Saturday, October 28, 2023

Devil’s Food and Other Halloween Treats

 

Pumpkin: in season at Trader Joe’s.

From the 1970s: Devil's Food Twinkies. 
Still sometimes sold in "selected markets."
Devil's Food Cake. Deviled Ham. Deviled Eggs. Deviled Crab. A menu for Halloween? Sounds good to me! Never mind all those pumpkin and pumpkin spice dishes! Give me chocolate, mustard, and hot pepper! Here is my history post for the holiday, redone once again with a few new Halloween thoughts and current events.

I wondered if devil-themed foods might have anything to do with Devil's Night, the pre-Halloween mischief night. Looking into it, I learned that most of my information about Halloween customs and Devil's Night was inaccurate. Urban legends and speculations were more common than real history: as you might expect on a holiday celebrating myths and ghosts.

American Jack-o-Lantern, 1867 (IBTaurisblog)
The traditional Halloween Devil reflects fears of ghosts and hauntings: Halloween is at its root a festival celebrating the dead. Catholics for centuries honored saints and deceased members of their families for the first two days of November, solemnly visiting graveyards and attending religious services. They prayed that their loved ones were with the saints and not with the Devil -- but feared the worst, especially when visiting graveyards at dusk.

In Ireland, a variety of customs arose as a sort of opposite to the solemnities, including dressing up in costume, carving lanterns out of large vegetables, doing mischief of various kinds, and begging for food (which was a custom on other holidays as well, including Valentine's Day and the Wassail part of Christmas). Irish immigrants brought those customs to America in the mid-19th century.

These traditions appeared to have their roots in ancient Celtic customs. Many writers, beginning in the 19th century and continuing with current believers in Paganism claim that ancient Celtic rites were the basis for the Irish celebrations that eventually came to America. If you read anything about Samhain, the Celtic holiday (sometimes attributed to Druids, in even less historically accurate speculations) you'll see all kinds of parallels presented -- this Halloween origin story is still widely believed. However, the supposed evidence for the Celtic connection was often circular: where scholars couldn't find good descriptions of early customs, they filled in with information from their own experience or the recent past, which meant the parallels were very convincing. In fact, too good to be true.

A historian named Ronald Hutton in a book titled Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Oxford University Press, 1996) demonstrated that the usual claims about early Celtic practices are not verifiable. The evidence for the "development of the feast and of its associated days of All Saints and All Souls," he says is "intractable and ambivalent." (p. 360) Writer David Emery summarizes: "It seems reasonable to conclude that the connection between Halloween and Samhain has, at the very least, been overstated in most modern accounts of the holiday's origin."

So what is the story of Devil's Night? I always thought this was the accepted name for the riotous and disorderly side of the holiday. I remember having to drive through Detroit one late fall evening in the mid-1980s for a job interview, without realizing it was Devil's Night. From the freeway I heard police helicopters and sirens and saw smoke rising from burning buildings. Detroit's Devil's Night festivities then were at their most destructive, and hundreds of houses were being torched and other vandalism done. A few years later, with a lot of effort from the authorities, things calmed down.

I did not realize until doing this research, that Devil's Night was a name used almost uniquely in Detroit, and the vandalism was never as severe or systematic anywhere else. Yes, the Irish had Goblin Night or Mischief Night, but not Devil's Night. And bonfires were an old British-Isles tradition, but not insurance fires!

Well, what about the food? 

Deviled eggs, deviled ham, Julia Child's poulets grillés a la diable, deviled crab cakes, and similar dishes are devilish because of their spiciness -- though they make a perfect choice for Halloween menus. Deviled tongue and deviled kidneys, now obsolete at polite luncheons where they once would have been popular, might enhance the Halloween spirit in more ways than one! And devil's food cake, named not for its taste but for being the opposite of pure white angel food cake, is a very popular Halloween dessert.

