Forget Jack-O-Lanterns. In Scotland, Halloween food traditions are as creepy as they are romantic.
Food famously figures among numerous Halloween traditions, whether that’s carving out pumpkins or receiving sweet treats in return for party tricks. Make your way to bonnie wee Scotland, and you’ll find the holiday has a much more complex history. It goes far beyond seasonal stereotypes and is inexplicably embellished with ancient superstitions, some of which have oddly romantic undertones.
Food for Thought
It’s no secret among Halloween enthusiasts that a good chunk of the culinary traditions we observe trace their roots back to the Celtic holiday of Samhain.
Historically, this ancient pagan festival took place on the last day of the Celtic calendar and marked the transition between the fruitful summer season and the long winter. It was a time when the bounties of the recent harvest were raucously celebrated, yet also a time when people were engulfed by fear and uncertainty for the cold, hard months ahead.
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Samhain’s associations with light and dark and life and death led many to believe it was a day when spirits could walk upon the Earth. Numerous rituals were born to keep these potentially evil souls at bay. Lighting huge bonfires, crafting lanterns out of turnips, and disguising children in costumes (known as guising) are just a few Samhain traditions that have so far withstood the passage of time.
Samhain was revered for hundreds of years before being commandeered by the Catholic Church and renamed All Hallows’ Eve. Despite Christianity’s influences on the holiday, Samhain left its mark on Scottish culture. Even in the 21st century, locals are keen to honor their pagan heritage, the most obvious example being Edinburgh’s annual Samhuinn Fire Festival.
So, Where Does the Romance Figure In?
Not all of Scotland’s historic Halloween traditions were designed to quell the ghosts of the past. Many also revealed secrets of the future–especially those relating to the heart.
It may seem strange to label Halloween as even remotely “romantic.” Backtrack 300 years ago, though, and several customs were commonly observed among Scotland’s youth. What’s more, many of them included some sort of food.
A handful of these rituals earned a place in Robert Burns’ poem “Hallowe’en.” Published in 1786 and famously one of his longest works, it mentions “merry, friendly, country folks” gathering together to “burn their nits, an’ pou their stocks.” This last line may seem baffling to those unfamiliar with Burns’ Scots prose, but it does reference two activities that likely featured on many people’s Halloween agendas during that period.
Whether you’re keen to assess the longevity of your relationship or discover the prosperity of your future intended, these five Scottish Halloween traditions may just help determine your romantic fate.
Apple Bobbing
While it may now be recognized as a fun and innocent–albeit messy–children’s game, the practice of apple bobbing was once a popular Halloween pastime of young women during the 17th and 18th centuries. Why apples, you might ask? In Celtic mythology, the apple reigns supreme over all other fruit and is often associated with healing and rebirth.
The basic idea behind apple dooking, as it was–and still is–colloquially known in Scotland, echoes today’s version: simply add some apples to a tub of water, put your hands behind your back, and attempt to grab one using only your mouth. It’s after this feat has been achieved that things begin to differ.
While kids nowadays tend to snack on their hard-won apples (if they’re not already full of candy, that is); youths in the 1700s would carefully peel theirs, trying to keep the peel as intact as possible. Next, they’d close their eyes and toss the peel over their shoulder. Leaving it exactly where it fell, the shape would be scrutinized to see which letter of the alphabet it most closely resembled. This would then be taken as a clue as to the initial of the first name of your next suitor.
The Burning of Nuts
You’ll likely have inhaled the comforting scent of hot roasted nuts before or snacked on some yourself. Well, how about using them to determine whether your relationship will flourish or fail?
The practice of burning nuts to predict the success of a relationship is one of the first Halloween traditions mentioned in Burns’ much-loved poem. Courting couples or newlyweds would select a nut (typically a hazelnut or a chestnut) and toss it onto a burning fire. Superstition states that if the nut burned slowly and quietly, you were destined to have a long and happy marriage. And if your nut burnt instantly to ash or, God forbid, popped? That was a very bad omen, indeed.
Pulling up Kale Stalks
Toss away those tarot cards and put your crystal ball back on its shelf. All you really need to divine the appearance of your future partner is some humble kale–at least according to this particular, and sadly no longer practiced, Scottish Halloween tradition.
For those who were yet to snag a beau, kale pulling was a more appropriate Halloween activity than those listed above, with Burns even referring to people who “pou their stocks” (“pull their stalks”) in his poem. It’s the Samhain tradition and one which would see young men and women heading outdoors after dark to their nearest kale patch.
Blindfolded, they’d feel about for kale stalks and eventually pull one out of the ground. Supposedly, the shape and length of the one you chose would determine the physique of your future spouse. A withered kale stalk might also allude to an older spouse, while the flavor of the kale was believed to determine their character. Selected one with roots covered in soil? This was indicative of wealth: the more soil on your kale stalls, the higher your chance of marrying someone rich.
Fortunes in the Fuarag
This next ceremony originally hails from Scotland’s Western Isles, but it also became, and remains, a popular Halloween tradition among many Canadians. This can likely be attributed to the large numbers of people who emigrated there due to the Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Fuarag (pronounced “foo-ar-ak”) is, at its core, a dish made of oats, sugar, and cream. Before families would dig into this delicious delicacy, they’d first add trinkets to the mix, each of which had symbolic value. Typical items included a ring (to represent wedding bells in the not-so-distant future), a button (to signify bachelorhood), and a thimble (to suggest spinsterhood).
With the objects safely hidden in the fuarag, everyone around the table would be blindfolded and then take turns removing a spoonful. It was the true luck of the draw which object, if any, you’d receive. The items, their meanings and even the ingredients of the fuarag often differed between villages and regions, with some communities in Nova Scotia including a coin to represent a future windfall.
Hideous Halloween Cakes
Not too dissimilar to both fuarag and, indeed, the practice of placing a silver sixpence in your Christmas pudding for luck is the Scottish Halloween Cake.
It was also used as a way to predict a family’s fortunes over the coming year and, again, would involve burying symbolic objects into a dessert. A ring, a thimble and a button were the most common additions, although sometimes a horseshoe or a piece of cloth would be added to represent good luck and ill fate.
In the 20th century, decorating your Halloween Cake with a grotesque face featuring cheeks filled with whipped cream became common. As a result, the phrase “face like a Halloween cake” was coined to describe someone with unfortunate looks. Many Scottish bakeries still make Halloween Cake today (although you’ll likely have to add your own trinkets due to modern health and safety regulations).
All Hallows’ Eve. All Saint’s Eve. Samhain. Hallowe’en. Whatever you choose to call it, there’s no denying it has a rich and, at times, bizarre history. Whether you take stock in superstitious tales or you’d prefer to leave them in the past, one thing is for sure: Halloween doesn’t always have to be about ghosts, ghouls, and the grim reaper.