Everything is Turning Up Pumpkin
Everything is Turning Up Pumpkin
Have you ever noticed that your taste buds shift with the changing colours of the fall leaves? When the fall menus come out in restaurants, we are both ready and eager to dive into comfort. But what it is that makes our cravings change from BBQ to slow cookers?
Theory 1: Cave Man Theory
Thanks to technology and modern transportation, we can get virtually any type of fruit and vegetable year-round. However; that wasn’t always the case. Historically, fresh fruits and vegetables were extremely limited in winter. Our food choices were restricted to canned food or root vegetables that were easily stored. But that’s not all, since food was scarcer, we ate more calorie dense food so that we had the energy that our body needed. So, maybe our cravings for sweet potato mash and macaroni and cheese is simply self-preservation?
Theory 2: Creatures of Habit
We love rituals and food has become a vital part of those routines. As the leaves begin to change their colours, we start looking for food that we connect to the cooler season. We stop thinking bbq and instead began to crave pumpkin spice. Our food choices shift to ingredients that can be slowly stewed and cooked all day, like warm chilli and stews. While we turn to pumpkins and apples, for a bit of fall decadence.
Theory 3: Change Wrapped up in a Comfortable Bow
As humans we are a funny sort of species, we love change! Change puts that extra spring in our step and provides us motivation to get into action. The type of change that we really love, is change that we can predict. The temperature changes, shorter days, and changing colours provides that perfect combination of predictability and change that we crave. Whether its fall hikes, the beginning of football season, or Halloween, our minds tend to connect fall with great memories. The nostalgia that comes with this season makes us primed to crave some yummy harvest treats.
Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Cloves-Oh My!
Sweet potatoes, soups, fresh baked breads and of course pumpkin pie, are food that connects us to the feeling of fall. But it’s not the foods that make those items so craveable, but the spices we add to them. The scents of fall, are filled with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and all spice, which tend to be associated with holiday events, baked treats, and positive memories.
Our sense of smell is incredibly powerful, with 80 percent of what we taste being based on smell alone. But that’s not all, smell directly connects us to the limbic system in our brain. This is the center of our emotional memory, and the associations that most make with fall spices, tend to be positive.
Whatever your reason for craving pumpkin pie, we have all the slices that you desire at the Market Buffet. So, come on in, try a slice of our new pumpkin spice cake, dive into our house made sweet potato mash and roasted squash or simply take a moment to immerse yourself in the scents and tastes of fall.