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I like heirloom tomatoes for the purpose of making sandwiches from 2 or 3 varieties, not for the usual uses of tomatoes.

But one case in which my taste buds seem to be screwed in backwards is my preference for Dannon plain low-fat yogurt to Greek yogurt. Dannon has a tanginess that Greek yogurt does not have. There's supply-chain problem with this yogurt, so I buy it when I can.

That's another flavor trend: no yogurt but Greek yogurt.

Greek yogurt in the US.  Wonder if it is the same in other western countries?  I always buy Trader Joe's Greek whole plain and also their cream top whole.  These are my favorites. 

I don't know if you're interested in making your own yogurt, but when I did it was always VERY tangy.

I was having this conversation with some people on twitter recently! Greek yoghurt is delicious but not for everything - I find in South Asian cooking you need an old-fashioned pot-set yoghurt with more tang and less richness.

Thank you, Barb_N, but I'm so overwhelmed by the projects I have already that I don't have the energy to take on a new one. I'll just look in the stores for Dannon.

Pepperidge Farm has just jumped on the pumpkin-spice bandwagon: it has just come out with Milano pumpkin-spice cookies.

And now Tate's cookies has done the same.

Didn't the whole pumpkin-spice thing originate with Pfeffernüsse? Which, honestly, I don't care for either. I have several nieces who live for PSL season. I on the other hand take my coffee strong and black. I want my coffee to taste like coffee, certainly not like pumpkin pie.

I haven't eaten pfeffernüsse but I like gingersnaps, and since I haven't eaten the trendy cookies, is it necessary to include the taste of pumpkin (or winter squash) in order to qualify for this craze?

Maybe in wet foods it is (e.g. smoothies, custards), but is it the same in baked goods - or does it mean pumpkin pie spice?

As for pumpkin-spice coffee, I hate flavored coffee in general. When I got some as a freebie I gave it to a flavored-coffee-loving friend.

bittrette - pumpkin pie spice or pumpkin spice is a spice blend and doesn't contain any pumpkin. It was traditionally used in pumpkin pies in the USA. It usually contains cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice so is similar to the British mixed spice.

I know about pumpkin-pie spice, tho I consider it much more fun to mix one's own pie spice.

What I'm asking about is the pumpkin-spice CRAZE that is with us every fall (sorry I can't make italics on this site).

If I ordered pumpkin-spice mousse, for instance, I would expect it to taste like pumpkin pie, with spices added to a base of what tasted like pumpkin or winter squash.

But I would have no such expectation with a pumpkin-spice cookie. Or might I? One baked thing I like to make in the colder months is pumpkin muffins, which contain both pumpkin purée and pumpkin-pie spice.

So I'm asking what the craze is about - spiced pumpkin or pumpkin-pie spice.

Probably the best way to find out is to buy some baked thing that is part of the craze.

It was reported in the news today that Merriam Webster has added "pumpkin spice" to their dictionary. There were other food words added as well, along with the term "shrinkflation" we are well aware of with packaged food:

https://www.foodandwine....nary-new-food-words-2022

Sounds like a case of the middle word dropping out, like "climate denier" or "mock neck." A real mock-neck sweater would be unwearable, because it would have no hole for the head.

The pumpkin-spice craze, it turns out, can be either of the two things mentioned before. Today at the supermarket I saw Bonne Maman pumpkin spice spread, with pumpkins as its first-named ingredient.

But a nearby bagel café serves Hanley & Sons tea, including pumpkin-pie spice. I figure this is like their cinnamon-spice tea, tea flavored with spices.

Regarding Pumpkin Spice, I apologize in advance to those who I offend with this, but I found this funny in a Monty Python sort of way:

https://shirt.woot.com/o...n?ref=w_cnt_top20_13_img

As John Cleese said, after opening the eulogy for Graham Chapman at Graham's funeral with "Graham Chapman, co-author of the 'Parrot Sketch,' is no more. He has ceased to be, bereft of life, he rests in peace, he has kicked the bucket, etc., etc., etc.", "Anything for him [Graham Chapman] but mindless good taste."

More on the pumpkin-spice craze:

As I noted, Bonne Maman pumpkin spice spread has pumpkin as the first ingredient. That can't be true of baked goods in the usual sense of the term - they must have flour as the first ingredient, and usually other things like fat and leavening.

But Thomas's pumpkin-spice English muffins and Pepperidge Farm pumpkin-spice bread are both (I quote) "made with real pumpkin," presumably enough to have a pumpkin-pie taste.

Pumpkin-spice tea probably has no pumpkin. Pepperidge Farm pumpkin-spice cookies have no pumpkin, just spices, and annatto for coloring.

Bonne Maman pumpkin-spice spread went very fast at the nearest supermarket to me. But you can still get it at the next nearest supermarket,, the one that carries Bonne Maman lemon curd.

Totally agree!

Not only do foods come into fashion, they also go out of fashion. You can get herbes de Provence very easily, but fines herbes are very hard to find - you probably have to make the herb mix yourself or order it online.

Are you talking about dried herbs?

I have only come acros fines herbes used fresh and green, as by definition they are the soft herbs that don't dry well  - parsley, tarragon, chives and chervil, tarragon being the only one that dries successfully (and I don't use tarragon, possibly allergic, but that's my own problem)

A little box of frozen fines herbes would be a good idea

Sure I know I can mix my own fines herbes. I also do mix my own pumpkin pie spice. I can also mix my own herbes de Provence (if I can find lavender), or my own Italian seasoning, or my own garam masala, if that's what I want to do.

But the topic of this thread is about is not what I am powerless to concoct. It's about what is or is not in line with contemporary tastes. 

The fact is that you can buy pumpkin-pie spice, or Italian seasoning, or garam masala, at very many places. Even premixed everything-bagel seasoning is not so hard to find.

But premixed fines herbes - that used to be much easier to find than it is now.

Besides, "not as good" forms of a food have been with us for at least a century, and they're still with us now. So by itself, "not as good" can't be the sole reason for an item's disappearance.