a whipped cream rose

• Pumpkin pie spice
• Sweet potato pie

References

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Pumpkin Pie

1. ^ NYT: December 24, 2007; A Dessert With a Past, By Kate Colquhoun
2. ^ http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19022

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)