Category Archives: Foodways

Bread and Salt for new homeowners

Nationality: United States of America
Age: 55
Occupation: Educational Consultant
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/25/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

Main Piece:

What is the tradition?

“It’s Jewish tradition when someone has a new house to bring bread and salt. Actually, I don’t think that’s it’s a Jewish tradition, I think it’s just a housewarming tradition because that sounds very Christian, like bread for Jesus, and salt for demons… I don’t know (laughs). Bread is so… for you’ll never go hungry and salt is for you’ll always have flavor, and [jokingly] won’t die from lack of electrolytes. It’s become a thing amongst a lot of ethnic groups within the country.” 

Have you ever brought bread and salt as a housewarming gift?

“Yes! We brought some bread and some salt to, I don’t remember. Over the years, I’ve done it, maybe three times? A handful of times. Bring a thing of Morton’s salt and a loaf of bread, or maybe a sack of flour so it’s actually useful.”

Context: 

The informant is my mother. She is was raised Conservative Jewish and has an Ashkenazi (Easter European) Jewish background. She has lived in America her entire life. This information was collected during a family zoom call where we were checking in with each other.

Analysis: 

I found it interesting that my informant couldn’t identify which religion this practice came from, and then decided that it didn’t matter. This highlights how engrained this tradition is in American housewarming culture. I thought that my informant’s alteration of bread to flour was very utilitarian. I’ve seen other alterations of this tradition, like a Trader Joe’s body scrub set that features one salt scrub and one sugar, bur bread themed, scrub. This tradition has become such a norm that even large commercial producers are adopting a version of it they can sell as housewarming gifts.

The Warding Effects of Garlic

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 60
Residence: Illinois
Performance Date: 1/1/2021
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Main Piece:

During many traditional Korean commemorative ceremonies called jesa (제사), there is a part where a family’s ancestors are honored by being “brought in” through an open door and allowed to dine on the food first before the family that prepared it. Once it is time for the meal to be eaten by the family, the prepared foods are cooked again, but only this time, properly seasoned with garlic.

Background:

The informant is my mother who is the youngest child on her side of the family and the only one who has regular contact with her mother/my grandmother as our family is the only one among our extended family living in the United States with them. Because of this, most of my grandmother’s teachings and culinary knowledge have been passed down to her. Despite many of the commemoration ceremonies being done in the honor of my father’s side of the family, my mother dutifully carries out the traditional cooking required for the occasion. While not highly religious, my mother still holds out on traditional beliefs of karma and good deeds eventually being rewarded so perhaps she follows these traditional rules so closely as to hope for better for her children.

Context:

The ceremony for the commemoration of ancestors or other traditional events usually falls between brunch or dinner-times so most of the family does not eat until then. Because everyone gets hungry, I asked my mother why she needed to cook the food again when everything was prepared, the ceremony was finished, and all that was left was to eat. She replied that the food needed to be cooked again properly since she left out the seasoning, particularly the garlic. When I asked why, she said that garlic wards off spirits. I asked why this was and my brother chimed in to explain to me that one of the creation myths of Korea involved a bear turning into a human by eating nothing but gloves of garlic and mugworts for 100 days, giving garlic in particular some level of spiritual power.

My Thoughts:

Garlic being such a powerful supernatural warding tool surprised me as I thought it was specifically targeted towards vampires from Western legends. Garlic is an incredibly common ingredient found in Korean cuisine so it never properly registered to me as it could have any sort of special meaning beyond a universal ingredient. If garlic was so regularly consumed, why were there even ghost stories to begin with? Was superstition just that prevalent that it may have influenced every-day cooking to ward off malevolent and clingy spirits? There are some accounts where eating garlic wards off tigers and eating pickled garlic in particular being a procedure that was recommended to those traveling through mountains as to not encounter a tiger on their journey. As an avid fan of putting garlic as seasoning for most things, it made me question if garlic was used so extensively for its supernatural benefits, its taste, or the simple convenience of both tasting good and warding off evil. Interesting to note how garlic’s effects are indiscriminate to spirits in general as the spirits that are relevant in this context are “good” spirits who are honored to give blessings to their descendants but they are still affected by its effects.

