Category Archives: Foodways

Ukrainian – Reuse Of Food Storage Containers

Nationality: Ukrainian/Russian/American
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 5/1/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Ukrainian, Russian

Informant’s Background:

My informant, AK, is a undergraduate student at the University of Southern California. He is a first-generation immigrant, and the child of Ukrainian and Russian parents.

Context:

I am a close friend of AK. I asked him if he had any folklore he could share and this was what he gave me.

Performance:

AK: “I guess like you can make a story out of this, but essentially, like, my whole life, when I try and get food from my parents or my grandma or my grandpa and like I come over as a guest or something and they want to cook me food or something they like put it-like every Russian… uhm, and Ukrainian like puts this, like does this, so say like I want some food that you made or I’m offering you some food that I made, like (*laughs*) I don’t give it to you in Tupperware. I give it to you, like I give you some Russian soup in some like old yoghurt container that like I bought, that literally had my yoghurt in it and like now I’m using it as a container to put other food in it and store other food in it. Obviously like its washed, uhm, before like any other different new food is put in it, but it’ll be like a yoghurt container but what will actually be inside will actually be some like, uhm, leek soup or something. And that’s like pretty typical like classic Russian stuff that you’ll get. More so with older generations, I don’t think like anyone who’s Russian or Ukrainian now would do that.”

Informant’s Thoughts:

AK: “I think the reason why is that there was just a time, in Russia, where you had to be really resourceful, uhm, and that’s because of World War 2, and like, I don’t know, just when there was winter and stuff and you kind of have to bunker down and just use what you have, and like no one was really rich in Russia uhm back then, there was a lot less rich people, and a lot more poor people that were like struggling and stuff. So a lot of people were resourceful, and I think that just like became embedded into like their-their DNA and their way of life. And so it just bleeds through in this small little funny way.”

Thoughts:

I think AK explained this quite well. This example demonstrates how people adapt their way of lives to the times that they grew up in, and to the situations that surround them. In this case, this resourcefulness is likely no longer necessary in the case of AK’s relatives, due to better living conditions, and the lack of a harsh winter to diminish resources, yet the traditional way of life the person grew up with is still performed, even if it will not carry on to AK’s way of life.

Gifting Desserts – Indian Tradition

Nationality: Indian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Irvine, CA
Performance Date: May 1, 2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

Context: 

My informant, AS, is a 19-year-old Indian male who grew up in Mumbai, though he has lived in Southern California for the past three years. His family is Muslim, and he has also had lots of interaction with Hindu culture also. This piece was collected during a facetime call, when I asked him to share some traditions that he has noticed as different between his home culture in India and the US. I refer to myself as SW in the text.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Main Piece:

AS: “So, it is tradition, not just for Indian Muslims but for any Indian, to gift desserts to the people they know, when something good happens to them. Like if I get a new job, it’s gonna be tradition for me to send like a box of sweets to my neighbor, my aunt, my uncle, my friend. It’s just a tradition.”

SW: “So when something good happens to you… then you send stuff to other people.”

AS: Yes… Not just stuff, I have to send like, some sort of dessert.

SW: To how many other people?

AS: That just depends on like… if like, you’re really close with your neighbor you could send it to your neighbor, if you’re not close you’re not obligated to send anything. But like, it could be, just ya know your close family, or it could be the whole fucking world, depends on how close you are with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informant Explanation:

SW: But why do people do it?

AS: I don’t know why they do it, it’s just a thing like the… the saying is like ‘making your mouth sweet,’ that’s what it’s called. Like if you, something good happens to you, it could be anything it could be getting a new job or ya know, getting engaged or something like that. Even getting a promotion or buying a new car.

SW: That’s the reverse of the American thing. Cause the American thing is you send gifts to the person who had something good happen.

AS: Yeah. No, the person to whom it happens has to send. Not gifts, dessert.

SW: I guess like… that’s a way of showing status, right? Cause if something good happens to you, then it’s like well I now have excess to give… would be a way of showing status right?

AS: Not necessarily, no. It’s a… it’s more to do with sharing the joy. Not showing off. 

SW: What kinda desserts? What are we talking here?

AS: Mostly Indian desserts. That’s the tradition.

SW: Like what?

AS: Like… the most common one is (he showed me a picture of kaju katri or kaju katli). That is my favorite fucking dessert. It’s uh… it’s just a sweet. It’s made from like… ground cashews, and you make, like… I don’t know how it’s made it just tastes really nice. 

SW: It looks very good.

