Fun fact: I made soul cakes one time when my roommates had a Halloween party. I offered one to some dude who came dressed as Luke Skywalker. He asked me if the soul cakes were vegan. I told him I didn't think so because they're made with real human souls 😏
When I was active duty they would bake you a cake on the mess deck when you would re-enlist. We would refer to these as “soul cakes” because you sold your soul to the Navy for another 4 years for a cake. 😂
These looki like they'd be similarsh to Hot Cross Buns (I suspect they come from a similar root) - and are probably nice cut, toasted and spread with butter (less dry, too). In Scotland we go guising (from diguising), and the kids to a wee "turn" (a joke, song, magic trick, etc) at each door to earn their sweeties, and along with bobbing for applies (fun with wee ones if you're stuck in the house this year - drop a fork from your mouth to spear an apple if anyone's got a loose tooth) we also have a game involving eating as much soda scone hanging from string and dripping in treacle as possible in 2 minutes - hands behind backs for the over 3s. Sticky, messy, surprisingly savoury, and much beloved by small boys.
Seconding on this! Cut in half, toasted and used like scones with butter and/or any toppings you want, down here in somerset, very typical around easter more than any other time. And also *very* good, when I was a kid i liked mine with peanut butter and marmalade, my mom had hers with marmite sometimes, but they never taste right without lashings of butter and a hot cup of tea.
I was reminded of Hot Crossed Buns as well, though traditionally in Newfoundland they used to appear during Lent and Easter and the cross is made with icing. But of late I've seen them in stores almost any time of the year. Pity my oven is busted.
Well, there's two of us weirdos, at least. I kept seeing people saying they looked liked cat's eyes, and didn't want to let anyone see my freak flag...
we have something similar in northern Italy, called "Pan Dei Morti"(The Dead's Bread). they're soft cookies made with almonds, dry fruits, spices and wine. They're baked and given out to children on All Saints Day. We also have Ossa Di Morto (Dead man bones) which are similar cookies but hard and have a oblong shape, resembling a bone or finger.
Oooh...see now I want to try soul cakes with apricots and almonds! Too bad I can't cook for health reasons... At the end of summer the Japanese have Obon and they make special rice cakes with sweetened red beans in them to offer their ancestors. People are traditionally given the day off of work to travel home and visit their family, clean the family grave, and have a festival with food stalls, a traditional Obon dance, and ending with fireworks.
Hello, here in Switzerland there are VERY hard-to-the-bite, oblong cookies, which consist of a dough with grated hazelnuts or almonds, on sale in all supermarkets around the beginning of November. They used to be served at wakes or after a funeral, and - even on the packages! - were called "Totebeinli" (= legs of the dead) until ca. five years ago. Now they are called "Nuss-Stängeli" (= small rods made of nuts) because the traditional name was deemed too shocking for children. The cookies former name nonetheless survives in the Swiss version of Jingle Bells, because the resulting song "Zimmetstärn ha I gärn" features a list of formerly common Christmas tide associated cookies and baked goods. As I am from a part of Germany where the above mentioned custom was not observed (albeit many German regions share traditions with the neighbouring countries along the respective borders), the name and the history behind it at first grossed me out, but I realised it is a good way to casually deal with matters of life and death and thus introduce them into the experience and education of the younger generations. Now I am not sure that is still customary/ allowed to sing the Swiss version of the song anymore, because nowadays so many things are glossed over to conform to the tendency to cancel out uncomfortable or shocking realities. If one's teeth can muster the texture of the confectionery, the cookies - regardless of their current name - are still delicious ;-)))
@@BeeboBee Except pan de muerto's flavor is on the outside. With an external sugar coating while tasting like plain bread on the inside. Unless there's a more flavored version I don't know about.
We never got rid of these traditions in Ireland. We eat spiced buns around Samhain period with dried fruit which are quite bread like. They have a cross on top and are called "crossed bins". We also have big round loaves called barmbrack which is even yummier. It always has a ring / coin hidden inside. They don't have saffron though. That's a very posh crossed bun you got there 😂 Ps. You're supposed to butter it a little like bread! Oh, and we're still trying to do away with the bonfires... Getting there 😂
@@jennifermcgean6156 Saffron is distinctly unique in flavour, It's quite light, sweet and floral but it's very complex (turmeric can sometimes be used as an alternative if one doesn't have access any and is sometimes referred to as "poor man's saffron" due to similar colour and slight similarities in taste)
We also practice the same in the Philippines. So when we visit our departed loved ones in the cemetery, we cook "Biko" or sticky rice cakes for their souls. We either bring it in the cemetery where families can eat the food there ( tables and chairs for everyone next to the grave of their loved ones) or we can also cook the sticky rice and lit candles in our dining tables at home.
I've been inside that neolithic tomb you showed! It's called Newgrange and it's in Ireland. It is the most interesting place I've ever been. It felt magical. I think this particular tomb actually aligns with the winter solstice. I highly recommend visiting the site if you have the resources to do so/when the pandemic is over. It is an amazing, otherworldly experience.
I'm irish and my mum used to make us soul cakes for Halloween when I was little, hadn't thought of that in years 💖 Eating barmbrack with a ring, cloth and coin baked in as well as how you're not to pick blackberries after the 31st because the púca (a ghost) has spat on them and it's bad luck are my prevailing childhood memories of Samhain customs x
Thank the algorithm gods for sending this my way. I watched it during breakfast, then got off my couch and MADE THEM. All we had was cream sherry but that just means they’ll be extra sweet? They’re cooling right now. Happy Halloween everyone!
If you like soul cakes abd their history, Sin eating in Wales is also very fascinating! After someone had died, or was dieing, during their wake a 'sin eater" would be contracted to eat bread and drink wine or more commonly ale over them, there by taking their earthly sins on. Often a sin eater would be paid quite well for this, and traditiong was recorded in Wales right up until the 20th century
@@TheGrungy1 I believe there was quite a bit of immigration from Wales to there! Also pensylvania! Alot of celtic and Brythonic traditions got carried over :)
I used to run the Halloween parties at my place of work before they had the building staff take over. We decided one year to do a trivia game where we had all kinds of Halloween facts. One of them was actual about soul cakes which I read about. No one in the office got the question right, except for a few who told me they just guessed. You are 100% correct that soul cakes have almost vanished from the popular conscience as a Halloween food or something you would do during the holiday.
okay I just found this channel and I'm in love w this guy. food? check. historical story telling? check. humor? cheeeeeeeeeeeeeck. A+++ dude keep it up!!!
Isn’t “mh” in the middle of a Celtic word _always_ pronounced like either “v” or “w” depending on the vowel after it? Come to think of it, so are most digraphs with a consonant followed by “h”.