Just throw everything in: The Platoon Stew

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 67
Residence: Illinois
Performance Date: 4/19/2021
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Main Piece:

The 부대찌개 (read: Buddae-jjigae) takes the words 부대 (Buddae) meaning army unit and 찌개 (jjigae) meaning stew/soup together. It is a prime example of the melding of Korean traditional cooking with an American influence. Korea before the technological and cultural factory it has become now was once an incredibly poor country and before and during the Korean War in the 1950’s. U.S military troops that arrived and fought there were supplied with many canned foods.

When the war ended, the troops left with the preservable food still around and post-war Koreans decided to utilize these provisions to good use. Using an old Korean vegetable stew and ramen noodles as a base, a myriad of other foreign ingredients such as hot-dog sausages, baked beans, cheese, and canned spam were added to the pot which resulted in the Army/Platoon Stew. Some people say that the stew was cooked and being eaten out of the left-over helmets. While it has a set recipe that acts as the foundation, many other elements and toppings can be added or removed by the preferences of the audience, adding more American style toppings or more traditional Korean ones.

Background:

The informant is my father, a proud Korean native born just after the Korean War’s end and a veritable library of knowledge on the country’s history and folkways. His lineage unites the two divided Koreas as his family hailed from the northern territories following his father’s escape to the South. His passion led him to previously be at the head of government funded Korean-American tourism business based in the Midwest during the early 2000s, promoting America to Koreans and Korea to Americans. As per South Korean law, he had also experienced mandatory military service where the stew’s relatively simple recipe makes it a favorite among the others serving their time. He often brings up it to the family when anything Korean ever makes it on the news such as movie stars or someone famous saying something positive about Korea.

Context:

I asked about the naming convention of one of my favorite Korean dishes many years ago and received an answer from both my mother and father who provided the recipe and its history, respectively. I asked once more when I had to help make one for the family.

My Thoughts:

While it carries no commemorative experiences by itself, the Buddae-jjigae to my mind perfectly symbolizes the start of the westernization of Korean culture, for better or for worse, while also standing at a liminal point between America and Korean cuisine cultures as well as traditional cooking and “modern” cooking. My grandparents and parents are often critical of the younger Korean generations for being rather dismissive of the traditional foods and forgetting many of the cultural ceremonies and rituals but the Buddae-jjigae serves as a proper bridge that generations both old and new can enjoy. Its recipe can also involve as many ingredients as one chooses, the tougher and traditional means creating homemade stock while the simpler methods are using prepackaged beef or chicken broths. It brings back fond memories of my hometown in South Korea where my and my family would talk to one of the famous restaurants that only served this stew but could only house four parties which meant that there were lines outside constantly. It brings a smile to my face every time I see some American celebrities and T.V Food Critics such as Anthony Bourdain and Andersoon Cooper talk about how much they loved the dish. Apparently even Lyndon B. Johnson loved it.

Eat and Gain a Year

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 60
Residence: Chicago, Illinois
Performance Date: 1/1/2021
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Main Piece:

Sseulnal (설날) is the Korean Lunar New Year and national holiday that we typically just celebrate on January 1st for simplicity’s sake. Me and Grandma prepare the ingredients for the jesa (제사) like always but instead of the usual assortment we go with the traditional ddeukguk (떡국) or rice-cake soup. Only when you eat rice-cake soup on New Year’s Day is how you “gain” an age in traditional Korean folk-belief, representing the full passage of a year.

Background:

The informant is my mother who has prepared rice-cake soup on January 1st for the past 40 years and continues to practice many Korean folk celebrations primarily because she enjoys traditional food as well as having been practiced in her own family life when she was younger. It’s also special to her because she abhors eating Korean food in restaurants and always prefers cooking them personally.

Context:

On New Years I asked my mother again the significance of the rice-cake soup was on New Years compared to all the other foods she usually prepares on a jesa (제사).

My Thoughts:

Despite the whole concept of gaining an age through this particular folk custom, my family still practiced the conventional birthday celebration when the question of age comes up. With how impoverished Korea used to be, many greetings exchanged between people were “Have you eaten yet?” to make sure the other party was in good health and this leads me to believe that surviving a year and celebrating together with family was an incredibly dire and daily traditional element back in the day to make sure everyone had something to eat and live to see tomorrow. There is also another similar food-item consumed during New Years as an auspicious symbol to consume during New Years in Japan called Zoni.

