Category Archives: Foodways

Pierogi Recipe

Nationality: German
Age: 82
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Orlando, Florida
Performance Date: 3/2/19
Primary Language: German
Language: English

Main piece: Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Heat to boiling and simmer until potatoes are very tender. Drain potatoes, reserving 1 cup of the liquid. In a small, non-stick frying pan, sauté onions in a little butter or oil until soft. Add onions to drained potatoes and mash using a potato masher or electric hand mixer. (Add reserved potato cooking water as needed to reach a smooth mashed potato consistency.) Add cheese, garlic, and salt. Mix well. Set aside to cool. Serve with cabbage and/or potato salad.

Context: The informant (BB) grew up in Schlesien (Silesia), Germany and immigrated to the United States when she was 24 in August 1960. BB and her husband, who was from East Prussia (now known as a territory in Poland), started a family of 3 children in Orlando, Florida, and ran a greenhouse business until their retirement. BB is a devout Christian with Lutheran roots. She is fluent in both German and English. Our conversation took place by the fireplace in my home in Atlanta. The informant learned of this dish from her mother-in-law; she is not Prussian herself, but she learned the recipe to honor her husband’s family tradition of eating pierogi at Christmas. BB loves pierogi because she is proud of embracing a tradition she did not grow up with but is nevertheless very important to BB, as it reminds her of her late husband. BB even adapted the recipe for her growing family in America. Although the original recipe dictates that the “filling” portion of pierogi be stuffed into dough and boiled, BB does not use dough at all in her recipe and instead opts to make pierogi as an open dish, often with potato salad on the side. She put this spin on the recipe because not everybody necessarily likes the dough and she can’t fit as much of the filling as she would like to into a dough pocket. Because of this, she’s able to make the pierogi in bulk so that it can feed a family for a week down the line.

Personal thoughts: What is perhaps most interesting about this particular recipe is the way the informant adapted it – and why. BB mentioned taking away the dough and to be able to make pierogi in bulk. As a young child growing up poor in World War II Germany, BB barely had enough to eat each day, as her community was forced to send the food they produced to the Nazis supporting the war effort. Hunger playing a significant role in her upbringing is evident in the fact that she has 2 refrigerators and 2 pantries in her house that are always stocked full of provisions. So, when BB makes pierogi in bulk, her motivations are not gluttonous or greedy; rather, they stem from an unshakeable, foundational feeling that she must ensure her and her family’s next meal in case of any unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, BB’s adaptation of the traditional pierogi recipe is a product of her childhood circumstances of WW2 scarcity.

Lunar New Year

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Manhattan Beach, California
Performance Date: 4/21/19
Primary Language: English

Abstract:

This piece is about a festival tradition at the lunar new year and the process of “wishing” something to your family members.

Main Piece:

“Every lunar new year, we go to my uncle’s house and then the entire side of my mom’s family comes. Like my grandparents, all her siblings, all their kids, their spouses. And we all have this big party, so you show up and then, um, well we usually bring food. Like a potluck situation, we’re all close. You’re in charge of this, you’re in charge of that… You bring this, you bring that… So we usually have egg rolls, this dish that has flour patties and shrimp sprinkled on it. And then we have like spring rolls and beef… We have noodles and papaya salad, like shredded young papaya that’s still green. We have a sauce with it and fish sauce with everything else. So we eat all the food and then afterwards, we cut up fruit. Fruit is a really big Asian thing for desert. Whatever is in season. Afterwards, the tradition is that it’s oldest to youngest. So all of the kids of my grandparents have to go to them and wish them something for the new year. So it’s either like good health, um, like, lots of money. Usually the grandparents will wish back lots of money or something. So we wish them good health or happiness or wisdom or whatever. So my mom has four siblings, so she is the oldest of the five, so her and my dad will go first. And the same follows for the next generation. Like then the grandkids will go and it’s the oldest there too.”

Context:

The informant is a 19 year old student who is Half-Vietnamese and Half-Polish. The tradition stems from her mother’s side. She was born in Anaheim, California, but now lives in Manhattan Beach, California. She participates in this event every year with her family.

Analysis:

The very specific foods that are eaten at the celebration reminds me of the very specific German foods that are eaten at celebrations in my own family. I think food and celebration are often correlated in every culture and it is interesting to examine the differences of cuisine as well. One aspect of this festival celebration is the aspect about different ages and the importance of order of birth. It seems like this culture values birth order due to the custom in this culture that oldest needs to go first.

