“Pumpkin Spice” Overload

I’m not a Starbucks person, but from walking past Starbucks signs over the years I became dimly aware that the coffee chain offers “pumpkin spice lattes” during the fall. And as the years have passed, I’ve come to understand that “pumpkin spice”-flavored coffee must be popular, because other coffee shops began to offer such concoctions, and Starbucks seemed to offer it for longer and longer periods each year. Then “pumpkin spice” flavoring began to migrate to other foods–even including, of all things, SPAM.

I don’t get the “pumpkin spice” craze. I relish pumpkin pie around Thanksgiving, but I believe that food flavoring should be kept strictly separate. In my view, “pumpkin spice” should be reserved for pumpkin pie or pumpkin pudding, period. At the same time, I try to follow a “live and let live” philosophy, and am willing to accept that others have different views and would prefer to have the “pumpkin spice” taste in pretty much everything they eat.

But when I saw that a store in Louisiana is offering “pumpkin spice”-flavored bacon, I feel I have to object. Ruin a good cup of coffee or a slice of salty SPAM with “pumpkin spice” seasoning if you must, but leave bacon alone. Bacon is a supreme food with a supreme flavor all its own. Bacon should be (and is) the flavor added to other foods; it is grossly disrespectful to make bacon the flavoree, rather than the flavoror. In short, “pumpkin spice”-flavored bacon is an abomination, and should not be tolerated.

Enough, already, with the “pumpkin spice” overload! Some lines mustn’t be crossed, and the sanctity of bacon is one of them.