The dark is good for all kinds of nocturnal endeavors - espionage, amore, murder - but have you ever considered dining in the dark?
A blind clergyman did, and opened the first dark dining restaurant, The Blind Crow, in 1999 in Zurich, Switzerland. Since then, restaurants where patrons dine in absolute darkness have opened all over Europe and the United States.
Menus are useless without light to read by, so diners order before going in, and in some cases, food is served by a wait staff that is either visually handicapped or completely blind.
This isn't such a foreign concept for anyone who grew up in suburban America. We all remember visiting those neighborhood haunted houses - set up in someone's garage to occupy the kiddies.
We'd feel our way through the darkness screaming as our tiny hands plunged into bowls of what we thought were brains, eyeballs and guts.
In reality, they were the products of our parents' imaginations and what was readily available in their kitchens - cold spaghetti for brains, frozen peeled grapes for eyes and warm pudding for guts.
To give an adult twist to the food that terrified us in our youth we've made edible versions for today's nocturnal diners - eyeballs, scarabs and mummy fingers.
Some believe that eating in the dark will heighten your senses, making the mundane new again. In the dark, the tongue's 10,000 taste buds start to see and feel the food, as well as taste it. Blind to its color, a cucumber is not only cool and crisp, but diners may experience an explosion of green hues as they chew in the dark. Feed them cucumbers with yogurt and cayenne, and their mind will be awash in a cacophony of colors — reds, greens, and whites. Depending on what food you choose, your meal could be the Pollock of dining.
I'm more of a Munch girl myself. Happy Halloween.
Here are some of my creations. For tasty food that looks spooky, try these recipes.
Googly Eyeballs
12 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 jar of pimiento spread
24 small pimiento-stuffed green olives
Remove egg yokes from egg halves; reserve yolks for another use.
Fill each egg center with about 1 tablespoon of pimiento spread.
Place olive (pimiento straight up) in the center of each egg. Press slightly.
Hairy Scary Scarabs
1 bag shredded coconut
1 can chocolate-covered almonds
Place almonds in a pan and place in oven on low heat until chocolate is tacky.
Heat a medium-sized, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add coconut and cook until coconut begins to turn golden, stir constantly.
Add browned coconut to warmed almonds. Turn the almonds until coated with coconut.
Mummy's Head, Fingers
1 bag of mini marshmallows
1 stick of unsalted butter
6 cups of crisp rice cereal
1 packet of medical gauze
1 package of dried cranberries
1 package of stick pretzels
pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and cumin
1 cup of coffee
Take gauze and mix with coffee. Let sit.
Melt butter. Add marshmallows slowly until completely melted.
Add melted marshmallows, cereal and spices (to taste) together in small amounts until completely mixed.
Coat hands in olive oil or butter. Shape mixture into head shapes. For fingers, roll mixture between hands then push a pretzel stick into center. (Re-oil hands as needed.)
Take gauze, wring out coffee and cut it into strips. Starting at one end, wrap around oval to cover it entirely, leaving gap for "eyes." When oval is completely wrapped, unfold the end of the gauze slightly and press down. (Gauze will stick to surface.)
Place two dried cranberries in gap for "eyes" and press slightly to adhere. Repeat with remaining ovals. Can use larger cranberries for bloody nails.
