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Halloween Tradition
Posted by Matt on Friday, Sep 28 2007 | Permalink | Comments: 0
Although it seems highly americanised, Halloween originated under the name of Samhain as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain until Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America.
Halloween was regarded as a time when the dead revisited the mortal world and cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when spirits can make contact with the physical world, and when magic is most potent. The custom of ‘Trick or Treat’ has been thought to have come from a European custom called "souling". Beggars would go from house to house begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars received, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could guarantee a soul's passage to heaven. For a traditional Halloween treat why not sample our delicious Bread and Butter Pudding with Custard? And what of bobbing for apples? This challenge was actually set to discover who would be married that year - much like the tradition of throwing the bridal bouquet at a wedding. In America unmarried women were frequently told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before marriage a skull would appear! All you big kids relive those apple-bobbing days with our fiendishly good Roast Pork in Apple Gravy, or classic Semolina with Dutch Apple. Let Wiltshire Farm Foods provide devilishly chocolately sweet treats this holiday, like our decadent Chocolate Truffle Mousse, yummy Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce or grandchildren’s favourite, Caramel Sundae – perfect for your little monsters! Do you have any seasonal recipes to share, or Halloween tales? Tell us about them in our Wiltshire Farm Foods Journal.