Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Capirotada Cultural Dish

Informant Info:

  • Nationality: Mexican
  • Age: 50
  • Residence: Los Angeles 
  • Primary language: Spanish 
  • Relationship: mother 

Text: 

Capirotada(cultural food) 

Context:

EP explained to me the cultural and religious significance of the traditional Mexican capirotada dish. The capirotada dish is made during a specific season, as EP says, “la temporada de cuaresma.” Cuaresma is basically the Lenten period, in which Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter occur. She views this period of time in which she prepares for the death and the resurrection of Jesus by fasting and making this cultural dish. She learned this traditional dish from her mother who would make it during the Lenten period. EP goes into depth on the ingredients of the Capirotada, “La canela, clavo, y piloncillo se cuece, y así se hace la miel que se pone arriba de todos los ingredientes antes de hornear.” She first makes a sort of sweet juice/syrup to put on top of the ingredients. The ingredients consist of: white bolillo bread, tortillas, bananas, apples, queso fresco, raisins, prunes, viznaga, different types of nuts and dried fruits, etc. She said that you put the syrup that was made prior on top of all the ingredients and then you can bake it. 

Analysis:

Capirotada is made in different ways, and it also depends on the preference of the person making the dish. Not everyone will make it the same; each person has their own touch. I have grown up eating capirotada as well, but when I would ask other people if they had tried or heard of it before, they would say no. It is a dish that is not as commonly made or known. When I was younger, I always thought it wasn’t something I wanted to eat, but as I grew older I learned to appreciate and actually love to eat the dish. While the capirotada might not look as physically appealing as other desserts, it is truly delicious and holds a special place in our Mexican culture.

Red Ribbon on a Horse’s Tail

Text:

A red ribbon tied around a horse’s tail means that they’re “a kicker”

Context:

C is a current USC student who grew up in Bellevue, Washington and previously worked in a barn there training rescue horses. As indicated in the text, C explained that tying a red ribbon around a horse’s tail meant they were prone to kicking and that other horses and riders should give them extra space. After I asked if this practice was specific to their barn, they explained that the red tail ribbon is a widely-known sign in the horseriding world and has become an important safety practice, especially in competition settings. C then stated that they were introduced to the red tail ribbon early on by people in their barn and that people would assume a rider was a “newbie” if they didn’t know the sign. C also mentioned that jokes were often shared amongst riders about the red tail ribbon – for example, a rider may joke that they’re going to tie a red ribbon around their non-aggressive horse’s tail to get people to “back off.”

Analysis:

As C mentioned, this folk object seems to me to have primarily risen out of a need to quickly and effectively communicate important safety information. A horse’s kick can cause severe injury to a person, and while small groups of people can be verbally warned of a kicking horse, that information seems like it would become much more difficult in a large horse arena or during a fast-paced competition. The use of a visual signal or folk object to communicate danger creates a constant visual differentiator for the kick-prone horse and allows the message to be spread and received much more quickly. Additionally, like much of occupational folklore, knowing the use of the red tail ribbon becomes a marker of insider status and experience in the horse rider world. Joking about the red tail ribbon in turn conveys a sense of familiarity with the sign and further demonstrates the presence of insider knowledge.

Korean saying: Green Bean Seeds, Red Bean Seeds

Nationality: Korean
Primary Language: Korean
Age: 50
Occupation: Country Branch Manager
Residence: Seoul, South Korea
Performance Date: 16 February 2024

Tags: green beans, red beans, seeds, agriculture, South Korea, proverb, saying, result

Text:

“콩심은데 콩나고, 팥심은데 팥난다.”

Literal: “You get green beans where you plant green bean seeds and you get red beans where you plan red bean seeds.”

Meaning: ‘Every result has its own reason.’

Context:

R is a born and raised South Korean. This is one of the sayings R taught me when growing up in Korea, along with a plethora of other proverbs and lessons. Apparently he had heard it from his father before him and so on, and it’s a pretty common Korean saying. R once said this to me when I forgot to bring my coat out one chilly winter afternoon and came down with a cold a few days later.

Analysis:

The English saying “You reap what you sow” might be a variant of this saying, as both are about agriculture and acquiring the direct result of your actions. Perhaps the cultural differences influence the way the saying is said (with Koreans using beans in many dishes and Western cultures liking simple, easy-to-say proverbs), while the meaning behind the sayings are shared worldwide.

Korean saying: Monkeys Falling from Trees

Nationality: Korean
Primary Language: Korean
Age: 50
Occupation: Country Branch Manager
Residence: Seoul, South Korea
Performance Date: 16 February 2024

Tags: monkeys, trees, falling, humility, Korean, proverb, saying

Text:

“원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다.”

Literal: ‘A monkey can fall from a tree.’

Meaning: ‘Everyone, even experts, can make mistakes, so you have to be humble and careful in whatever you are doing.’

Context:

R is a born and raised South Korean. This is one of the sayings R taught me when growing up in Korea, along with a plethora of other proverbs and lessons. Apparently he had heard it from his father before him and so on, and it’s a pretty common Korean saying. The first time R said this to me was when I had a clarinet concert coming up and was feeling a bit overconfident due to the apparent ease of the music, in which R said this to make me feel calm and make sure I still practiced caution.

Analysis:

Korean culture puts humility and the importance of being modest in very high regard, to the point where boasting about one’s abilities and accepting compliments is seen as rude in most social settings. I find it interesting how monkeys are the first animals to be brought to mind within the context of this saying, as monkeys aren’t often synonymous to Korean culture. Obviously we have monkeys in Korea, but they aren’t brought up as much compared to other Asian countries and such.

Noes Goes

Text: A “catch” (a traditional trick or prank) – “Noes Goes”

Informant: NK

Ethnicity: Indian

Primary Language: English

Age: 21

Residence: New York

Context: According to the informant, “Nose Goes” is a common trick where people touch a finger to their nose in a group setting until everyone catches on and does it. The last one to realize has to do the rest of the group a favor. As such, the trick is generally used to determine who is doing a task that no one in the group wants to do (such as taking out the trash, or who’s making dinner). 

Analysis: 

As a prank, “Nose Goes” is an example of decision-making folklore within social groups. It can be difficult to make decisions in group settings because of differences in opinion. Nose Goes provides a fair method to determine who will take responsibility for the undesirable task. Nose Goes is also a trick I have seen used from people of many different backgrounds, including those from different coasts and countries. The widespread adoption amongst younger generations suggests shared cultural acceptance of the prank; it is our version of “drawing the short end of the stick/straw.” This phenomena has clearly been going on for thousands of years, and I think that it is a reflection of groups aiming to keep their social hierarchies intact, minimizing conflict through a playful luck of the draw.