Here in Australia, Halloween, and trick or treating, has only really been thing for the last 20 years, or so. This means I missed out on the all fun times, lollies, etc, as a child in the 70s and 80s. As such I have no traditions, favourite Halloween treats, etc. Thank you Max for the soul cake recipe, I've been trying to find an authentic one for ages.
Halloween is pointless in Australia, there’s no proper history, it’s just been adopted from America, who knows why. I never partake in it, and as a teacher, I don’t indulge my students with it either.
When I have kids and teach them about halloween: Kids: "So we say trick or treat?" My Mom: "No you say Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat.." Me and all of my Welsh Ancestors: "Deca Deca come to the door, and give to the messenger of death..." Everyone looks at me... I look at everyone... Me: "You've come this far... THERE'S NO TURNING BACK NOW...."
Can I just say how impressed I am with your pronunciations of Samhain at 6:40 and that mouthful of a saints name (which I’m not typing out lol) at 9:55? I was very excited and impressed when you nailed it! (Also yay TH-cam notifications working for once lol)
@@TastingHistory I've gone through the entire Irish education system and studied it for 13 years. We don't teach it well here unfortunately, and you tend not to care until you are out of school. I cannot pronounce much beyond "teacher can I go to the bathroom please?" I think you have done very well :)
In Germany, particularly around the swabian region, bakers make long "rolls" called Seele (or soul) all year round. They are traditionally made from spelt flour and are crispy on the outside, fluffy and light and moist on the inside. They have their origins as mentioned by Max, and are reminiscent of all saints day and remembering the dead. However, in older times, when autumn turned to winter, those who spared some nourishment to the "poor souls" could expect a better harvest in the year to come. Another explanation suggests that a baker during the 30 years war (1618-1648) in Ravensburg vowed, if the Plague would spare his city, he would give each beggar a loaf of bread every year on all Saints day. From such a generous vow, through stereotypical swabian frugality became the (small) Seele in comparison to the regular sized loaves of bread.
Ah ja, Dinkelseelen! Danke für die Erinnerung, dass ich die auch mal backen sollte/ wollte - aber ich mag keinen Dinkel, denn Backwerk daraus gelingt mir nicht, trotz mehr Wasser im Teig. Ich hoffe, dass Weizenmehl ausnahmsweise erlaubt ist ;-)
Peter, Paul and Mary did a rendition of the Souling Song, and in the live version on one of their albums, Peter tells a silly funny story about trick or treating. First time I heard it I was about 17, and got the mistaken idea Souling was at Christmas time. Thank you for explaining. Great video!
Souling is similar to wassailing (Xmas), but the activities' songs are very different - "Here We Come A'Wassailing" is a nice, upbeat group tune while "Souling" is that deliciously spooky minor ditty. It was kind of innovative of PP&M to mix it with "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" like they did!
My grandparents are catholic and my grandfather used to dress up as his favorite saints and all for Halloween even back in the 20s/30s and all. But can I say, the sheer judgement of stating that a child is receiving a baby ruth (one of the worst Halloween candies) truly had me in stitches! Truly a perfect representation of Christianity.
I'll try these, for sure! Also, I want to thank you for always putting cups AND grams in your measurements, it's so much easy when I don't have to convert everything! Thank you for this :)
I'm still perplexed by Peter, Paul and Mary singing that song during their Christmas special (which I have watched every single year since I was a child). It's a Halloween song, or all souls day, what have you.
This explains so much about the Discworld. I kept waiting for you to mention the a duck, but I guess Terry Pratchett had to actually invent that part himself.
Max when it gets closer to Easter I'd love you to do hot cross buns and their history. I've never heard of soul cakes or the other holidays surrounding them. Another great history lesson!
The cross predates Christianity by thousands of years and indicated the 4 directions or quarters, the 4 elements and the wheel of the year so it may also have been used by the Druids. Samhain is one of the cross quarters (as well as Imbolc aka ground hogs day Feb 2, Beltane aka May day May 1, and Lamas or feast of first bread Aug.1) Have you compared these soul cakes to hot cross buns and are they similar?
Bread on all souls day really made the rounds! Mexico, Spain...there's a great scene at the beginning of the movie November where they're giving bread to the dead on All Souls in Estonia. And then the dead turn into chickens in the sauna. But the point is - BREAD! All over Europe. Amazing to me how widely this particular food tradition is shared. PS - I am definitely trying this recipe. Those look amazing.
We call them Hot Cross Buns in South Africa. Very popular over Easter. Traditionally served with Pickled Fish. Lovely toasted, and drowned in butter and Apricot Jam.
I normally do an unleavened cake (think a sweet tea biscuit or a butter cookie, or somewhere in between) for soul cakes, I think I'm going to try these ones this year.
I'm not entirely sure I can count it as the same recipe, but my husband said I should let you know how much we loved these. (I used de-alcoholized beer for the barm, because it was left over from making the Tudor buttered beer; substituted 1/2 tsp cardamom for the saffron like you can do in St. Lucia buns; used 100g of candied orange peel in lieu of the dried fruit, and used cider in place of the sack à la Townsends). Everyone thought they were awesome. They have been inhaled, and I have already received requests for more.
I made this recipe a couple of times now, it's really good, I love the flavour of these cakes. But I didn't love the texture, so today I made sort of a fusion between these and a scones recipe. They turned out amazing! I used a scones recipe that contained baking powder, egg and buttermilk. I exchanged the buttermilk for ale and sherry and added all the spices and raisins from the soul cakes recipe. Highly recommend you try this! (I used the blueberry scones recipe from Chef Billy Parisi on TH-cam as a base)
In Leiria, and other cities in the north-center Portugal, soul cakes still exist. Growing up there, I never celebrated Halloween, but this other festivity instead that to children was called Small Cake Day (dia do bolinho), and was celebrated on All Saint's Day - which I'm pretty sure was the actual name of the festivity, and grown-ups just called it Small Cake Day for children to get into it. Since moving out, I've never seen these cakes anywhere else, but every year my family makes a point of going back to Leiria specifically to buy these cakes. Perhaps this year I'll make my own as well!
You know, I've lost track of how many eps I've watched and can I just say thank you so much for coming out with a cook book! The thought of having to go back and copy all these recipes down is a bit daunting. XD
And here we have yet another similarity between Scandinavian Christmas traditions and various Halloween and pre-Halloween traditions: saffron-flavoured yeasted buns w/raisins on, that you hand out to people (lussekatter, mid-December)
So we still eat something very similar around spring and Easter, hot cross buns. They are a tad more bread like and don't use saffron but they're spiced buns with crosses on and fruit inside we serve toasted with butter and usually a cup of tea. They are quite a dense bread but moister than the cakes you made. We also have lots of similarly spiced cakes and breads that are eaten during various holidays throughout the year. I guess it must come from when spices were an expensive luxury so these rich sweet spiced foods would have been a very special treat.
