Halloween Food and Bodies
In honour of Halloween, this issue explores all the ways Halloween can relate to food and our bodies.
Halloween is a varied occasion, with many different aspects. Whether you’re a fan of the wholesome cosiness, spooky scariness, or kitschy garishness of Halloween, this newsletter will be exploring the intersection of Halloween with food and our bodies. It will feature many activities and recommendations to make this Halloween weekend the fun, spooky time we all deserve! Plus - this weekend is the first time in over a semisesquicentennial (75 years…) that there’s been a full moon on Halloween! AND - it’s been 5 years since Halloween was on a Saturday! So all the more reason to make this Halloween a special one!
Five Halloween-y things to do this weekend that are more self-care than scare…
Make an occasion of it! At the moment it can feel like the only thing distinguishing one week from the next is the work due in - at least that’s my experience! So why not capitalise on a holiday that you maybe wouldn’t usually be bothered about, and choose to do something special this Halloween!
Put on some spooky songs and have a hardcore dance. Shut your bedroom door, close the curtains and piss off your downstairs neighbours! Spotify has really come through with the Halloween playlists this year so whether you’re feeling a creepy wiggly dance (Spooky with Phoebe Bridgers is a shout), a cute lil bop around (Halloween Monster Jams) or an all out mosh (Headbanger Halloween) - there’s a playlist just for you!
Washing is sort of essential, so why not incorporate a spooky element to your shower or bath this weekend? I’m imagining a bath with some candles and maybe a Lush bathbomb (what’s scarier than the possibility of a yeast infection!), but actually probably the scariest shower experience would be one with all the lights off. Any dimly-lit slippery activities are undertaken at your own risk.
Choose one of our media recommendations from below and dedicate part of your Saturday to consuming it! Maybe choose a wholesome podcast while you’re preparing yourself some lunch (pumpkin soup? See recipe below!) or settle down for a nice evening with one of the goriest films ever made (Raw).
Think about the least scary things in your life! There are many things going on in the world that are supremely frightening, and not in the fun, deliberate, themed sort of way. So, this Halloween, why not take a minute to consider the elements of your life which don’t scare you at all. Maybe on the spookiest day of the year, subvert the expectation and have a completely comfortable cosy day.
Dumb Supper
Before Halloween was the sweet little commercial affair that we are now so used to, it was the Pagan Samhain. One part of Samhain traditions in the middle ages were meals called ‘Dumb Suppers’ in which those celebrating would invite their ancestors to eat with them. Pagans believe that the barriers between the mortal world and the spirit world are weaker on Samhain, so this weekend can give you a chance to communicate with your spirit ancestors. Whether you believe this to be possible or not, why not take a moment this weekend to think of your ancestors and how your food heritage may have influenced your tastes today. You can choose to re-cap the spirits on the year you’re having so far and entertain them with some good banter, or maybe you’d prefer to consider things independently. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that you dabble in witchcraft if that’s not something you’re familiar with, just cast a thought to food’s spirituality and how it may relate to your ancestors if you feel like it!
Pumpkin Soup Recipe by Ruth
Right now there’s an abundance of wonderful autumn colours around, and spooky season is upon us. Pumpkins and squash make great ingredients for a bowl of warming comfort food.
Choose a small cooking pumpkin or butternut squash and cut it in half. Remove the seeds and place in a bowl. Peel off the skin and cut the pumpkin into small chunks. Allow yourself to enjoy the vibrancy of its colour and the Halloween history of the humble gourd.
Heat a chunk of butter in a large pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Once the butter is melted, add 2 chopped onions, one crushed garlic clove and the pumpkin pieces. Fry for five minutes and enjoy the smell
Add a litre of vegetable stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
Blitz the soup with a blender and add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour a portion into your favourite bowl and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, natural yogurt or any topping of your choice. Enjoy the warmth of the bowl in your hands and the deep orange colour of the soup. This recipe serves 4 so feel free to freeze any leftovers or make it for any hungry housemates, too.
Optional: drizzle the pumpkin seeds with olive oil and salt, and roast for 20 minutes. They can be eaten as a tasty snack or sprinkled into the soup.
Recycling Carved Pumpkins
Food waste is a huge problem in the UK, and while no one should be deprived of the chance to carve a Jack’O’Lantern, there are a few ways to recycle parts of the pumpkin once you’ve carved it. Easiest of all is to save the seeds, let them dry out and then put them into a bird feeder or scatter them on the ground. Or, if you have access to a compost bin, pop it in there - mind that you’ve taken the seeds out beforehand if you don’t want to grow another pumpkin in time for next year. If you want to put your back into a slightly suspicious task, why not find the nearest bit of soil and bury your pumpkin. It’ll enrich the soil as it decomposes and you get to feel like a villain straight out of a horror film… :)
An excerpt from Ruby Tandoh
Ruby Tandoh, journalist, cook and author of ‘Eat Up!’, her manifesto on food, appetite and eating reflects in ‘Digested: Eating With the Seasons’ on Autumnal food. I still haven’t read the whole book, but I enjoy this little bit of it so I’ve included it below. If you’re interested in reading more of the book than I have, here is a link to the book on the Glasgow Life Libraries database.
Ruby Tandoh, Eat Up!, 2018:
‘Whenever I read Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries, I’m taken in by a fantasy of autumn that’s seasoned with pumpkin, sausage, sweet brown onions and thyme. He describes a quiet September and reverent October, sacred moments of harvest-time splendour decked out in copper, amber, and gold, seized before the cold kiss of winter arrives. My autumn doesn’t look like this. So bereft am I that another summer has passed me by without me really capitalising on it, I spend much of autumn’s opening scenes knocking back Pimm’s and making salads with hard, sour out-of-season fruits. Clawing back precious time from the encroaching dark evenings, I fall into the familiar comfort of ready meals and one-pot dinners and, when the autumn glut of blockbuster food books arrives on the shelves just in time for a Christmas splurge, I gorge myself on these, too. I drink up the perfect food porn and the lavish descriptions of meals I’ll never eat. I sip on my Pumpkin Spice Latte and I give thanks for the harvest.’
