Flavors of Fall

Post date: October 28, 2024

By Peter Wolff

Each season has its own unique blend of flavors: Winter with its hot chocolate and peppermint, spring with its fruits and summer with its smores. However, out of all the other seasons of the year, fall inarguably has the widest spread of flavors (Apples, pumpkin and corn being the main cornerstone). Though many know not the origins of such, nor acknowledge the full contributions each good has made to both culture and society.

Apple

Dating back to 8,000 B.C.E., the first written record of an apple was located in Europe. However, it would be another 7,000 years before the apple would appear in many European dishes with the origin of the traditional apple pie dating back to the late 13th and early 14th century England. The trend would not fully catch on in America until the Industrial Revolution enabled the mass production of both fruits and vegetables alike. In the early 1900’s the first candy apple was produced in Newark, New Jersey as a Christmas season snack being coated in melted red cinnamon candy pieces. It would not be until the caramel apple a few decades later that both the caramel and candy apple would be associated with Halloween and fall.

Pumpkin

In the early 3,000’s, pumpkin first crossed the threshold into the realm of recognition and would only gain popularity with the colonization efforts of the British in the 1700’s being implemented in tarts and custards alike due to its rich flavors. At the same time, the highly sought out pumpkin spice would too be produced to enhance the flavors of the pumpkin and contrary to popular belief, contains no real pumpkin but is rather a blend of herbs and spices such as ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. The two ingredients (Pumpkin spice and pumpkin) would later be combined to create the delicacy that is pumpkin pie. Once it too was industrialized, pumpkin would become the new radish/turnip in which Irish immigrants would carve faces due to the newly decreased price associated with mass production. 

Corn

Originating in the Americas over 10,000 years ago, corn has served many purposes throughout each century, reaching far beyond just providing nourishment. Approximately 9000 years ago, corn was ground down by natives to form what we know today as cornmeal, a substitute for flour. In fact, corn became so entwined in Native American cultures that the Aztecs of present day Northern Mexico worshiped the god of corn, Olmec. In doing so, the Aztecs would receive bountiful harvest that year. Today, corn still remains more than just a meal item, being a crucial component of ethanol, a fuel for motor vehicles.