Pumpkins are the stars of Halloween night. They make their way through the darkness to decorate and illuminate all the houses that terrifying night. But do you know the origin of this tradition and why we decorate pumpkins on Halloween?
The origin of this Halloween tradition
We need to move to the distant Irish lands where Jack lived. A drunk who, according to legend, deceived the devil himself on Halloween night when he appeared to take his soul.
After escaping his sentence, Jack forced the devil to promise him never to ask for his soul again. When he died, he could not enter heaven because of his many sins or hell because of his pact with the devil. Therefore, he was condemned to roam the world of the living with a hollow turnip and burning coal inside to illuminate his walk through the darkness.
When this tradition arrived in America, they traded turnips for pumpkins, as these were larger and easier to hollow out. As a result, they are called Jack o’lanterns, representing the dark lamp of Jack. Every year thousands of people spend evenings together to decorate pumpkins on Halloween.
Pumpkin recipes for Halloween
This is why pumpkins invade our cuisine in October, and recipes are transformed to include their delicious taste among their ingredients. But thanks to this tradition, we have found tasty and easy recipes like these ones: