Cover image (left) courtesy of Jane Coupland, littlesugarsnaps.com
Mention food associated with Halloween, and you’d likely say it’s lollies that go with trick-or-treating.
However, there is actually a cake with deep spiritual meaning, just like the hot cross buns for Easter, that is traditionally eaten during the season.
SOUL CAKES
Soul cakes, also known as soulmass cakes, is a traditional cake-biscuit that’s made on All Souls’ Day - and distributed by the rich to the poor of the church parish.
All Souls’ Day, on November 2 (a day after All Saints Day and two days after the Halloween that is observed today), there was a medieval custom where children went knocking door to door - not to trick-or-treat - but beg for soul cakes in exchange for prayers for the dead and songs.
Halloween got its name from All Hallows’ Eve, the day before All Saints Day on the Christian calendar.
Soul cake is traditionally made with warm spices that include cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, and is packed with dried fruits such as raisins and currants.
Like hot cross buns, they are marked with a cross symbolizing remembrance and hope that consuming them will sweeten one’s path to the afterlife.
Sweeter than most biscuits, they are dusted with sugar after coming out of the oven.
Some churches still follow this “souling tradition,” encouraging children to collect soul cakes and pray for the souls of their friends and loved ones.
YAU CHAR KWAI
Among the Chinese, there is also a ghostly pastry that’s called “yau char kwai” in Cantonese, or “oil-fried ghost”.
These fried dough sticks are light, airy with a chewy texture that can be eaten on their own or popular as a side with rice congee.
Besides China, they are also found in many countries across Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, where they are eaten with steaming hot pho and Malaysia and Singapore, where people have them dunked in coffee or with bak kut teh.
Legend has it that yau char kwai dates back to the Song Dynasty 960AD-1279, when the Songs were forced to relocate to southern China - the present-day Guangdong region - when the northern part was conquered by the invading Jin Dynasty.
A general named Yue Fei, a patriot then and a folk hero today, led the fight against the Jin. A colleague and political rival, an imperial minister named Qin Hui, plotted his downfall.
As Yue was planning to retake the fallen capital of Kaifeng, he received sudden orders to abandon his campaign and return to the capital. When he returned, Qin had him executed on unfounded treason charges.
The common folks were enraged by the loss of their hero and expressed their anger in defiant acts of protest.
A pastry hawker in Hangzhou put two strips of dough together and fried them, saying they represented Qin and his wife.
This was believed to be how yau char kway was created.
Qin reportedly tried to confront the hawker but was chased away by angry crowds shouting that they wanted to boil him alive.
After his death, a statue was made of him kneeling and this was placed before Yue’s tombstone.