It had just occurred to me through this project that I questioned on why my parents are insistent on keeping these traditions alive as many other Korean families we know of do not celebrate traditional holidays anymore, at least not in the way they’re “supposed” to as most treat this as a holiday from work and an excuse to go vacation under the disguise of “visiting family”. My parents bring up how surprised they are to hear how dysfunctional other family’s relationships are between parents and children not getting along and how this traditional time for family gatherings are often spent alone and away from them.

Korean Ancestral Commemoration Rites

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 67
Occupation: NA
Residence: Chicago, Illinois
Performance Date: 04/30/21
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Main Performance:

The jesa (제사) is traditional Korean ceremony that honors the family’s ancestors as well as deceased family members, particularly parents. It is a fairly large event that involves the extended family of the deceased parent to gather at the house of the eldest child, prepare food, and engage in a ceremony with specific steps. It is celebrated on different days for every family because it held on the day before the death of the deceased persons being honored. Back in Korea we’d have your uncles and aunts show up to commemorate your grandparents but we’re the only ones here in America so your mother doesn’t get as much help as she usually does. Even when if this isn’t even technically her own family that she’s making offerings for, she’s still the the only person who puts in this much effort. You also remember the steps better than I do these days.

The steps are as follows:

  1. The spirits of those who are to be honored are welcomed by an open door.
  2. The spirits are seated at the table before everyone else with food already prepared for them. The spirits are represented by a wooden plaque adorned with a photograph of themselves.
  3. An incense placed upon a bowl of uncooked rice is prepared between two lit candles and the eldest son of the spirits and their siblings or children pour glasses of rice or plum wine.
  4. Wine is poured three times until the cup is full and the cups are then rotated around the smoking incense three times, clockwise.
  5. The cups are placed by the bowls of the spirits and the ones who immediately poured and placed the drinks bow to the spirits. Men do two large bows and one half-bow while women do four half-bows.
  6. The above is repeated by the number of children of the deceased are present.
  7. Once the above step is completed, the spirits’ utensils are placed onto their favorites among the prepared food and the rest of the attendees excuse themselves to another room so the spirits may enjoy their meal alone.
  8. For a couple minutes, the gathered family engage in small talk, reminisce, and exchange pleasantries for a couple minutes before returning to the dining area.
  9. Steps 4 and 5 are repeated one last time and the spirits are led out to an open door and now the family is allowed to eat properly.
  10. The bowls that contained the rice and soup that the spirits would have eaten are considered to be blessed and are offered to those who need the ancestor’s blessings the most.

Background:

The informant is my father who has engaged in this ceremony longer than I have been alive. As he is the oldest among his three siblings, our house was where my father’s side of the family used to convene and celebrate together with as per tradition dictates that the eldest son continues the tradition. My father mentions how my mother has been diligent in her work to continue this tradition as she used to get help from my aunts in preparing the food but now she does all of the work alone for a ceremony honoring my father’s parents instead of any on her own side. Recently my mother receives help from my grandmother but since she is not directly related to my father’s parents, she does not partake in the ritual itself.

Context:

Every October 10th and November 30th, by Lunar Calendar dates, my family engages in these rituals and I’ve asked my father and mother many times about the procedure. Before long I was the one who remembered most of the steps.

My Thoughts:

Despite only having met my paternal grandparents only once or twice before their passing, this ceremony is something that has been ingrained in my life for as long as I could remember. The eldest son’s home becomes the liminal ground where the living descendants commune with the spirits of the deceased. Looking up articles of the ritual now, it appears that me and my family are skipping a number of steps but the way we’ve done it is how it has been for at least 30+ years. I always used to watch my father and my uncles do the steps back in Korea but after coming to the States, I began to take their place in placing offerings to my grandparents. The dates however do make it a pain for my mother who has to prepare not only for American Thanksgiving but also for preparing for my grandfather’s jesa. My parents often joke about how no other Korean family engages in this practice anymore and it made me recently realize that my parents being vaguely irreligious is probably the reason why. Many other Korean families are heavily Christian and have since abandoned the traditional ways which almost makes me a bit sad with how Westernization has started to blot out Korean culture.