When the weather turns, kitchens from Morocco to Turkey reach for the same thing: pumpkin and squash. These sweet, golden vegetables arrived from the Americas centuries ago and found a home in North African and Middle Eastern cooking, where they now fill couscous pots, dips and desserts every fall and winter.

IN THE COUSCOUS POT. Across North Africa, couscous is the dish families gather around, and squash is one of its most loved vegetables. Morocco's famous seven-vegetable couscous is crowned with soft pumpkin. At Tripoli's, our Libyan Couscous is semolina couscous in a tomato and onion stew, topped with potatoes, carrots and butternut squash.

ON THE MEZZA TABLE. In Libya, pumpkin is cooked down and mashed with garlic, harissa and caraway into tirshi, a spicy starter scooped up with warm bread. Next door in Tunisia, roasted pumpkin is mashed with harissa, garlic and olive oil into ajlouk, a bright, spicy dip for bread. In Lebanon, pumpkin is folded with bulgur to make kibbet laqteen, a meatless pumpkin kibbeh.

FOR DESSERT. In Turkey, kabak tatlısı is pumpkin slowly candied in sugar and served with tahini and crushed walnuts. It is proof that pumpkin has always belonged at the end of the meal, too.

AT OUR TABLE THIS SEASON. We brought that tradition to three holiday desserts. Our pumpkin kunafa pairs golden, crisp kataifi with the warm flavor of pumpkin. Our holiday cheesecake is finished with a housemade pumpkin sauce, and for a limited time only, our Dubai chocolate bites come filled with pumpkin. All three are available to order now, and pre-orders are available and recommended.

PLANNING THANKSGIVING? We are closed on Thanksgiving Day, so pre-order your pumpkin kunafa, holiday cheesecake and pumpkin-filled Dubai chocolate bites and pick them up on Wednesday, November 25. Call us at (210) 645-4450 or stop by.