Pinch salt

here in the devil did this culinary term go?

 Deviled foods have been around quite some time,  but "deviled" has become an archaic term,  it seems. How long has it been since you deviled anything other than an egg?

      There's an occasional deviled seafood dish to be found,  such as the deviled crab with butter crackers at Cochon,  but homemade deviled ham or deviled chicken seems to have been left back in the early 20th century.

      Deviled ham lives on in the supermarket,  at least,  in those little tins of Underwood Deviled Ham Spread. The product was created in 1868,  and the red devil logo was trademarked in 1870. It is the oldest food logo in use in the United States. The original devil had long fingernails;  the modern version smiles as it cavorts. Overall,  the new one looks much friendlier,  even though it's been accessorized with a pitchfork.

      The Oxford Companion to Food says that "devil" as a culinary term first appeared in the 18th century as a noun and in the early 19th century as a verb,  "meaning to cook something with fiery hot spices or condiments." The Oxford Companion presumes the connection is related to "the devil and the excessive heat in hell."

 I called the Queen of Deviled Eggs,  Debbie Moose,  to discuss the devil in detail.

      Moose,  the author of several cookbooks (including "Deviled Eggs: 50 Recipes From Simple to Sassy"),  lives in Raleigh,  N.C.,  and owns a deviled egg Halloween costume.

1921 Underwood label

  "The word 'deviled' used to refer to something spicy, " Moose said. "We're talking way back,  like the original 'Joy of Cooking, ' " which was published in the 1930s. Deviled eggs had something spicy in them,  and stuffed eggs didn't,  Moose explained.

      The term deviled "warned people,  'There's flavor in this!' " Moose said.

      Nowadays,  if we used the term to denote adding savory sparks to recipes,  we would be be-deviled constantly.

      "I put a lot of spice in everything, " Moose said. "I could devil everything,  if you put it that way."

      The 75th anniversary edition of "The Joy of Cooking, " published in 2006,  has recipes for deviled ham or chicken spread,  deviled eggs and even an all-purpose "devil seasoning" to rub on meat or poultry before grilling. The devil seasoning recipe,  with mustard,  horseradish,  vinegar,  and red and black pepper,  is credited to Alexis Soyer,  a British celebrity chef of the time of the Crimean War (1853-1856).

      "The Picayune's Creole Cook Book, " first published in 1901,  gives a recipe for Potatoes a la Diable along with a lengthy "funny old Creole story" about how the dish supposedly got its name,  involving a no-account husband whose wife wanted him to go buy new pommes de terre (potatoes) at the French Market. He flung the market basket at her and said "pommes de terre aux diable!"

      To teach him a lesson and burn his tongue,  she poured mustard onto them with cayenne. Instead of punishment,  the potatoes were a big success,  and the name stuck.

      Devil's food cake,  however,  seems to have had nothing to do with the whole spicy-hellish-devil thing.

      Food references offer various reasons for the chocolate cake's name,  which some sources say was alternately called "red devil's cake" because the original cake had a reddish hue.

      Then there's this theory,  as proposed by "The New Food Lover's Companion": "At the opposite end of the spectrum is the airy,  white,  angel food cake."

      Any of the deviled dishes would be perfect for Halloween entertaining or tailgating. Just warn your guests,  if you go heavy on the cayenne or habanero,  that they're about to meet the devil.

      . . . . . . . .

      Moose shared recipes for the spiciest of all her deviled eggs as well as a recipe for Green Eggs and Ham,  which readers have told her they make for Halloween.

      Be sure to use a fruity,  Caribbean-style habanero hot sauce for the first recipe,  Moose says. Vinegar-based sauces such as Tabasco do not work in it at all.

      Both recipes are from "Deviled Eggs: 50 Recipes From Simple to Sassy."