AS: Yeah so you get boxes of those, boxes of like, brown balls of fucking sugary flour… 

SW: So is like, Indian culture more focused on like…  ties between, like family and friends than American culture is? It feels like everything is more… 

AS: Ties between family, yes. Like, your… there’s a lot of emphasis on family in Indian culture. Especially Indian Hindu culture, there’s a lot of focus on family and traditions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Analysis: 

As AS mentioned, the tradition of gifting desserts serves to reinforce family ties and important social relationships. Indian culture places a very high importance on these social bonds, especially between family members, and it is therefore important to have traditions and rituals to remind people of these bonds and their obligations to one another. There is probably also an element of reciprocity that is established – since you are sharing your joy, you can expect other people to also share with you.

The Purple Hooter

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/2021
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

“It’s a vodka, a raspberry liqueur and lime juice. It all goes in a single shot. On the night before my parents wedding night, my dad was feeling really sick so he went to the bar and the bartender said that this would cure all his ills. I guess it’s a panacea.”

Background:

The informant is a 19- year-old female from St. Louis, Missouri. However, she now lives in Los Angeles and attends the University of Southern California. She lived in St. Louis Missouri for the first 18 years of her life. It was here where her father first told her the story of the Purple Hooter. He said that it worked and the next day he felt a lot better. The shot is to be taken at any time that someone needs a pick-me-up. The informant herself, not being 21, has never tried the shot.

Context:

The informant is one of my college roommates, who I asked to relate any folk beliefs or legends she had for the purpose of a project.

My Thoughts:

I think that this is a classic example of folk remedy, where an unexpected drink acts as a panacea. It’s a remedy that has little scientific backing but was reported by the informant as successful. I think considering the proximity of the event to a wedding, it could possibly be explained as alcohol helping pre-wedding jitters. However, I also think that a lot of cultures have different beliefs surrounding alcohol as a remedy for illness, particularly alluding to its ability to kill germs.

Italian Grandmother’s Pasta Recipe

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Chicago, IL
Performance Date: 05/03/2021
Primary Language: English

Main piece

“Onion, Garlic, Tomato, Olive Oil. You dice up the onions finely, mince the garlic. My grandmother didn’t put quantities down. Put some oil olive at the bottom of a pot, put the onions in first and cook until transparent. Then put the garlic in and cook until fragrant. Then add canned Marzano tomatoes. Cook down the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and Italian seasonings. Taste. If it needs more seasoning, put in more seasoning. And then put into a blender and blend to preferred consistency.”

Background: 

Informant: “Even though, my grandmother lived in America, since she was Italian, at any holiday she would always have a pasta with her sauce on it for the holiday dinner.  To this day, I use this simple recipe often when making pasta dinners.”

The recipe can be made at any time. Its not necessarily a holiday meal, despite the informant’s grandma making it on every holiday. The recipe can likely be found online but the informant specifically learned it from her grandmother, who learned it from her mother. The informant grew up living in a split house with her grandmother so often could witness her cooking.

Context:

The informant is my mother. I learned of the recipe over a Facetime call in which I inquired after any folk knowledge she had.

My Thoughts:

This is a fairly simple Italian pasta sauce that has been passed down through a family. I think it shows some different aspects of Italian culture. The first one is the importance of family. This recipe was specifically passed down and taught by females of a specific family line. Also the environment in which the recipe was often cooked, meaning holiday dinners, indicates a highly social family that is close-knit and spends at least holidays commonly together. Another aspect of Italian culture that might be shown is the importance of certain foods, in this case a pasta sauce. Considering it was always made at special events, including all holidays, many of which usually have their own specific cuisine that one is supposed to make, its possible that this meal was seen as a delicacy or important in indicating the celebratory nature of the event in which it was being eaten.

Upset Stomach Remedies

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Chicago, IL
Performance Date: 05/03/2021
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

“My grandma would tell me to drink prune juice if you are constipated. Or if your dog has stomach issues feed them rice and real chicken instead of dog kibble.”

Background:

“The informant is a 53-year-old woman living in Chicago, IL. She has never tried the prune juice in her adult years so cannot speak to its effectiveness, but does use the dog remedy, which does in fact work. Her grandmother was Italian and either born there and immigrated to the US at a young age or was born in the US soon after her parents immigrated. She remembers any time she had an upset stomach, her grandmother would make her and her sister drink prune juice.

Context:

The informant is my mother. I acquired this information during a Facetime call with her, on which I asked if she had any folk knowledge or beliefs.

My Thoughts:

I think that these folk recipes are classic examples of people using un-official knowledge to cure illnesses. Upon some research of my own on google, it appears that prune juice is now advertised for alleviating constipation. I doubt the knowledge would’ve been as easily accessible in the 1970s. I think that is also is interesting to think about the transition where people might’ve been more inclined to use prune juice as a remedy before now most people might just use a laxative.