Season 2, Episode 12: Pee-KAHN or Pee-CAN

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Season 2, Episode 12: Pee-KAHN or Pee-CAN
Every day, heated debates about “correct” food names challenge friendships across the United States.


“Soda” or “Pop”?
“Pork Roll” or “Taylor Ham”?
“Sub”, “Hoagie” or “Hero”?
“To-MAY-to” or “To-MAH-to”?
Throughout my life, I have seen people make passionate cases for each of the above options. Most discussions are civil and friendly, but they CAN get heated. Especially one.
...how to pronounce “Pecan”.
I kid you not, there are people who get worked up over these 2 syllables in ways I have never seen before! Doing a little research, I found that apparently there are FOUR major variations:
“PEE-can” - the Northeast and Carolina coasts
“pick-AHN” - the Bayou of Louisiana, North Texas, Oklaholma
“PEE-kahn” - Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
“pee-KAHN” - Everywhere else
Now, I’m sure that there is some history to describe these differences. However, I have neither the time nor the patience to go down a linguistic/phonetic rabbit hole. Instead, I’m just going to tell you that I’m in the “PEE-can” camp, and suggest that you seek help if you chose otherwise.
Just kidding.
...But seriously.
As for the others, the correct choices are: Soda, Sub, and To-MAY-To. I’ve never actually eaten Pork Roll/Taylor Ham, but I’m Team Taylor Ham. Get at me.
If you are interested in reading more about how the barbarians outside of your area pronounce/call things:
DAY 12: Whole Foods Pumpkin Spiced Pecans
Item: 365 Everyday Value Pumpkin Spice Latte Pecans
Purchase Location: Whole Foods
Price: $4
In two years, I have seen pumpkin spice implemented into many different products. Really, it is quite versatile for being a seasonal spice.
Of these, one of the more surprising success stories from last year was pumpkin-spiced pumpkin seeds (aka pumpkinception). The warmth and slightly rich flavor of the seeds really complimented the sugar coating and the spices well and made the product a real winner. I even bought more this year.


So when I saw this bag of pumpkin-spiced pecans in Whole Foods this evening, I was excited. I love pecan pie, and I feel like the flavor of the pecan is something that would work (potentially) even better than pumpkin seeds. So I grabbed this and some pumpkin spiced popcorn and headed for the door.


Getting home, I tore off the top of the bag and took in the smell. The spices were really nice and fragrant, but I caught a much stronger smell of sweetness than I expected.


Pouring a few in my hand, I notice two things: There is a thick coat of the sugar/spice mix, and most of the nuts are stuck together in clusters from the sugar.


At first taste, the spices hit but the sweetness over powers. The buttery flavor of the pecan does an okay job to round out the taste profile and tones down the sharpness of the spices. It kind of tastes like a slice of pumpkin pie. Almost. Unfortunately, the pecan is just too fatty to eat more than a few at a time.


Continuing, I tried a few more handfuls. As I did, one thing that kept coming back to me was the sugar. It just overpowers and kind of brings down the appeal of the overall product.
Reading some reviews online, it seems like people are using these in salads and pies, which could be pretty effective in cutting the sweetness.  
Overall, I think these are fine, but not on their own. They need to be a part of something bigger to cut the taste down to tolerable amounts of buttery-ness and sugar.


And remember, “PEE-can”.
Final Rating: 2.5/5 pumpkins

 Season 2, Episode 3: It's hip to be a (chocolate) square!
Season 2, Episode 2: The Pumpshank Redemption

Season 1 Entries:

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