[Sca-cooks] Devilish Derivations

[Huette von Ahrens]

--- Christine Seelye-King
<kingstaste at mindspring.com> wrote:
> I just got back from doing an hour with some
> gifted High School students at
> the end of their medieval section of classes. 
> I did a modified "Feast
> Appreciation", complete with food.  It went
> really well, and most of them
> really liked everything I brought.  I did the
> Sallat of Cold Capon Roasted,
> gingerbrede, samit, sekanjabin, applemoy, and
> stuffed eggs among other
> things.  I made a point of saying "No, they
> aren't devilled eggs, they are
> stuffed eggs".  On the way home I got to
> thinking, what is the origin of the
> term 'devilled' when referring to food?  I know
> of devilled ham which is a
> spread, and devilled eggs which are also a sort
> of mash/forcemeat and it
> seems to me that I recall some Italian (?)
> recipes for things being called
> 'diablo'.  So, I thought I would come to this
> group (being a collection of
> the smartest food people I know) to have you
> all ponder with me.
> Anyone one the etymology of this term?
> Christianna

According to the OED the earliest usage of "to
devil" is 1786, meaning to broil or fry with hot
seasonings or just to add hot seasonings.  The
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary just gives an
alternate meaning of "to devil" as "to season
highly, as in devilled eggs".

The Oxford Companion to Food says this:

Devil, a culinary term which according to the
NSOED first appeared as a noun in the 18th
century, and then in the early 19th century as a
verb meaning to cook something with fiery hot
spices or condiments.  Theodora FitzGibbon (1976)
remarks, however, that 'Boswell, Dr. Johnson's
biographer, frequently refers to partaking of a
dish of "devilled bones" for supper', which
suggests an earlier use.  The term was presumably
adopted because of the connection between the
devil and the excessive heat in Hell.

Devilled bones and devilled kidneys are just two
examples of the dishes in this category, which
could be referred to as 'devils'.  Writing about
this noun, FitzGibbon distinguishes between brown
devils, wet devils, and white devils, explaining
the differences between these.  An earlier
authority, Dallas (1877) in Kettner's Book of the
Table, had stated that devils were of two kinds,
the dry and the wet, but had also recommended:

'It is the great fault of all devilry that it
knows no bounds.  A moderate devil is almost a
contradiction in terms; and yet it is quite
certain that if a devil is not moderate he
destroys the palate, and ought to have no place
in cookery, the business of which is to tickle,
not to annihilate, the sense of taste.'

The dilemma thus stated may have proved 
insoluble, for devilling has fallen out of
fashion.

A certain parallel exists in France in the form 
of dishes 'a la diable'.

One of the British savouries which was popular 
for a time bore the name Devils on Horseback and
consisted of prunes stuffed with chutney, rolled
up in rashers of bacon, placed on buttered bread
and sprinkled with grated cheese, and cooked 
under the grill.  The absence of cayenne pepper 
or other hot condiments suggests that in this
instance the word 'devil' was introduced as a
counterpart to 'angel' in Angels on Horseback
rather than the sense described above.

****

I could find no mention of either devilled eggs 
or devilled ham anywhere else in the OCF.

Huette 

=====
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they 
shall never cease to be amused.

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