Cultural Connections With Food

1. Cultural Connections With Food

2. Cultural Connections With Food • I wanted to explore and present the cultural connection with food coming from a diverse group of individuals that I am well acquainted with through work and church. The countries represented are: • Vietnam • Turkey • Estonia • Holland • Philippines • Japan • Korea • Mexico • A series of questions were sent to each participant where they were asked to share information regarding the importance of their • native dishes with personal reflections on their • cultural connections with food.

3. VIETNAM Personal Favorites Bun thit noung – rice vermicelli with grilled pork and fish sauce Any of the Pho or Com tam Traditional Foods Noodle soups - Pho Noodle dishes – Bun Thit Nuong Rice dish with meat – Com Tam Bun Thit Nuong Com Tam Special Occasions or Holidays New Years and Weddings A whole pig is roasted Personal Memory During a wedding or memorial day of our great grand parents, there is a lot of cooking, a lot of food and a lot of people. Common Spices/Seasonings Garlic ~ Green onion Lemon grass ~ Chili Shrimp Paste ~ Fish sauce Fermented soybean ~ Hoisin sauce

4. TURKEY Traditional Foods Vegetables cooked in olive oil Meatballs spiced with cumin Lamb (Gyros) cooked on a doner (which means “spin” in Turkish) Special Occasions or Holidays Irmik helva is made when someone dies or on the anniversary date of their death. This is a sweet and buttery dish made with butter, pine nuts, semolina, water and sugar. Some regions use milk or a water-milk mixture. Cooking lamb on doner (my son Andrew calls it “flat meat” Turkish Meatballs with Cumin Irmik Helva Personal Favorites Anything with lamb and kabobs An American Twist Gyros Gyros Lamb Kabobs

5. KOREA Personal Favorites Seaweed soup with beef Meat-jeon (meat pancake) Mixed vegetables with rice with Hot pepper seasoning Traditional Foods Rice ~ Various types of kim-chi Vegetable dishes Spicy stews using meat or seafood Bulgo-gi (beef) Bulgo-gi beef Kim-chi Meat-jeon Special Occasions or Holidays Rice cake soup with beef to count individual ages to appreciate for prior passed years and also to welcome the New Year. Without eating the soup, we don’t count individuals getting one year older even though the new year day passes over. An American Twist Most Americans do not like the hot and spicy flavors of Korean food such as the spicy rice cake pasta. It’s been localized and becomes a little bit sweet and less spicy. Rice Cake Pasta Rice Cake Soup with Beef

6. PHILIPPINES Personal Favorites Lechon de Leche Pansit Traditional Foods Chicken and Pork Adobo Lechon (roast piglet) Lumpia (egg roll) Pancit (Filipino noodles) Callos (ox tripe with tomato sauce)Dinuguan (pork blood with inards) Kare-kare (oxtail with peanut sauce) Pancit Personal Reflections on Food Filipinos are very charitable people and everything they do revolves around food. There is no celebration when there is not enough food to serve. Everyone goes home not only full from eating but brings food home. Dinuguan Callos Special Occasions or Holidays Lechon is typically served on big occasions like weddings, Christmas/New Years, and baptisms. Every big occasion and holiday involves LOTS of food. Lechon de Leche

7. JAPAN Traditional Foods Miso soup Miso broth with flavors taken from kelp or dried bonito flakes including tofu, seaweed and green onion. Traditional breakfast of miso soup, bowl of rice and grilled fish (sometimes natto which is fermented soybeans) Personal Favorites Fresh fish and seafood “Good Japanese food” = good ingredients not so much good flavoring. My mother comes from Sado where you can catch fresh fish straight from the ocean and even get our own abalone. Food that is freshly picked, such as a juicy cucumber, is a real treat. Japanese cucumber Fresh abalone Soy Miso soup with tofu Personal Reflections on Food Japan has a history of being a closed country (no foreign trade/foreigners allowed). Because of that, Japan developed their own condiments made from a key ingredient which is soy. Two useful condiments that were invented from the use of soy are soy sauce and miso. These two ingredients are used in many and most traditional type dishes. Most traditional food is with minimal flavoring with the natural flavor of the ingredients enjoyed in its pure form. Special Occasions or Holidays New Years - Foods that are traditionally eaten are Osechi and Soba. Each ingredient symbolizes important things about the new year. Osechi

