Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice?
- taylorkateoakley
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Pumpkin Spice is a beloved fall drink in the U.S., but what are other beloved fall foods from around the world?
The Americas
Mexican Hot Chocolate: This drink is made with ground up cocoa beans, cinnamon, chiles, vanilla, and a blend of spices and herbs that varies from place to place. Its origins can be traced back to the Aztecs and the Mayans!
Mole: Mole is a sauce made with fruit, chile peppers, nuts, and spices like cinnamon, cumin, and black pepper.
Humitas: Humitas shells are made with ground corn, salt, sugar, lard, anise (a licorice tasting seed), and a little bit of milk. These shells are put on corn husks and filled with cheese, then they are steamed to perfection.
Kanuchi Nut Soup: Kanuchi Nut Soup is made with many kinds of nuts depending on the area it is made in. Acorns, black walnuts, and hazelnuts are often used, but hickory nuts are the most common. The nuts are often sweetened with maple syrup or salted.
Asia
Dobin Mushi: Dobin Mushi is a soup made with bonito stock, vegetables, chicken or shrimp, and matsutake mushrooms. The matsutake mushrooms lend this dish its smoky and earthy taste. It is typically served in a teapot.
Afghan Sheer Chai: This is a delicious black tea mixed with cardamom, jaggery or sugar, and milk.
Haldi Doodh: This beverage is also known as "golden milk". It is made with milk, turmeric root, pipli (a long pepper), and medicinal spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger.
Canh Bi Do: This soup's main ingredient is pumpkin, but it also contains ground pork, shallots, green onions, fish sauce, bouillon, sugar, ground black pepper, and vegetable oil.
Oceania
Anzac Biscuit: Anzac biscuits are made with butter, golden syrup (it tastes like toffee), baking soda, coconut, flour, sugar, and oats. These biscuits were originally created during WWI.
Feijoa Loaf: This delicious bread is made with feijoas (it tases like lots of fruits combined), flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda, vanilla extract, allspice, and cinnamon.
Pani Popo: These rolls are made with heavy cream, milk, sugar, yeast, flour, and salt. They are glazed in a coconut sauce made with cornstarch, coconut milk, sugar, and slat.
Kumara and Sausage Bake: This dish is made with sweet potatoes, smoked sausage, onions, garlic, olive oil, and seasonings like salt and pepper.
Africa
Bobotie: Bobotie is made with bread milk, olive oil, onions, curry powder, cumin, ground turmeric, garlic, ground beef, fruit chutney, apricot jam, lemon zest and juice, tomato paste, salt and pepper, eggs, and bay leaves. This dish originated with Dutch traders.
Duba Wat: Duba Wat is made with salt, garlic, oil, onions, pumpkin, cardamom, and berbere. This dish is often served atop of flat bread and is Ethiopian in origin.
Maafe: Maafe is a soup made with beef, carrots, onions, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, peanuts, smoked paprika, white pepper, parsley, cayanne, salt and pepper, beef broth and oil.
Shakshuka: Shakshuka is made with tomatoes, onions, paprika, cumin, chili powder, and eggs. This dish is common all over the Middle East and North Africa, and its name means mixture.
All of these seasonal foods are based on ingredients that would store through the winters in their country of origin as well as the harvest that happened during the fall. Many of these foods share common ingredients like pumpkin, beef, onions, spices, and root vegetables. This is because these ingredients were readily available during the fall and winter. Any one of these dishes would make a lovely fall treat!