Join chef Michael Kiernan as he makes some of Ireland's popular and traditional Hallowe'en food. Samhain, the ancient Celtic feast which inspired Hallowe'en, occurs at the end of the harvest, as people prepare for the long winter ahead. Winter was approaching, crops were dying, days were growing shorter, and cattle were slaughtered and salted to feed the people through winter. Crops were gathered in and stored. With storehouses full, the Celts marked the 3-day full moon period with revelry and ritual before facing the unknown.
Meals featured the fruits of the late harvest. No Hallows Eve dinner was complete without a steaming bowl of potato-cabbage Colcannon, crowned with a deep puddle of melted golden butter. Baked into the fruity Barm Brack dessert cake were fortune-telling tokens: a button for the bachelor, a coin for the rich man, a wooden matchstick for the pauper, and a thimble for the spinster. Apples featured heavily - both in recipes and in games.
This program was funded in part by Humanities New York with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
We will recreate some of these popular recipes today - watch it live on our Facebook page