What does it mean when a food is "deviled?"
Answer It's had hot spices and condiments added to it.
While some deviled foods are also mashed, and we certainly wouldn't be surprised to find some of these foods at a Halloween party, the true definition is to add hot spices, such as mustard or cayenne, or spicy condiments, such as tabasco, to a food to bring a bit of heat to the meal. Deviled eggs, deviled ham, and deviled shrimp all adhere to this term coined back in the 1700s. Devil's food cake? That's another story.
Asked by Leni Davenport · Last updated 5 years ago · 298.6K views · SOURCE