Long before pumpkin pie became a Thanksgiving favorite, Indigenous peoples cultivated pumpkins and other squash across the Americas. Combining this native crop with European pastry traditions, pumpkin pie became firmly associated with Thanksgiving during the nineteenth century. Its place at the holiday table celebrates the harvest and the pleasures of sharing a meal.
The warm spices we associate with holiday baking carry histories that reach far beyond our own kitchens. Nutmeg and cloves originated in the islands of present-day Indonesia, while “true cinnamon” comes from a tree native to Sri Lanka and neighboring regions. For centuries, these prized ingredients traveled along extensive trade routes, generating fortunes for some and fueling European competition for colonial control and naval dominance. Their familiar forms tell another story: nutmeg is a seed, cloves are dried flower buds, and cinnamon is actually a bark! Together in pumpkin pie, these spices bring the harvest of the Americas into a conversation with global trade history.
This month, we invite you to bring this storied tradition into your own kitchen with a recipe from Kernersville native Beth Tartan’s Körner’s Folly Cookbook — a sweet way to gather in gratitude and make a little history around your own table. According to Tartan, this recipe is simply “The best.”
(Recipe on page 139)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups mashed, cooked pumpkin
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 stick butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 baked pie shell
In top of double boiler, combine pumpkin, flour, sugar, salt, spices, eggs, and milk. Cook, stirring, until thick. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Cool mixture and place in a cooled baked pie shell and top with whipped cream topping or pour hot into hot baked pie shell, top with this topping [recipe below] and run back into a modern oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Topping
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
Mix and drop onto top of hot pie.
[Recipes submitted by] Mrs. Lawrence Pope