I love your channel and I love the history lesson behind the recipes and I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the ever changing plush toy in the background!!! Literally the first thing I look at, seeing what new item is gonna be shown on the channel today. Keep up the great work!!
Definitely a variation on a theme. Celtic culture exists in Spain/Iberia, too, and parts of it certainly made it to the new world. These seem MUCH easier to prepare than pan de muerto, though.
It is rather lovely there are other subscribers here what know about the Pratchett films. Hogfather is our favorite Christmas treat hereabouts, even above Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life.
We here in south west of Germany (Baden-Wuerttemberg) have a "Seelenweck" (a soul bread roll) it is a kind of long bread roll with large-grained salt and caraway seeds. In the old times they would have been give from the godparents to their godchild. You can buy it here as a "Seele"/ soul.
Love this topic! I appreciate your showing an image of Newgrange, an ancient tomb in Ireland, but it is not oriented to the sunrise on Samhain but on the Winter Solstice! ;)
Sounds like the Chinese 7th Month/ Hungry Ghost Festival when we also offer food offerings (and a lot of other things) to dead ancestors and souls! Someone else also mentioned Dia de Muertos. Looks like many cultures have this common thread
It’s the strangest idea to want to feed live food to someone who has passed on. I get the whole idea of having your family come and join you again in spirit, but if they’re in another realm, they’re not gonna be able to eat the food from this realm. I think the whole universality of this concept speaks to humans being unable to let the idea of their beloved passed go, unable to accept that they’re not a part of this realm anymore. Also, food is a great mortal comfort.
This is really weird but oh my god I have to share it. I just had a religious experience with the intro music on this channel. It has been stuck in my head for like 4 days and I haven't been able to place where I remembered it from. I was thinking about it very directly right before I sat down to my computer and started to open TH-cam. I saw your video and clicked on it, seeing I had accidentally missed an upload, and sighed to myself in frustration at another day and more energy lost to that fleeting tune I could not name. And then your sweet voice like a ribbon of silk from the clouds completed its soliloquy and was followed by the tune. AH! THE TUNE! Sorry this is really random and weird but I had to share it because I feel spiritually moved by that. Wow, okay. P.S. Absolutely love the videos, been a long time fan (since 30k!). Keep up the awesome work! You make quarantining so much better!
A lovely version of the soul cake song using these same lyrics can be heard/watched on TH-cam under the title "A Soalin', " and performed by Peter, Paul and Mary. (Paul's wonderful medieval profile lends an air of authenticity to the whole thing.)
I am Wiccan, and I usually did most of the baking for my coven. One Samhain I did make soul-cakes, which were consumed along with sips of ale or wine, while everybody pretended they could sing like Peter Paul and Mary.
@@tamarrajames3590 Parkin was not a 'traditional Samhain cake' - Samhain being an Irish festival. It originates from the North of England, in particular where I live in Yorkshire - and is especially associated with Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night. And parkin can be readily bought in the local bread shops and supermarkets during that period.
@@Wotsitorlabart Thanks, I do know the origins of Samhain, and yes…I’m certain they didn’t have Parkin in those days. Spending my school years in VERY British Victoria BC, we inevitably came back from “trick or treating” with several pieces of Parkin wrapped in waxed paper. However it began, it did get rolled into the holiday a good many years ago, as my Mother recalled it being the only time in the year my Gran ever baked it.🖤🇨🇦
I love Elinor Fettiplace's Reciept Book - it's my go-to ... so it is doubly lovely to hear the words drip from your tongue. I've yet to try this recipe though. And thus, it's a must-do for this weekend. So many kisses of joy for this. Sooo many!
In the Norman village that my ancestors were said to come from, soul cakes were baked so they lasted through winter and were "foisted" upon the older poorer housholds so that they may survive the winter with their meager resorces. One member of the better-to-do older folks would dress as a witch or sorcerer (ironically was usually the Healer of the village, aka the Wise One) and they would lead the participants to the houses that needed the food. He/She would tell a story about each household, carefully inserting such details as how many lived there, if there were any babies, or if they were a single Widow so the donations could be politely doled out appropriately. These stories usually started with something like "This abode hosts 3 Spirits who happen to snatch good fortune away from the people who live here. Especially mischievous would be the wee spirit that doesn't have any self-control yet." So they called them "Spirit (ghost) stories". Now, I have not found anything in writing about this, it was a story my Great Oma used to tell us. Because strength and self-sufficiency are still highly-prized skills, needing charity was never done openly and so that's why all the cloak and dagger behavior around it. Great Oma said because of that, it would never be written down. The Healer would tell the kids about the trips, and when they would be done, in private story-tells, out of pu lic earshot. They covered themselves with heavy but modest cloaks to conceal who they were. Kids loved this because a "secret" was involved. Anyway, nowadays, some churches and charities put Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner baskets together to serve a similar purpose.
A series of books I love, the Discworld, had holidays that were similar to ours, such as Hogswatch instead of Christmas (with the jolly fat man dressing in red delivering presents to all the good little children). One of the holidays was Soul Cake Day, with it's mascot, the Soul Cake Duck. Now the Soul Cake makes sense, I'm just wondering where the duck came into the picture.
Every year a few days before Halloween, my grandpa's retirement community hosted their own Halloween. They absolutely splurged on the goodies--full-size candy bars, literal living goldfish, and christian kids movies. But one house gave out those wax drinks that were the size of regular water bottles, and they were SO GOOD. Still have no idea where they got them, I've been trying off and on for years, but still no luck :(
We have hot cross buns here in Canada, they usually come out at Easter and sometimes Christmas. The bread is fluffier and chock full of fruits and spice, delicious toasted with butter. Most come from a similar idea! Always so fun to learn the "back stories" of food.
That's kinda sad, but I know families are doing more together to celebrate and that's nice. Pumpkins at the grocery stores are selling out by noon because so many families are carving to make up for the parties that aren't happening.
As someone who still celebrates Samhain, Thank you for pronouncing it right :’) Also I’ll be making these this Sunday!! I’ve made a little variation of these for awhile but !!! I wanna try these :) I’ll let you know how it goes!
Btw the pumpkin carving tradition, was based on an earlier turnip carving tradition. Fires in the home were put out to prevent the spirits form entering. Carved turnips were used to carry embers from the bonfire at the end of the night.
In Scotland we call the tradition "guising". You're also supposed to do something first in order to get the treat, whether it be something like singing a song, reciting a poem, something dextrous or acrobatic etc., hence the apocryphal folk etymology of "trick or treat" here (do a trick to get a treat) -- though the phrase didn't actually become associated with the practice of guising here until fairly recently and I didn't use it when I went as a child despite the innundation of American media.
What's everyone's favorite Halloween candy? I'll start. Snickers!
Peanut butter cups FTW
Carmels.
Almond joy!
Ooooh yes. One of my favorites too.
Branch’s are my favorite.
Max: "Nutmeg & cloves & mace & sack"
John Townsend: *Heavy breathing*
The treat: has nutmeg
The trick: is pre ground 🙀
Babish: *Watches from around the corner longingly.
@@benderrodriguez142 pre-ground!? "SHAME ON YOU!"
Don’t forget the ale barm!
That John Townsend especially loves his nutmeg!
"Why choose 'or' when 'and' is on the table" is an excellent philosophy as a whole. :)
Here here!
@@TastingHistory Cake or death?
@@TakeshiM Death by cake?
@@gewreid5946 Cake by death?
@@TakeshiM No no...cake AND death. :)
I like the apron buckles that look like cat eyes when he's wearing all black
I definitely didn't wonder what an odd shirt he was wearing before realizing it was an apron...
lol that's what I thought I first
@@dom9406 same 😸
I was thinking the same thing! Lol
I thought the same thing! Thought it was a shirt at first
You should definitely re-hydrate the dry fruit in the alcohol. It makes the texture and flavour so much better, and prevents burning.
Thank you for the hint.
^ this 100%
Fun fact: I made soul cakes one time when my roommates had a Halloween party. I offered one to some dude who came dressed as Luke Skywalker. He asked me if the soul cakes were vegan. I told him I didn't think so because they're made with real human souls 😏
Very Wednsday Addams of you, I like!!
I think that's OK if they're freely given? According to vegan friend who put breast milk in his tea
but we're the souls free range?
@@Tridd666 I only use gluten-free, cage-free, grass-fred, organic, non-GMO, free-range souls in my soul cakes! 😋🍮🌱🌿
@@squish1267 that's delightful
I'm getting homgry
When I was active duty they would bake you a cake on the mess deck when you would re-enlist. We would refer to these as “soul cakes” because you sold your soul to the Navy for another 4 years for a cake. 😂
🤣 that’s funny. That could actually make a cool episode! Navy food traditions.
@@TastingHistory 16th, 17th century nastiness. And then scurvy until they figured out how to suck on lemons and limes.
@@jayhom5385 and eating raw onions long ago because they lasted longer... That had to make for some great sailor breath.
@@TastingHistory Aren’t they the ones who put salt in their coffee tho? 🥴
@@jayhom5385 or Japanese curry which was introduced to prevent beriberi.
These looki like they'd be similarsh to Hot Cross Buns (I suspect they come from a similar root) - and are probably nice cut, toasted and spread with butter (less dry, too). In Scotland we go guising (from diguising), and the kids to a wee "turn" (a joke, song, magic trick, etc) at each door to earn their sweeties, and along with bobbing for applies (fun with wee ones if you're stuck in the house this year - drop a fork from your mouth to spear an apple if anyone's got a loose tooth) we also have a game involving eating as much soda scone hanging from string and dripping in treacle as possible in 2 minutes - hands behind backs for the over 3s. Sticky, messy, surprisingly savoury, and much beloved by small boys.
Seconding on this! Cut in half, toasted and used like scones with butter and/or any toppings you want, down here in somerset, very typical around easter more than any other time. And also *very* good, when I was a kid i liked mine with peanut butter and marmalade, my mom had hers with marmite sometimes, but they never taste right without lashings of butter and a hot cup of tea.
I thought they looked like hot cross buns too
The soda scone thing is done in the US with donuts! :D
I like hot cross buns without frosting.
I was reminded of Hot Crossed Buns as well, though traditionally in Newfoundland they used to appear during Lent and Easter and the cross is made with icing. But of late I've seen them in stores almost any time of the year. Pity my oven is busted.
The apron blends so well into the shirt, I thought the gold rings on the straps were some weirdly placed, exterior nipple rings.
Well, there's two of us weirdos, at least. I kept seeing people saying they looked liked cat's eyes, and didn't want to let anyone see my freak flag...
@@mahna_mahna I thought it looked like a black cats eyes too!! I figured it was a Halloween thing!
I too had some inappropriate thoughts as to what those two gold items were...until I looked at the Pokémon in the background... and went OH! LOL
@@kennashey LOVE the Pokemon.
That's funny I thought they were the yellowy, Halloween eyes of a black cat but I don't think Max did that intentionally
The little "And who are you supposed to be?!" skit earned you a thumbs up from me! Hilarious! XD
🤣 thank you
we have something similar in northern Italy, called "Pan Dei Morti"(The Dead's Bread). they're soft cookies made with almonds, dry fruits, spices and wine. They're baked and given out to children on All Saints Day. We also have Ossa Di Morto (Dead man bones) which are similar cookies but hard and have a oblong shape, resembling a bone or finger.
These sounds delicious but the name is a little off-putting.
Oooh...see now I want to try soul cakes with apricots and almonds! Too bad I can't cook for health reasons...
At the end of summer the Japanese have Obon and they make special rice cakes with sweetened red beans in them to offer their ancestors. People are traditionally given the day off of work to travel home and visit their family, clean the family grave, and have a festival with food stalls, a traditional Obon dance, and ending with fireworks.
I LOVE making those! I shape ossi di morti to look like femurs and I usually serve them with tea!
Hello, here in Switzerland there are VERY hard-to-the-bite, oblong cookies, which consist of a dough with grated hazelnuts or almonds, on sale in all supermarkets around the beginning of November.
They used to be served at wakes or after a funeral, and - even on the packages! - were called "Totebeinli" (= legs of the dead) until ca. five years ago. Now they are called "Nuss-Stängeli" (= small rods made of nuts) because the traditional name was deemed too shocking for children.
The cookies former name nonetheless survives in the Swiss version of Jingle Bells, because the resulting song "Zimmetstärn ha I gärn" features a list of formerly common Christmas tide associated cookies and baked goods.
As I am from a part of Germany where the above mentioned custom was not observed (albeit many German regions share traditions with the neighbouring countries along the respective borders), the name and the history behind it at first grossed me out, but I realised it is a good way to casually deal with matters of life and death and thus introduce them into the experience and education of the younger generations.
Now I am not sure that is still customary/ allowed to sing the Swiss version of the song anymore, because nowadays so many things are glossed over to conform to the tendency to cancel out uncomfortable or shocking realities.
If one's teeth can muster the texture of the confectionery, the cookies - regardless of their current name - are still delicious ;-)))
@@BeeboBee Except pan de muerto's flavor is on the outside. With an external sugar coating while tasting like plain bread on the inside. Unless there's a more flavored version I don't know about.
I was not expecting the little outro musical sendoff.
😆
Unexpected but very much welcome
All I could think afterward was "We're on a buffet from Gahd."
That caught me by surprise but it was the best thing ever! ❤️😂❤️🤣
For a second I thought you were THAT Andrew Huang.
"It might be a little puffy. And that's okay."
Thank you for that body positivity. I feel better about myself.
🤣 right there with you
“Why choose or when and is on the table?”
This is my new favorite quote.
We never got rid of these traditions in Ireland. We eat spiced buns around Samhain period with dried fruit which are quite bread like. They have a cross on top and are called "crossed bins". We also have big round loaves called barmbrack which is even yummier. It always has a ring / coin hidden inside.
They don't have saffron though. That's a very posh crossed bun you got there 😂
Ps. You're supposed to butter it a little like bread!
Oh, and we're still trying to do away with the bonfires... Getting there 😂
"Rings and coins hidden inside"
Ah yes. Grandma's ole' Kinderjoy.
What's wrong with bonfires?
I think that crossed buns are also served around the holiday of Easter too! ^_^
“Well, isn’t that nice, have a Baby Ruth.” I died!
I cracked up haha
9:54 - "And who are you supposed to be?" LOLLOLLOL
I’m particularly proud of that one
I bet the costumes of the martyrs were way scarier than the evil spirit costumes...
@@TastingHistory best of the video hahahaha
I laughed insanely hard at this one.
"If you don't use saffron, you should use saffron." Wise words, sir! Wise words indeed!
What is the significance of saffron? Is it just to add yellow color?
@@jennifermcgean6156 Saffron is distinctly unique in flavour, It's quite light, sweet and floral but it's very complex
(turmeric can sometimes be used as an alternative if one doesn't have access any and is sometimes referred to as "poor man's saffron" due to similar colour and slight similarities in taste)
@@jennifermcgean6156 In ancient Ireland, nobility used saffron to dye their robes.
I'm just mad about Saffron! Saffron's mad about me
We also practice the same in the Philippines. So when we visit our departed loved ones in the cemetery, we cook "Biko" or sticky rice cakes for their souls. We either bring it in the cemetery where families can eat the food there ( tables and chairs for everyone next to the grave of their loved ones) or we can also cook the sticky rice and lit candles in our dining tables at home.
That's a lovely idea ... also, sticky rice cakes for the win.
@@ValeriePallaoro thank you. It's really good. We use coconut milk for it so it's vegan.
What a lovely tradition to celebrate loved ones. Much healthier emotionally than just trying to forget ❤️❤️❤️
@@masuganut2082 thank you. it is a great customary. covid just made it impossible to do this in the cemetery like we used to.
I remember doing that and loved it. Then my lolo died. That was the year I truly considered myself an adult.
"Cake or Death!" is a comedy monologue done by Eddie Izzard that I IMMEDIATELY thought of when you mentioned the origin of trick-or-treat!
"Thank you for flying Church of England. Cake or death?"
@@adinaholmes5269 ‘well we’re all out of cake, we only had three pieces and didn’t think there’d be such a rush.’
Sounds like a "heads, I win, tails, you lose" situation for Franklin Finbar.
Yes I will have the penne alla arrabiata.
I've been inside that neolithic tomb you showed! It's called Newgrange and it's in Ireland. It is the most interesting place I've ever been. It felt magical. I think this particular tomb actually aligns with the winter solstice. I highly recommend visiting the site if you have the resources to do so/when the pandemic is over. It is an amazing, otherworldly experience.
Thanks! If no one else has mentioned it's alignment, I was going to. ;-) I dream of visiting Newgrange...
@@veshengri Hello, nice alias (although there may some discord about this...).
legit for a second when you said that you were "inside" the tomb i thought you meant you were buried in it lol
I'm irish and my mum used to make us soul cakes for Halloween when I was little, hadn't thought of that in years 💖 Eating barmbrack with a ring, cloth and coin baked in as well as how you're not to pick blackberries after the 31st because the púca (a ghost) has spat on them and it's bad luck are my prevailing childhood memories of Samhain customs x
Thank the algorithm gods for sending this my way. I watched it during breakfast, then got off my couch and MADE THEM. All we had was cream sherry but that just means they’ll be extra sweet? They’re cooling right now. Happy Halloween everyone!
If you like soul cakes abd their history, Sin eating in Wales is also very fascinating! After someone had died, or was dieing, during their wake a 'sin eater" would be contracted to eat bread and drink wine or more commonly ale over them, there by taking their earthly sins on.
Often a sin eater would be paid quite well for this, and traditiong was recorded in Wales right up until the 20th century
That was an interesting thing to learn. Thanks for sharing! 😪
@@monikan2309 my pleasure?
They had this tradition in Appalachia in the US too.
@@TheGrungy1 I believe there was quite a bit of immigration from Wales to there! Also pensylvania! Alot of celtic and Brythonic traditions got carried over :)
I used to run the Halloween parties at my place of work before they had the building staff take over. We decided one year to do a trivia game where we had all kinds of Halloween facts. One of them was actual about soul cakes which I read about. No one in the office got the question right, except for a few who told me they just guessed. You are 100% correct that soul cakes have almost vanished from the popular conscience as a Halloween food or something you would do during the holiday.
okay I just found this channel and I'm in love w this guy. food? check. historical story telling? check. humor? cheeeeeeeeeeeeeck. A+++ dude keep it up!!!
Thank you so much!
me @ 6:40: "I'm ready to forgive his pronunciation of Samhain. Almost nobody knows how to say it."
me @ 6:43: "Holy shit, he did it!"
🤣 I had to ask an Irish friend. In a couple weeks you’ll hear me butcher Ancient Gaelic.
@@TastingHistory Well, now I'm hype as heck.
Isn’t “mh” in the middle of a Celtic word _always_ pronounced like either “v” or “w” depending on the vowel after it? Come to think of it, so are most digraphs with a consonant followed by “h”.
So it’s Sawan, not Sam Hain, like the name of a freelance handyman?
@@Astralfirework Yeah. Sam Hain belongs in a L'il Abner comic. "Sow-win" is the name of the holiday.
I was thinking about how Soul Cakes reminded me of Pan de Muerto. But then you mentioned it in the video. Cool!
Thinking the same
What did we do to deserve such a wonderful treat - two Tasting History videos in one week!
I didn’t realize Sugar was going to take 2 videos, so chalk it up to my blathering on and on 🤣
Trust us, none of mind your "blathering"!!!
Here in Australia, Halloween, and trick or treating, has only really been thing for the last 20 years, or so. This means I missed out on the all fun times, lollies, etc, as a child in the 70s and 80s. As such I have no traditions, favourite Halloween treats, etc. Thank you Max for the soul cake recipe, I've been trying to find an authentic one for ages.
Halloween is pointless in Australia, there’s no proper history, it’s just been adopted from America, who knows why. I never partake in it, and as a teacher, I don’t indulge my students with it either.
So that is where Terry Pratchett got the idea for the Soul Cake Duck. Thank you! I love your videos.
When I have kids and teach them about halloween:
Kids: "So we say trick or treat?"
My Mom: "No you say Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat.."
Me and all of my Welsh Ancestors: "Deca Deca come to the door, and give to the messenger of death..."
Everyone looks at me...
I look at everyone...
Me: "You've come this far... THERE'S NO TURNING BACK NOW...."
I’m welsh and have no fucking clue what you’re smoking
@@thedisturbedpreist Anthracite of course, the best Welsh Steam Coal.
Translation into modern English: "Oi, mate, gimme a cake or I'll kick your wife's head in"
Im not welsh but i know exactly what you're on about. Decca deca under the door, and the wifes head in smithereens.
That's pretty freaking Metal friend. Somebody has to do song about that.
This man has spent a small fortune the amount of times he’s used saffron
“The Soul Cakes“ sounds like the backing band for a 70s R&B singer.
Maybe it is a BAKING band.
I actually rarely come here for the recipies themselves but mostly for the history time and your awesome description of taste and texture
This is the only TH-cam community where I actually feel a part of the community and I’ve had an account for 10+ years.
Aww 🥺 Max appreciates that
This comment just made my day. So happy to read it.
“& nutmeg”
John Townsend: [heavy breathing]
Nutmeg Tavern forever!
Yeah! Nutmeg!
pretty sure nutmeg, and clove and mace and sack and ale barm is Townsends Bingo
I would send you some fresh nutmegs right from Moluccas islands.
Can I just say how impressed I am with your pronunciations of Samhain at 6:40 and that mouthful of a saints name (which I’m not typing out lol) at 9:55? I was very excited and impressed when you nailed it!
(Also yay TH-cam notifications working for once lol)
Thank you 😁 I do some ancient Irish in an upcoming episode, so I might be butchering that.
@@TastingHistory I've gone through the entire Irish education system and studied it for 13 years. We don't teach it well here unfortunately, and you tend not to care until you are out of school. I cannot pronounce much beyond "teacher can I go to the bathroom please?" I think you have done very well :)
I wasn’t aware of Soul Cakes until Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books and their mention of the Soul Cake Duck.
In Germany, particularly around the swabian region, bakers make long "rolls" called Seele (or soul) all year round. They are traditionally made from spelt flour and are crispy on the outside, fluffy and light and moist on the inside. They have their origins as mentioned by Max, and are reminiscent of all saints day and remembering the dead. However, in older times, when autumn turned to winter, those who spared some nourishment to the "poor souls" could expect a better harvest in the year to come. Another explanation suggests that a baker during the 30 years war (1618-1648) in Ravensburg vowed, if the Plague would spare his city, he would give each beggar a loaf of bread every year on all Saints day. From such a generous vow, through stereotypical swabian frugality became the (small) Seele in comparison to the regular sized loaves of bread.
Ah ja, Dinkelseelen! Danke für die Erinnerung, dass ich die auch mal backen sollte/ wollte - aber ich mag keinen Dinkel, denn Backwerk daraus gelingt mir nicht, trotz mehr Wasser im Teig. Ich hoffe, dass Weizenmehl ausnahmsweise erlaubt ist ;-)
I appreciate the well timed ad breaks. It’s a small thing but it’s nice
Someone needs to hop on that 'Tasting History clips out if context' niche
🤣
*Hard tack clip has entered the chat*
Peter, Paul and Mary did a rendition of the Souling Song, and in the live version on one of their albums, Peter tells a silly funny story about trick or treating. First time I heard it I was about 17, and got the mistaken idea Souling was at Christmas time. Thank you for explaining. Great video!
I was waiting for that song to pop up! I think I'll be singing that all day!
That was my first introduction to it too! (And I saw them in concert back in the 60s!)
something similar was also done on Christmas eve
My grammar school music teacher had the same idea. Had us kids practicing it for a Christmas music review.
Souling is similar to wassailing (Xmas), but the activities' songs are very different - "Here We Come A'Wassailing" is a nice, upbeat group tune while "Souling" is that deliciously spooky minor ditty. It was kind of innovative of PP&M to mix it with "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" like they did!
The metal loops on your apron against your black shirt look like yellow eyes on a black cat - probably unintentional but very fitting hahah
Definitely unintentional but it works!
I was gonna say they looked like nipple rings. Guess I did anyway
Haha exactly what I was thinking! It looked super cool!
My grandparents are catholic and my grandfather used to dress up as his favorite saints and all for Halloween even back in the 20s/30s and all. But can I say, the sheer judgement of stating that a child is receiving a baby ruth (one of the worst Halloween candies) truly had me in stitches! Truly a perfect representation of Christianity.
The best thing about this channel is the different pokemon in the background
"Take Flour & Sugar & Nutmeg...." *Townsend has entered the chat
I'll try these, for sure!
Also, I want to thank you for always putting cups AND grams in your measurements, it's so much easy when I don't have to convert everything! Thank you for this :)
Souls Day, isn't that the day where everyone meets online to play Dark Souls?
🤣 sure, why not
PS5 launch!
I've never played that but from reputation isn't that where you go to lose your soul or at least your sanity?
@@jayhom5385 correct on both accounts! Also lose your patience, hair and sleep
@@jayhom5385 But it is worth it, I think
Looks very similar to Hot Cross Buns, which are traditionally served around Easter in the UK. I always slice them in half, toast them and butter them.
I'm still perplexed by Peter, Paul and Mary singing that song during their Christmas special (which I have watched every single year since I was a child). It's a Halloween song, or all souls day, what have you.
This explains so much about the Discworld. I kept waiting for you to mention the a duck, but I guess Terry Pratchett had to actually invent that part himself.
The duck confused me into thinking the soul cakes were an easter thing. Now I got that straight.
Max when it gets closer to Easter I'd love you to do hot cross buns and their history. I've never heard of soul cakes or the other holidays surrounding them. Another great history lesson!
I wonder how far they go back
@@sharroon7574
Medieval at the earliest.
My favourite thing about old recipes is how they're basically just "get some ingredients and cook them ❤"
Had I not been subscribed for months, the song at the end would’ve been what sealed the deal
Reminds me a lot of hot-cross buns for Easter (which I *would* eat any time, anywhere!).
I love pikachu’s costume ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ♡
Came here to say the same thing! It was so cute to see Pikachu ready for trick or treating.
Bookachu!
All the monetization goes to getting new pokemon plushes I guess
@@trickvro Pikaboo is right there lol
It has one in the hippocras episode as well I think. Some sort of Christmas episode anyway
The cross predates Christianity by thousands of years and indicated the 4 directions or quarters, the 4 elements and the wheel of the year so it may also have been used by the Druids. Samhain is one of the cross quarters (as well as Imbolc aka ground hogs day Feb 2, Beltane aka May day May 1, and Lamas or feast of first bread Aug.1)
Have you compared these soul cakes to hot cross buns and are they similar?
The recipes in her book are almost identical. A lot of these little fruit bread cakes were used around the year with different toppings.
Bread on all souls day really made the rounds! Mexico, Spain...there's a great scene at the beginning of the movie November where they're giving bread to the dead on All Souls in Estonia. And then the dead turn into chickens in the sauna. But the point is - BREAD! All over Europe. Amazing to me how widely this particular food tradition is shared. PS - I am definitely trying this recipe. Those look amazing.
2 videos in the same week and a little song at the end.
You're spoiling us Max! Thank you!
We call them Hot Cross Buns in South Africa. Very popular over Easter. Traditionally served with Pickled Fish. Lovely toasted, and drowned in butter and Apricot Jam.
I normally do an unleavened cake (think a sweet tea biscuit or a butter cookie, or somewhere in between) for soul cakes, I think I'm going to try these ones this year.
Oooh I love butter cookies!
I'm not entirely sure I can count it as the same recipe, but my husband said I should let you know how much we loved these. (I used de-alcoholized beer for the barm, because it was left over from making the Tudor buttered beer; substituted 1/2 tsp cardamom for the saffron like you can do in St. Lucia buns; used 100g of candied orange peel in lieu of the dried fruit, and used cider in place of the sack à la Townsends). Everyone thought they were awesome. They have been inhaled, and I have already received requests for more.
Kinda reminds me of the saffron buns we have in Norway on Saint Lucy's Day
I made this recipe a couple of times now, it's really good, I love the flavour of these cakes. But I didn't love the texture, so today I made sort of a fusion between these and a scones recipe. They turned out amazing! I used a scones recipe that contained baking powder, egg and buttermilk. I exchanged the buttermilk for ale and sherry and added all the spices and raisins from the soul cakes recipe. Highly recommend you try this! (I used the blueberry scones recipe from Chef Billy Parisi on TH-cam as a base)
I bet if you soak the dried fruit in the ale/sherry, that would be tasty.
In Leiria, and other cities in the north-center Portugal, soul cakes still exist. Growing up there, I never celebrated Halloween, but this other festivity instead that to children was called Small Cake Day (dia do bolinho), and was celebrated on All Saint's Day - which I'm pretty sure was the actual name of the festivity, and grown-ups just called it Small Cake Day for children to get into it.
Since moving out, I've never seen these cakes anywhere else, but every year my family makes a point of going back to Leiria specifically to buy these cakes. Perhaps this year I'll make my own as well!
You know, I've lost track of how many eps I've watched and can I just say thank you so much for coming out with a cook book! The thought of having to go back and copy all these recipes down is a bit daunting. XD
Just got off a nice 13 hour shift and come home to this! What a pleasant surprise!!
That’s a long shift!
Tuesday really came early this week..
Must be daylight savings time or something.
🤣 doubling your this week.
Soul Cake Tuesday came early this year?
Ducks all over the disc will be none too pleased with this news
I love the soul cake singing at the end about being a soul cake, with a soul kind of voice 😂
It's a parody of the song 'Soul Man' by Sam & Dave. I, too, found it endearing and funny.
And here we have yet another similarity between Scandinavian Christmas traditions and various Halloween and pre-Halloween traditions: saffron-flavoured yeasted buns w/raisins on, that you hand out to people (lussekatter, mid-December)
So we still eat something very similar around spring and Easter, hot cross buns. They are a tad more bread like and don't use saffron but they're spiced buns with crosses on and fruit inside we serve toasted with butter and usually a cup of tea. They are quite a dense bread but moister than the cakes you made. We also have lots of similarly spiced cakes and breads that are eaten during various holidays throughout the year. I guess it must come from when spices were an expensive luxury so these rich sweet spiced foods would have been a very special treat.
I love your channel and I love the history lesson behind the recipes and I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the ever changing plush toy in the background!!! Literally the first thing I look at, seeing what new item is gonna be shown on the channel today. Keep up the great work!!
Reminds me of the Mexican Pan de Muerto made for the Day of the Dead (Nov 2).
Edit: and there's the reference!
Definitely a variation on a theme. Celtic culture exists in Spain/Iberia, too, and parts of it certainly made it to the new world. These seem MUCH easier to prepare than pan de muerto, though.
@@pablodelsegundo9502 yeah, pan de muerto is more work than soul cakes. But still delicious.😁
@@4n631ic0b1ivi0n Absolumente! But I have to buy mine...I'm already too busy cooking family favorites in the 48 hrs leading up to DdlM.
The bakery I work for is making pan de muerto this year. It's delicious! I'd come back from the grave for that
he really does deliver :-)
Surprisingly enough, the Soul Cake Duck is not so fond of these...
🤣
The first year I made soul cakes, All Souls fell on a Tuesday, and there were ducks on my walk home. I couldn't contain my excitement.
I understand the Hogfather likes 'em, though.
It is rather lovely there are other subscribers here what know about the Pratchett films. Hogfather is our favorite Christmas treat hereabouts, even above Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life.
@@ianmacbrooke4617 films?
We here in south west of Germany (Baden-Wuerttemberg) have a "Seelenweck" (a soul bread roll) it is a kind of long bread roll with large-grained salt and caraway seeds.
In the old times they would have been give from the godparents to their godchild.
You can buy it here as a "Seele"/ soul.
I bought a saffron plant and I plan to use my "harvest" for this!!
Twix is my favorite! Loved the "oh...that's nice...here's a baby ruth" lol. Gonna have to try these!
Twix is in my top 5 for sure.
Love this topic! I appreciate your showing an image of Newgrange, an ancient tomb in Ireland, but it is not oriented to the sunrise on Samhain but on the Winter Solstice! ;)
Sounds like the Chinese 7th Month/ Hungry Ghost Festival when we also offer food offerings (and a lot of other things) to dead ancestors and souls! Someone else also mentioned Dia de Muertos. Looks like many cultures have this common thread
It seems fairly universal. Something deeply ingrained I guess.
@@TastingHistory InGRAINED? I see you, Max.
ಠ_ಠ
It’s the strangest idea to want to feed live food to someone who has passed on. I get the whole idea of having your family come and join you again in spirit, but if they’re in another realm, they’re not gonna be able to eat the food from this realm. I think the whole universality of this concept speaks to humans being unable to let the idea of their beloved passed go, unable to accept that they’re not a part of this realm anymore. Also, food is a great mortal comfort.
This is really weird but oh my god I have to share it. I just had a religious experience with the intro music on this channel. It has been stuck in my head for like 4 days and I haven't been able to place where I remembered it from. I was thinking about it very directly right before I sat down to my computer and started to open TH-cam. I saw your video and clicked on it, seeing I had accidentally missed an upload, and sighed to myself in frustration at another day and more energy lost to that fleeting tune I could not name. And then your sweet voice like a ribbon of silk from the clouds completed its soliloquy and was followed by the tune. AH! THE TUNE!
Sorry this is really random and weird but I had to share it because I feel spiritually moved by that. Wow, okay.
P.S. Absolutely love the videos, been a long time fan (since 30k!). Keep up the awesome work! You make quarantining so much better!
A lovely version of the soul cake song using these same lyrics can be heard/watched on TH-cam under the title "A Soalin', " and performed by Peter, Paul and Mary. (Paul's wonderful medieval profile lends an air of authenticity to the whole thing.)
I am Wiccan, and I usually did most of the baking for my coven. One Samhain I did make soul-cakes, which were consumed along with sips of ale or wine, while everybody pretended they could sing like Peter Paul and Mary.
I know exactly what song you're talking about & I was singing it while watching this video lol
Check for a recipe fro Parkin, it was a traditional Samhain cake, and I still make it for my Coven…very tasty.🖤🇨🇦
@@tamarrajames3590
Parkin was not a 'traditional Samhain cake' - Samhain being an Irish festival.
It originates from the North of England, in particular where I live in Yorkshire - and is especially associated with Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night.
And parkin can be readily bought in the local bread shops and supermarkets during that period.
@@Wotsitorlabart Thanks, I do know the origins of Samhain, and yes…I’m certain they didn’t have Parkin in those days. Spending my school years in VERY British Victoria BC, we inevitably came back from “trick or treating” with several pieces of Parkin wrapped in waxed paper. However it began, it did get rolled into the holiday a good many years ago, as my Mother recalled it being the only time in the year my Gran ever baked it.🖤🇨🇦
I love Elinor Fettiplace's Reciept Book - it's my go-to ... so it is doubly lovely to hear the words drip from your tongue. I've yet to try this recipe though. And thus, it's a must-do for this weekend. So many kisses of joy for this. Sooo many!
In the Norman village that my ancestors were said to come from, soul cakes were baked so they lasted through winter and were "foisted" upon the older poorer housholds so that they may survive the winter with their meager resorces. One member of the better-to-do older folks would dress as a witch or sorcerer (ironically was usually the Healer of the village, aka the Wise One) and they would lead the participants to the houses that needed the food. He/She would tell a story about each household, carefully inserting such details as how many lived there, if there were any babies, or if they were a single Widow so the donations could be politely doled out appropriately. These stories usually started with something like "This abode hosts 3 Spirits who happen to snatch good fortune away from the people who live here. Especially mischievous would be the wee spirit that doesn't have any self-control yet." So they called them "Spirit (ghost) stories".
Now, I have not found anything in writing about this, it was a story my Great Oma used to tell us. Because strength and self-sufficiency are still highly-prized skills, needing charity was never done openly and so that's why all the cloak and dagger behavior around it. Great Oma said because of that, it would never be written down. The Healer would tell the kids about the trips, and when they would be done, in private story-tells, out of pu lic earshot. They covered themselves with heavy but modest cloaks to conceal who they were. Kids loved this because a "secret" was involved.
Anyway, nowadays, some churches and charities put Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner baskets together to serve a similar purpose.
Stunned by Max's confidence, showing us the inside of his oven like that. No worries though, it GLEAMED.
I still take credit for cleaning it 😝
A series of books I love, the Discworld, had holidays that were similar to ours, such as Hogswatch instead of Christmas (with the jolly fat man dressing in red delivering presents to all the good little children). One of the holidays was Soul Cake Day, with it's mascot, the Soul Cake Duck. Now the Soul Cake makes sense, I'm just wondering where the duck came into the picture.
What duck? ;)
"And nutmeg"
John Townsend: *Happy noises*
Every year a few days before Halloween, my grandpa's retirement community hosted their own Halloween. They absolutely splurged on the goodies--full-size candy bars, literal living goldfish, and christian kids movies. But one house gave out those wax drinks that were the size of regular water bottles, and they were SO GOOD. Still have no idea where they got them, I've been trying off and on for years, but still no luck :(
We have hot cross buns here in Canada, they usually come out at Easter and sometimes Christmas. The bread is fluffier and chock full of fruits and spice, delicious toasted with butter. Most come from a similar idea! Always so fun to learn the "back stories" of food.
I love the subtle use of "Hall of the Mountain King" in the background.
0:55 Lord've Mercy Elinor, what lovely gourds you've got! I don't think the sack is going in cold, I'm afraid.
Pikachu is the cutest trick-or-treater!
And likely the only one we’ll get this year.
That's kinda sad, but I know families are doing more together to celebrate and that's nice. Pumpkins at the grocery stores are selling out by noon because so many families are carving to make up for the parties that aren't happening.
As someone who still celebrates Samhain,
Thank you for pronouncing it right :’)
Also I’ll be making these this Sunday!! I’ve made a little variation of these for awhile but !!! I wanna try these :)
I’ll let you know how it goes!
I had the same reaction. Was hoping to bring these, but don't think I've got time to both shop and bake. 🤔
@@Koki-hc3mw all holidays are invented, let people enjoy things :)
Btw the pumpkin carving tradition, was based on an earlier turnip carving tradition.
Fires in the home were put out to prevent the spirits form entering. Carved turnips were used to carry embers from the bonfire at the end of the night.
In Scotland we call the tradition "guising". You're also supposed to do something first in order to get the treat, whether it be something like singing a song, reciting a poem, something dextrous or acrobatic etc., hence the apocryphal folk etymology of "trick or treat" here (do a trick to get a treat) -- though the phrase didn't actually become associated with the practice of guising here until fairly recently and I didn't use it when I went as a child despite the innundation of American media.
I have officially binged on ALL your content. MOAR!
Please.
Max, you are such an engaging comic actor! Love this podcast.
Thank you for saying Día de Muertos the proper way instead of día de los muertos as many usually call it
My Mexican friends debate about that. I wonder if it’s regional.
This channel is such a treat in of itself. You bring history into our homes just by putting food on your own table
Dude I subbed like a month ago at like 60k, glad to see this channel has been blessed by the algorithms!