The term "deviled" for spicy originated long ago. "The first known printed mention of ‘devil’ as a culinary term appeared in Great Britain in 1786, in reference to dishes including hot ingredients." (source: History of Deviled Eggs)

More and more dishes with "deviled" in their name appeared in the 19th century. In Mrs. Beeton's 1861 Book of Household Management, the term comes up in reference to turkey, of which the legs "appear only in a form which seems to have a special attraction at a bachelor’s supper-table, - we mean devilled: served in this way, they are especially liked and relished." (Household Management) Mrs. Beeton also recommended a deviled sauce made of vinegar, sherry, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, and cayenne; as well as chicken with deviled butter made with chutney, anchovy paste, and of course cayenne pepper. Beyond Mrs. Beeton:
"In The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Amanda Hesser includes an 1878 recipe for deviled crabs, saying that today’s deviled eggs are the mild-mannered cousins of deviled crab and kidneys, which 'were meant to be spicy and bracing, the kind of food you had after a long night of drinking.' She also notes that in David Copperfield ..., 'Mr. Micawber saves a dinner party by turning undercooked mutton into a devil,' covering the slices with pepper, mustard, salt and cayenne and cooking them well, then adding mushroom ketchup as a condiment." (Lisa Bramen, Smithsonian)
Above: Underwood Devil Logo, 1921.
Below left: 2014 Devil; right: original 1870 Devil
Underwood's Deviled Ham was first sold in 1870. Underwood's devil logo is the oldest trademark in continuous use (left). Their deviled ham is still available, though I can't say I want to eat any of it.

To make things even more complicated, in France there's an earthenware or cast-iron pot called a "diable" (devil) that allows cooking a whole chicken without added fat -- this utensil also gives its name to dishes cooked in it.

I'm afraid the original Halloween tradition was a lot more bland, not even as much fun as the candy that we'll be giving out next week. Oat cakes called "soul cakes" were offered to visitors or beggars in seventeenth century Shropshire, Lancashire, and Herefordshire for All-Souls Day. Those who received the cakes said "A soule-cake, a soule-cake, Have mercy on all Christen soules for a soule cake." Or "God have your soul, bones and all." In Wales, the gifted food was bread and cheese, and later on the beggars asked in rhyme for apples, pears, plums, or cherries as well as soul cakes. (Hutton, p. 374-375)

In 2023, English Heritage — which manages many historical properties, is reviving this tradition: “Visitors to 13 sites across England from Tynemouth Priory to St Mawes Castle, can knock on the door after hours and they will receive a soul cake – while stocks last – to commemorate the dead.” (The Guardian, October 26, 2023 — includes a recipe)

Soul Cakes from English Heritage, 2023.

A Halloween Cocktail

The Black Devil Martini from the BBC food channel.
There are dozens of Halloween drink recipes!



© 2014, 2019, 2023 mae sander for maefood.blogspot.com
Shared with Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz and with Elizabeth's weekly blog party.

26 comments:

  1. Very interesting post!
    When I was a kid Halloween was unknown here.
    And these days it´s just about deco, costumes and candy.
    Few kids dress up and go trick-or-treating, but they don´t say that. If at all they say "Süßes oder Saures" and I think they don´t know what it really means. (sweet or sour)
    Teenagers take the night as excuse to vandalize.
    Am I glad I have no car anymore!
    My Nieces carved pumpkins. Must ask Bro if the history behind is known or if it´s just for running with everybody else...

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  2. Happy Halloween! We have not had trick or treaters for years, the area is so rural and houses are too far apart. The drink looks interesting.
    Have a great weekend.

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  3. We don't celebrate Halloween but there are lots of places here that have parties and balls. I do love Deviled Ham though. :)

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  4. In Pennsylvania and where I lived in NJ, we had "mischief" night the night before Halloween when kids soaped cars and put toilet paper in the trees. The worst destruction was usually done with eggs thrown at the windows of houses which is really difficult to remove. Our community has even tried to tone that down and do away with it! As usual, a very interesting and informative post Mae.

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  5. Interesting post! Have a great weekend!

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  6. Before we moved to the US we weren't familiar with Halloween since it is not celebrated in Germany (and how can you go trick or treat when most people live in appartments anyway?). Having a small child we quickly embraced it and had fun with it for many years. I gave a yearly Halloween party for my daughter's friends and their families and it was always a big fun event (and exhausting). Now, we don't "do" Halloween anymore, but we still love it when trick or treaters come to our door. This year I will go to the Halloween parade at the neighborhood school to see my little neighbors in their costumes.

