Column: Easy illusion foods to freak out party-goers

If something looks like it was pulled out of a dark black hole, served on a fancy plate and called food – it must be time for Halloween.

Weird or creepy appetizers and party foods are de rigueur for a successful Halloween party, but illusion food is by no means a new invention.

In the middle ages, cooks would often show their skills through subtleties, or presentation foods. The rear half of a suckling pig might be stitched onto the front half of a goose and roasted, then presented as a cockatrice (a mythical beast).

Now, illusion foods are typically only served at special holidays. Some presentations take a high level of skill, but there are others that can be done by cooks with little experience.

A bit of creativity and just a few clever tricks can produce ghastly snacks no matter what the skill level. An impressive buffet of creepy treats can be created by buying a plastic door decoration of a skeleton.

Make a “Cannibal’s Feast” of illusion foods that suggest body parts and serve them on the skeleton. Some suggestions might be to place racks of pork or beef ribs over the skeleton’s ribcage, or a dish of sausages to mimic entrails.

Toss baby carrots in teriyaki sauce, store-bought or homemade and roast them until tender and browned. Small rounds of white onion can be placed on the ends to suggest nails. The “nails” will stick to the glazed carrots. Place bowls of the “digits” over the hands and feet of the skeletons.

Another trick is to shape meatloaf into whatever you like. A mummy face can be formed out of meat and dressed with bacon. If your guests have adventurous palates, any type of offal, from calves’ liver to chicken gizzards make excellent additions to the morbid feast.

One of the most useful and versatile ingredients for illusion food is gelatin. Unflavored gelatin is available at most grocery or specialty food stores. Be aware that gelatin is a meat by-product, so please do not serve it to your vegetarian or vegan guests. Agar-agar, carrageenan and tapioca starch are good vegetarian substitutes, but are harder to find, as well as much more finicky to work with.

To make gelatin “worms” take bendy straws and extend the articulation, then fill with flavored gelatin, either sweet or savory, flavored with beef or chicken stock or bullion. Place the straws in the refrigerator for a few hours to set, and then remove by cutting away the straws. Crushed cookies or Graham cracker crumbs can be used for grave soil.

A simple but effective subtlety is a gelatin dish in a brain-shaped mold that can be found at Halloween or party stores. Make the mold with unflavored gelatin, seafood stock or bullion and tiny canned shrimp.

If a brain mold is unavailable, make your own with heavy aluminum foil, wrinkled into a brain shape, misted with cooking spray and placed in a large bowl. Unmold the gelatin and serve with cocktail sauce or lemon slices on the skull of the skeleton.

Halved hard-cooked eggs or canned quail eggs can be dressed up with black olive slices stuck to them with gelatin to make creepy eyeball appetizers. Toss the eggs in a bit of paprika first for the illusion of blood-shot eyes.

A twisted sense of humor and some creativity can provide a holiday spread that will make a party to be remembered. Experiment, and remember to get strange this Halloween.

Steve “Mo” Fye is a freelance food columnist for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @UncaMo.