Delectable Traditional Halloween Recipes

Halloween was looked upon by the Celts as the feast day of the year. The Christians, who later adopted this, believed that on Halloween the mortal and the afterworld merged and spirits of the departed roamed the earth looking for bodies to live in. To appease these roaming souls people left offerings of Halloween food and drinks outside their houses.

There also existed the tradition of mimicking, which is wandering incognito from one house to other playing tricks in exchange for food and drink. Feasting and merriment were always a part of the celebration, and many traditional Halloween recipes still continue to be prepared today. Till recently Halloween was time of abstenance. The Christian church disallowed the consumption of any kind of meat.

You must however keep in mind the below mentioned simple and common points while preparing Halloween food and have a blast of a party!

• Calcanon, barm brack, apple cake, roasted apples, browned nuts and toasted marshmallows are part of traditional Halloween recipes. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that apples and nuts, frequently used in the preparation of Halloween food, were traditionally considered to be powerful prognosticators.
• Cancanon prepared in special skillets, was made of mashed potatoes, chopped cabbage and onions.
• The first potatoes that were dug were used to make champ, a recipe, which made use of mashed potatoes, sweet milk and chopped onions or chives. Each spoonful was dipped in a well of butter and eaten.
• Grated raw potatoes mixed with sweet milk, baking powder and eggs were used in pancakes. They were coated with butter and castor sugar.
• Potatoes, oats, blackberries and apples, which are important ingredients of traditional Halloween recipes were stacked in advance as it was believed that on Halloween night the devil, shook his club at them and rendered them unfit for consumption.
• Traditional Halloween food also include caramel coated apples, caramel corn, pumpkin pie, popcorn balls, chocolate suckers, pumpkin punch bowls, candied apples, ginger bread corpses and roasted pumpkin seeds to name a few.
• Caramel apples are prepared by inserting wooden sticks in apples and lowering them in melted caramel syrup till they are evenly coated. For old-fashioned caramel corn, popcorn is dipped in a mixture of corn syrup, salt sugar and butter. It is then baked for an hour till golden brown.
• Pumpkin is used in many traditional Halloween recipes, one being the traditional pumpkin pie. Salt, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, eggs, evaporated milk and of course pumpkin form the main ingredients.
• Pumpkin, used for carving jack o lantern on Halloween, in not eaten. It is the sweeter and less watery variety like cheese pumpkin, sweet pumpkin and pie pumpkin that is consumed.
• Popcorn balls covered with a mixture of molasses and corn syrup is still a hot favorite along with candied apples and pumpkin punch bowls. Roasted pumpkin seeds are also very popular.
• Orange and black candies gained popularity in the 1920s. Children loved orange gumdrops, orange jellybeans and buttercups, black licorice and buttons.
• The practice of giving soul’s cake to visitors in returns for the promise to pray for departed souls is very old and is still practiced in many countries.

Today, both children and adults enjoy Halloween parties immensely. Suppertime with traditional Halloween recipes is the most enjoyable feast of the year.

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