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  7. Interesting post! I love learning about holidays and food. I didn't realize that deviled eggs were supposed to be spicy. I don't think I've ever had a spicy one. Or maybe I just put so much spice in everything that tiny bits of spice don't register in my brain. Maybe they are spicy to other people.

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  8. Fun post Mae. I remember those Deviled Ham cans-well maybe not that exact one-smile, but the cans with the devil on them. I don't think they're around any more. I like that term Devil's night too. Happy Devil's Night to you/aka Halloween. hugs-Erika

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  9. I enjoyed this post! I'm from Missouri, so Devil's Night is a new term to me. I did know that many "deviled" foods was due to the spiciness.

    That's cool that English Heritage is reviving the soul cake tradition (another new one to me) at some sites.

    Joy's Book Blog

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  10. Hi Mae
    It is happening once year, great Halloween.

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  11. I was born the day after Halloween so when I was a kid, we always celebrated on Halloween. I really thought everyone dressed up in costumes and handed out candy just for my birthday!

    Thanks for sharing the true story of this day.

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  12. I like the pumpkin faced cookies from Trader Joe's. I have never been a Twinkies fan, but I coud get behind these Devil's Food Twinkies.

    I had no idea that a holiday we celebrate (and call our own) actually had its roots in Celtic customs.

    Wow, Detroit had a real problem. I am saddened to read this, but have seen how many deserted and burnt out buildings still exist there.

    Interesting to learn about the many foods that include Deviled. I remember seeing Deviled Ham in the stores, but not lately.

    I really like how this Black Devil Martini was decorated. Most charming. Thanks for sharing this Halloween and Deviled post, including the martini with us for T this week, dear Mae.

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  13. My favorite pizza at my local pizzeria is the Diavola--spicy!

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  14. There are a lot of Americans and English living round here, and they all put out nice decorations and dress up. Apart from that, just a few stupid teens throw eggs and get drunk down by the river! I think the real reasons for these festivals are all lost in the murky depths of the past, but some, like soul cakes, are still sold in the north-west of England. Thanks for all the information you have given, Valerie

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  15. This was a very interesting post to read.

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  16. I'd probably pass on these JoJos but I love the peppermint ones -- coming soon! This was such a fun (and very interesting) post!

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  17. I don't mind Halloween food but I might not be giving out candy this year. I feel like a dentist's wife, lol. Have a good time.

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  18. I don't celebrate Halloween, but the food sounds interesting. I don't think I have ever had a Twinkie.
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  19. I should have wished you a happy T day Mae. So I will now.

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  20. The Holiday may now commence! We have Mae's official Halloween post! (I loved the review of the traditions and appreciate as always your excellent research.).... I may make the NYT's recipe for hot-sauce shrimp tomorrow and just call it shrimp diablo! Closest I could come to an official holiday meal with what I've got.

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  21. Fun post. In the Boston area, the night before Halloween is called Cabbage Night. A night of mischief where windows were soaped, houses egged, trees festooned with toilet paper, clotheslines cut. I don't think this night has been celebrated in over 50 years. Happy T Day

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  22. The history is fascinating. I'll be checking out those cocktail recipes. Happy T Tuesday!

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  23. Thanks for all the interesting history. Some of the celebrations were new to me. I remember the cans of Deviled Ham. I think my Dad liked it. I could use the paper the can is wrapped with in mixed media art. I'll have to have a look around and see if it is still available.

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  24. Devils food - new for me. But it fits to Halloween. A tradition that is no tradition here in central Europe, but now especially the youth is celebrating parties.
    Nice post.

    all the best
    Violetta

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  25. Those cookies look fun, and I love the packaging. You should use it in some kind of art, I would! Interesting read about Devil's night. We have our own customs here in Scotland, dressing up to ward off evil and carving turnips - so much harder than a pumpkin lol Happy T Day! Elle xx

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