Daily Times

For those who can’t get enough of pumpkin-flavoured treats during Halloween, McDonald’s Japan is offering French fries covered in pumpkin and chocolate sauce.

The fast-food chain came up with the “Halloween Choco Potato” to mark its 45th anniversary in Japan, where trick or treaters enjoy pumpkin-spiced food and beverages to celebrate the October holiday. “The flavours of pumpkin and chocolate went unexpectedly well and it was quite tasty,” Ayano Ishikama, 22, said after sampling the fries at one of the chain’s restaurants in Tokyo.

Pumpkin pie, for instance, is a traditional part of Thanksgiving meals in Canada and the United States, although commercially canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie fillings are usually made from different kinds of winter squash than the pumpkins frequently carved as jack-o’-lanterns for decoration around Halloween.

In the United States and Canada, pumpkin is a popular Halloween and Thanksgiving staple. Pumpkins are commonly carved into decorative lanterns called jack-o’-lanterns for the Halloween season in North America.

The practice of carving pumpkins for Halloween originated from an Irish myth about a man named “Stingy Jack”.

The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween, but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips.

Not until 1837, does jack-o’-lantern appear as a term for a carved vegetable lantern, and the carved pumpkin lantern association with Halloween is recorded in 1866.