It's that time of year—fall, aka autumn, aka pumpkin spice season!
While September 22 is the official first day of autumn, its unofficial start, however, is when a certain coffee company rolls out their pumpkin spice lattes. This year the madness ensued at the end of August when the LA temps were still in the high 90s.
Starbucks began selling this iconic fall beverage in 2003, containing... zero actual pumpkins. You see, dear reader, as with most things pumpkin spice, its the spices added to pumpkin pie, and not actual pumpkin that gives the taste, and smell—evoking the hygge feelings of fall.
Pumpkin pie spice, also known as pumpkin spice usually contains a mixture of five spices including ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and sometimes allspice. Pumpkin pie spice has been referenced in cookbooks dating all the way back to the 1890s, and even further back as a recipe known as "Pompkin" [dated 1796] which included a spice blend of mace, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice.
Should you like to start concocting your own signature fall beverage, or a spicy side dish, the library has an amazing collection of cookbooks, both online and at our branches for you to peruse. Our Central Library has one of the largest culinary collections in the country and also boasts the largest collection in the world of cookbooks printed in California. There are also cooking magazines and a nifty food database, A to Z World Foods, containing all kinds of helpful information to spice up your fall.
Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice
