How Do You Say “Boo!” in Gaelic?

by Carol Penn-Romine

The Irish have always had a penchant for leg tugging, yarn spinning and the purported sighting of creatures not considered real by others. This makes the country that’s home to the descendents of the Celts the natural birthplace of Halloween and the go-to place for the most authentic spooky experience.

We in the United States get our Halloween traditions from Ireland, where the celebration began as Oíche Samhain, or Samhain Night, which signaled the end of harvest and time to settle in for the winter. This “feast of the dead” featured preparing traditional Irish foods, dressing in costumes and carving jack-o’-lanterns from turnips (in the States we substitute pumpkins, which are more plentiful here).

Parents sprinkled salt into their children’s hair to protect them from the fairies and evil spirits which were thought to be especially active on this night, when the line between the realms of the living and the dead was believed to be obscured. Other steps were taken to appease them, such as handing out treats to those who came to their doors in the guise of goblins (Pretty smart thinking—after all, how do you know whether the creature that just rang your doorbell wearing a bed sheet is your next-door neighbor’s child or an evil spirit come to swipe your immortal soul?!).

Until the nineteenth century, Halloween (and in fact, Christmas) was not celebrated too boisterously in America, owing to this country’s strong Puritan element, which frowned on such frivolity. But after the influx of almost one million Irish during Ireland’s potato famine of the mid 1800s, America gained a holiday that has grown to be one of our most beloved.

Barm brack is a traditional treat prepared for Halloween in Ireland. When our culinary tour visited the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School there this fall, Darina Allen served it for our afternoon tea. The following recipe comes straight from her book, The Complete Book of Irish Country Cooking. In the interest of time and ease, I’m providing the streamlined version, although this book includes the more involved and time-honored recipe as well.

As Halloween has traditionally been a time for fortune-telling, the ingredients for barm brack include a ring, a coin, a stick, a dried pea and a thimble, which are wrapped in parchment paper and stirred into the batter just before baking. Finding the ring in your slice of barm brack means you will become engaged in the coming year, or, if you’re already married, it signifies continued happiness. The coin signifies coming wealth, the pea (or a shred of rag), poverty, the thimble, spinsterhood, and the stick, um, well, that your husband will beat you!

But don’t confine barm brack to Halloween. Minus those inedible items, it makes a tasty addition to breakfast, tea or whatever, especially in the fall and winter.

Barm Brack

Yield: 1 loaf

¾ cup golden raisins

¾ cup raisins

¾ cup currants

1/3 cup crystallized cherries (undyed)

1/3 cup homemade candied peel

1 cup soft brown sugar

2 cups self-rising flour

1 cup cold tea

1 egg, free-range if possible, beaten

1 teaspoon mixed spice

Soak the raisins and currants in cold tea overnight. Next day, preheat the oven to 350° F. Add all the remaining ingredients to the fruit and tea and stir well. Put the mixture in a one-pound loaf pan which has been lined with greased parchment paper. Cook in the oven for about 1½ hours. Cool on a wire rack. Keeps very well in an airtight tin. Serve buttered.

Darina Allen serves barm brack, spotted dog and scones with tea to us during our visit to Ballymaloe Cookery School this autumn.

© 2008, The Hungry Passport