It used to be considered unlucky to cut either the Christmas cheese or Christmas cake before Christmas Eve. They must then last through the 12 days of Christmas but be eaten by 12th Night. I’m struggling to not eat all the lebkuchen by next weekend.
During the Middle Ages, rosemary was spread on the floor at Xmas because it repelled evil spirits. The scent drifted through the home and It was said that anyone breathing the fragrance on Xmas Eve would receive happiness during the coming year.
A single girl wanting to know about her marriage prospects could approach the door of the henhouse on Christmas Eve, tap it smartly, and wait. If a hen cackled first, the chances for marriage during the coming year were poor. If a cock crowed, the future was bright and she should take an egg from the henhouse to use to determine his profession.
When eating your first mince pie of the year, you should make a wish. If you eat a mince pie on each of the 12 days of Christmas you will have good luck for the next 12 months. However, to refuse one is considered to be bad luck.
I have a fabulous festive surprise for those of you who missed my post this morning! It's a Folklore, Food & Feasting Advent Calendar to take us up to Christmas. It’s loosely linked to the folklore & food facts that I will be posting here daily through December but with some different facts & enriched with added extras like vintage folklore footage & festive short stories. You can open a new window every day for a festive food folklore experience
This year I also have an advent calendar! It is loosely linked to the folklore & food facts that I will be sending out via social media but enriched with added extras like vintage folklore related footage & festive short stories.
Today is St Catherine’s Day, the patron saint of lacemakers. Today marked the first day that they were allowed to use candles to assist them in their work. The feast day was also a holiday for these workers & was celebrated with games, a hot pot (eggnog made from rum, eggs & beer) & Cattern Cakes, spiced with cinnamon, lightly fruited & flavoured with caraway seeds. The dough was originally yeasted. They’re supposedly round to honour the wheel on which the saint was martyred @folklore#Folklore
Did you know that today is St Clements Day? He was patron saint of metal workers & blacksmiths. His day was celebrated in industrial areas like South Staffordshire. This celebration took the form of “Clementing - the ancient custom of going about that night to beg drink to make merry with” It was also called bob-apple day from the game which was also played . This is summed up in the traditional chant: "Clemeny, Clemeny, Clemeny mine ! A good red apple and a pint of wine !" @folklore#Folklore
Halloween Food Special It’s different to normal in that it has food & folklore but no tale. I have indulged myself by creating you an All Hallows Feast including the moon phase, its implication for the date & how I made my menu choices, magical symbolism of the dishes and the folklore behind some of the main ingredients. Even if the symbolism is not your thing, I can promise the dishes were created for flavour and to make use of seasonal ingredients.
Slightly Scary Story Special: This is another ‘just the stories’ episode, for All Hallows Eve. There are three traditional tales which are just a little bit scary but also a little bit clever and maybe also just a little bit silly in the case of the last tale. I hope you enjoy these tales even if you prefer yours a bit more bone chilling normally. https://hestiaskitchen.co.uk/2023/10/24/slightly-scary-story-special/
A last piece of Food Folklore for your tea break: November 1st is Calan Gaeaf, the first day of winter in Wales. The night before is Nos Galan Gaeaf, a night when spirits are abroad. Stwmp NawRhyw was often served on this night, mash made from potatoes, carrots, turnips, peas, parsnips, leeks, pepper, salt & milk. Legend has it that the 9 essential ingredients would ward off evil spirits, sometimes a lucky wedding ring would be hidden in the mash & the finder would marry within a year @folklore
@Monsterklatsch@FairytalesFood@folklore
In Ireland, "charms" in a Barm Brack, bairín (=loaf) breac (=speckled, due to currants, raisins or sultanas). In Co. Antrim we usually had apple pie with "charms" (at least thrupnies and sixpences) rather than halloween barm brack. Some in shops (sold all year) at halloween might have toy ring.
A little Halloween Food Folklore for you Monday tea break: If you place two nuts on a metal plate & place them over a fire on Halloween you can find out how happy your potential marriage will be. If the nuts lie together you are possibly onto a good thing but if they fly apart you may want to consider. A similar superstition suggested you could find your preferred love by naming two hazelnuts & throwing them into the fire. The one that burned the brightest would be the better husband. @folklore
A smidge of Halloween Food Folklore for with your Sunday afternoon: Halloween was once considered one of the best times to conduct love rituals. In Derbyshire it was traditional to put a rosemary sprig & a crooked sixpence under your pillow on All Hallows Eve, in order to dream of your future spouse. A creepier Shropshire version was to eat an apple whilst brushing your hair, looking in a mirror lit by a single candle. The face of your lover would then appear behind you in the mirror @folklore
A little Halloween Food Folklore for with your first Saturday mug of tea: Báirín Breac (Barmbrack) is a traditional Irish fruit loaf made with tea and sometimes whisky soaked dried fruit, similar to Bara Brith. It also has charms when served at this time of year- a pea meant you’d remain single; a matchstick meant you were doomed to an unhappy marriage; cloth meant poverty on the horizon, the coin prophesied good fortune or riches.
Halloween food folklore for your tea break: How to attract a husband: You must first steal a turnip (it can’t be bought/given) & peel it in one continuous strip & then bury the peel in the garden on All Hallows Eve. The turnip must then be hung behind the door & you must go & sit beside the fire. The next man through the door will bear the same name as your future husband.
I’m not suggesting everyone wants a husband but in days gone by they were a little more indispensable #folklore@folklore