Thread: Historic foods of Halloween

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I was checking around for an older recipe for Soul Cakes, the original Halloween "treat", as it were, and found a fantastic site -

http://historicalfoods.com/feast-day-recipe-index

The site is amazing, with a ton of information and history. It not only gives you the traditions associated with the dishes, drinks and desserts it offers, but it gives the modern cook the instructions needed to recreate the recipes.

Just on my own I highly recommend this - Irish Colcannon, a traditional Halloween dish that is sometimes used to hide charms, like a coin or a thimble. It is basically half mashed potatoes and half kale, a few finely chopped scallions, a load of cream and butter and a dash of salt and pepper, all mixed together, warmed on the stove and served with ham slices or a beef steak.

FUN! I think I can spend a lot of time there.....

Somehow I had gotten it in my head that Soul Cakes were a Christmas/Wassail food....I have a Christmas song that mentions them, actually.

Primrose,

songs about soul cakes have been associated with Christmas - that is where the perception comes from, but it isn't correct.
On All Souls Day (Nov 2) the poor went begging for soul cakes. They were eaten while saying a prayer for the dead of the household that gave out the soul cakes, in hopes that the prayers might hasten the release of those departed from Purgatory.
Soon, the custom was moved back two days, and was practiced on Halloween.

This is why Shakespeare, in his play "Two Gentlemen of Verona", had a character describe another as being "...like a beggar at Hallowmas."

So Souling, and soul cakes, reside in the realm of Halloween.

The reason the Christmas association sprang up is because the few souling songs that are still known sound very similar to early caroling songs. To be fair, in Tudor and Stuart England, caroling and Trick-or-treat were very close cousins.

It makes complete sense...I just never made the connection! I learned a new thing today!