8. HOLLAND Traditional Foods Meat is always served with potatoes. (there are 40 different kinds of potatoes) along with vegetables (leeks and onions) and a salad tossed with Dutch mayonnaise dressing Personal Favorites I eat some kind of Dutch food everyday. Rusk toast with breakfast, Dutch meatballs with Dutch spices. Licorice (of course) and I always have chocolate sprinkles (Hagel or hagelslag) to put on different things. They sell Dutch waffle cookies at Trader Joe’s and Dutch mini potatoes that taste like butter. Belgian Endive (Witlof) - take out the bitter heart add cream cheese , salt/pepper, and cover it with black forest ham and Gouda cheese and bake to a crispy crust. Meat and potatoes Salad with Dutch mayonnaise Personal Reflections on Food The Dutch were the first to bring spices to Europe from Asia so we use a lot of curry, paprika, nutmeg, coriander, pepper, cinnamon. We have developed a variety of different blends for certain dishes and for specific meat and fish. When I was young, we used to have Chinese/Indonesian dinners about once a week. Usually fish on Friday or Saturday, soup on the weekend and a fancy dinner on Sunday nights. A lot of Dutch people have small yards so they will try to get a plot at a community garden for their own fresh vegetables. Special Occasions or Holidays We go all out and eat and serve the best of the best and the freshest available no matter the cost. Lots of veggies and soft cut meats and au jus with it. Lots of fresh French breads with garlic and herb butters. We also eat a lot of Spanish foods like Tapas as well as Mediterraneaan foods/yogurts and dairy products that are lean and healthy.

9. ESTONIA Traditional Foods Black bread (leib) ~ Potatoes, fish, pork Vegetables ~ Fruits and berries Dairy products (milk and yogurt – about 20%richer than US) Kohupiim -similar to cottage cheese when unsweetened, but when it is sweetened, it’s the best thing ever tasting similar to cheesecake. Personal Favorites Anything my mom makes at home. She makes all kinds of potatoes and sauces from scratch to go with meat and potatoes. This warm and filling home-made meal is something I cannot compare to anything else. She also makes cream of wheat (manna) with kissell (thick fruit/berry juice). Kohuke (small cheesecake piece covered in chocolate with filling inside) is definitely my favorite. Kohupiim Black Bread Special Occasions or Holidays Bread is an every day food and is also served during most holidays. Christmas is the biggest celebration as far as our food intake goes. Blood sausages are popular to eat . Sometimes we would have a contest to see who could eat the most (4 was the highest if I remember correctly) Kohuke Cream of Wheat Personal Reflections on Food Bread has almost taken on a sacred quality. When the bread falls on the floor, you have to kiss it (older tradition – not many people follow anymore) and you cannot ever put the bread down on the wrong side up. Respect for bread is most important and has been throughout history. An Estonian version of bon appétit is jätku leiba which literally means “may your bread last.”

10. MEXICO Traditional Foods Chilies ~ Tortillas ~ Corn Jalapenos ~ Coconut ~ Mole Pozole ~ Mexican Chocolate Horchata Water (rice water) Personal Favorites Tlacoyos – Aztec name to a homemade tortilla filled with refried beans topped with cotija, salsa and onion Huazontles – vegetable that looks like trees filled with mozzarella cheese and cooked in a tomato sauce Flan – Mexican custard adopted from Spain Mole – chocolate sauce poured on chicken Pozole Jalapenos Special Occasions or Holidays Dia de Reyes – January 6th We make a rosca, a very large round cake with a plastic baby hidden inside. If you get it you would make a party on February 2nd, usually with tamales. Dia de Muertos – November 2nd Special bread as well as sugar skeleton that children decorate with their names. Huazontles Tlacoyos The Spanish Connection Mexican chocolate was discovered by the Aztecs and Spain adopted. Chilies were also specially produced by the Aztecs. Corn, Jicama are other foods that date back to the Aztecs. Rosca Cake Sweet bread for Dia de Muertos

11. Cultural Connections With Food • Food is one of the most common cultural traditions • which plays an integral part of daily living. • Food is a source of comfort, pleasure and security as well as a symbol of hospitality, celebration and religious significance. • What foods are eaten, how food is prepared and when certain foods are served are a reflection of individual cultural inheritance. • Understanding and appreciating the many aspects of a cultures’ food traditions is indispensable in the world of diversity. • Food is an essential part of culture, society and socialization which includes a complete set of customs, history and nuances. • Embrace and enjoy a new food adventure - Bon appétit!!

12. Cultural Connections With Food The following is a diverse selection of children’s books to discover and explore additional cultural connections with food • Jalpeno Bagels by Natasha Wing • Everybody Bakes Bread by Norah Dooley • Dim Sum for Everyone! By Grace Lin • Grandma’s Latkes by Malka Drucker • Tortilla Factory by Gary Paulsen • Tea with Milk by Allen Say • How Pizza Came to Queens by Dayal Kaur Khalsa • Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan • In My Momma’s Kitchen by Jerdine Nolen • Apple Pie and Onions by Judith Caseley • First Book of Sushi by Amy Wilson Sanger • Everybody Cooks Rice by Norah Dooley • Let’s Eat by Ana Zamorano • Char Siu Bao Boy by Sandra S. Yamate • This is the Way We Eat Our Lunch by Edith Baer • The Story of Chopsticks by Ying Compestine • Halmoni and the Picnic by Sook Nyul Choi