October In Alabama Brings Seriously Good Food

This is my first article on this topic, but it's worth pointing out. October is a great month to eat like an Alabamian. No, this isn’t about your favorite Tailgate foods, and let’s forget pumpkin spice for a minute. October in Alabama brings something much better: seriously good food.

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This is the time of year to look beyond the grocery store's usual fall display and notice what's actually growing around us. Alabama's fall harvest includes foods that have been Southern staples for generations, and a few that many of us have probably forgotten about.

Take the persimmon. Many Alabamians only know the persimmon for its “photographic weather predictions” this time of year. Every summer and fall, social media is peppered with pictures of persimmons cut in half, revealing a seed sprout that looks like a spoon, fork, or knife, which, according to old wives’ tales, indicates whether or not we will have a mild winter or one so filled with snow that we will have to “shovel our way out”.

But, Native Alabama persimmons can be incredibly sweet when they're fully ripe, but eat one too early and you'll discover exactly why people describe the unripe fruit as astringent. According to “Alabama Extension” offices, the ripe pulp has very little acidity and can be turned into everything from pudding and jelly to pies and ice cream.

Muscadines are another Alabama favorite, with the state's harvest generally extending into early fall. And then there are satsumas, a small, easy-to-peel citrus that actually grows along Alabama's Gulf Coast. Their season begins in late September and can continue into early December.

Add sweet potatoes, pecans, fall apples, pears, and a little honey, and you've got an Alabama October menu that doesn't need a pumpkin-spice latte.

Sometimes the best way to celebrate fall is simply to eat what Mother Nature and an Alabama October provide.