Media recommendations
A selection of podcasts, films, and TV shows about Halloween and food and/or our bodies to enjoy this weekend!
The Kitchen Cafe - Fun with food at Halloween - Available here, on BBC Sounds. Listen to this Scottish podcast for some wholesome chat about sentimental Halloween foods, Halloween-y recipes, and a pumpkin spice latte recipe! Even if you don’t intend to make any of the stuff, this podcast is like a warm fuzzy hug!
The British Museum Membercast - Halloween -
Bearing in mind that The British Museum is an institution we may not choose to support or endorse (read about their looting here) this podcast episode does hold some merit. If you like history and want to hear some historical Halloween tales, and an ancient recipe for Halloween biscuits, tune in.
For the ultimate kitschy Halloween programme, watch The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell on Netflix. She bakes and makes a whole bunch of creepy food which is really very impressive. The chances of actually making any of the food are slim but the overall aesthetic of the show is pretty enjoyable regardless. Also she has puppet animal friends?? I don’t know dude.
Channel 4’s ‘Heston’s Gothic Horror Feast’ is a gem from 2010. The programme shows eccentric celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal as he goes all out to create an elaborate feast inspired by ‘Dracula’. Thinking about it, I’m quite sure that watching this when I was younger is the reason why my flatmates are being made to suffer through a three course Halloween meal this Saturday… Watch Heston on 4 On Demand here.
Raw, directed by Julia Ducournau, is horror in its best/worst form. It’s really very gory, so if that’s not your thing definitely don’t watch it (I almost fainted twice both times I’ve attempted to watch it). If you can get past the gore, it really is an interesting film that raises taboos, and will leave you thinking about what we do and don’t eat. If you can’t stomach the actual film but want to catch the drift, I enjoyed this interview with Ducournau.
The Best Spooky Sweets
The area of Halloween sweets is the area where two of my great passions collide - sweets and Halloween… if that wasn’t obvious. Maybe this newsletter is not the place for me to indulge my own whims and tell you all about my favourite sweets, but I’m hoping I can justify this as a knowledge sharing section from a self-proclaimed confectionery connoisseur.
We all know M&S’ Colin the Caterpillar cake (do we?), or at least a bastardised version of him from one of the other major supermarkets (read about them here for lols). But are we all so knowledgeable about the Colin cake’s underrated counterpart - the Colin the Caterpillar gummy sweet? The range goes from Colin the Caterpillar gummy sweets, to the fizzy ones, halloween editions, Colin and Connie fall in love etc. etc. My personal favourites are Connie the Caterpillar Curly Berry Gummys and Colin the Caterpillar Becomes a Beautiful Butterfly… There are whole character arcs at work here people. To view the whole selection take yourself on a trip to a big M&S Foodhall (check out the one in Partick for all the Colins you could ever want, but the one off Byres Road will do in a pinch). The regular deal is two packets for £3 if I’m remembering correctly, so these do fall on the pricier side. But - it’s Halloween - why not splash out on some delicious but spooky (they’re bugs idk) sweets!
One perk of being both too old and potentially too contagious to go Trick or Treating, or guising as all the traditional folks would say, is that you can choose the Halloween sweets you want for yourself! Granted, you do have to pay for them now. Welcome to a very specific conception of the real world - where you do have to spend money but you will choose to do so on scary sweets… Anyhoo - in my opinion one of the best things to happen upon while a young and excitable trick-or-treater was the American Confection that is a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Go back to the commercial beginnings of the Halloween we know and love (?) today and get an American favourite. Now available all year round in all the big supermarkets, go for this rich and delicious food if you’re a fan of both peanut butter and a supreme amount of sweetness. And that is coming from someone who has chosen to write this section about sweets.
If you’re not so much a confectionary sort of fellow, I am inclined to recommend what is perhaps an out of place choice. If you want something sweet and traditional for Halloween why not go for a Royal Gala Apple from Roots and Fruits! The one on Great Western Road always has 3 for £1.50, and while you’re there you can enjoy looking at all the pumpkins, squashes and other seasonal veg if you so wish. If you want the real Halloween experience, why not put your apple in a large bowl of water and waste some time trying to bob for it. I’m joking. Unless, you’re keen - in which case would love to hear if doing this made the apple-eating experience any more enjoyable!
Who to follow:
If you’re not dressing up this year, why not live vicariously through the talented people who spend every day doing so! Instagram can be a scary place at the best of times, but these accounts are the place to go if you want to switch up your feed with some funky costumes, or just some Halloween joy.
@missjazminad - Jasmine Daniel’s make up and costume looks are the classic kitschy Halloween looks - if you like well-produced, well-executed costumes and instagram posts, her page is the place to go!
@madeyewlook - Lex, of Madeyewlook, is a bodypainter who goes HARD with her Halloween looks! While I imagine few of her followers actually recreate her looks, her Youtube videos are strangely soothing to watch...
@puppyteeth - Jaik Puppyteeth posts retro-style art with a dark humour twist. Follow for illustrations of Pumpkins as you’ve never seen them before…!
This newsletter was written and edited by Thalia Grou, with a contribution from Ruth Johns-Bishop. Our next newsletter is themed Bodies in Winter - if you have something you’d like to include or want to discuss an idea, send us an email at gufabpositivitysoc@gmail.com, we’d love to hear from you! We’re looking for poetry, reflective writing, recipes and whatever else you’d like to write!