The God Among Sandwiches

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Arcadia
Primary Language: English

Context:

The following informant is a 20-year-old American male student. The informant and I were in a discussion about “secret menu” items that can be found at various American fast food chains. The informant will be denoted as K and I will be C.

K: So when I was in middle school and sex talk was really proliferating I heard about a fabled sandwich, the god among sandwiches, called the McGangBang. The story goes that if you ask for a McGangBang you will either be thrown out of the store or they will give you a McChicken inside of a McDouble. So a McDouble is bun, patty, cheese, patty, cheese, bun and then you can peel right in between the patty-cheese so the patty, cheese peel and then patty cheese, bun. And right in the center you can plop a McChicken right in the middle.

C: With the bun?

K: With the bun! And you can eat it all in one go and that’s a McGangBang. I’ve never ordered it as a McGangBang but my friend said he had. He said that it had worked at the Hog Mountain Road McDonalds. But I don’t believe him.

C: And how many times have you had a McGangBang.

K: I think I have had it at least fifteen times in my life, maybe more.

Analysis: While I find the name of the sandwich very problematic, I can personally attest that it is very tasty albeit disgusting. Additionally I find the culture of “hidden menu” items at fast food places to be very interesting. It is almost as if the restaurant is some cult and by knowing the secret menu items you can become a member of said cult. A commercialized version a secret menu can be seen with In N’ Out which is famous for their secret menu.

Brownie Recipe

Nationality: American
Age: 54
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Rutherford, California
Primary Language: English

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9×13 baking pan

  1. Melt two sticks of unsalted butter and 4 squares of unsweetened chocolate together in a pan on the lowest heat.
  2. Combine 4 eggs and 2 cups of sugar in a big bowl by hand and add 1 teaspoon of real vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  3. Pour the melted chocolate and butter mixture in with the sugar and eggs. Stir to combine.
  4. Slowly add 1 cup of flour s little bit at a time until you see no flour
  5. Pour batter in baking pan.

Bake 16 minutes at 350. Turn heat down to 325 and bake the rest of the way.

Cool and slice into squares

 

Context: The informant received this recipe orally from her mother. Her grandmother never let her mother in the kitchen when she was growing up, but it was the one thing she learned to bake. Everyone loved these brownies and wanted the recipe. It was the informant’s mother’s ‘go to’ when her parents had company.

Interpretation: This recipe is geared towards people who are not well-versed in the kitchen. It is an example of how recipes can empower people. Despite the informant’s mother’s lack of skill, she was able to impress the people around her and provide a delicious gift. This recipe also connects the informant to her mother, who is now deceased. By making this recipe, the informant is able to pass on her mother’s memory.

 

A Canadian Double-Double

Nationality: Canadian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Palm Desert, California
Performance Date: 4/16/19
Primary Language: English

Collector: What exactly does double-double mean to Canadians?

HK: In Canada, Tim Horton’s coffee is a big part of our diet, so generally a double-double means a Timmy Ho’s coffee with two creams and two sugars. Even though I guess it can mean any coffee with two cream and two sugars, it usually means Tim Hortons.

Collector: When did you first learn this term and how?

HK: I’ve known it for as long as I could remember. Both of my parents are Canadian and big coffee drinkers so I learned it from them at a pretty young age. 

Collector: Is this a term that is widely used in Canada or a smaller community you are familiar with?

HK: I’m pretty sure everyone in Canada knows what a double-double is. Everywhere I have been has used it and I have traveled through much of Canada. 

Collector: When did you realize this term was unique to Canada and Canadians?

HK: Well it was when I first moved to California when I was fifteen. I had made some new friends and they took me to In-n-Out Burger. I asked them what they were going to order there and when they all responded “a double-double”, I immediately asked, “you guys got Timmy Ho’s here?”. They then looked at me like I was from another planet. And that is the moment I realized that a double-double had a very different meaning to Americans. 

Collector: How did that experience change your understanding of both the term double-double and Canadian and American culture?

HK: It made me realize that although Canadians and Americans are very similar there are still a lot of subtle differences between them. I guess Canadians are more into coffee and Americans are more interested in cheeseburgers.

Context: My informant is an eighteen-year-old freshman student at USC. He was born and raised solely in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada until age fifteen then moved to Palm Desert, California. Even since living in California, my informant has still spent around a month every summer in Canada. His explanation of this folk term to me was done in person at the Sigma Chi fraternity house at USC. 

Analysis: I find it fascinating that the term double-double is so widely used in both America and Canada however, it describes two different large aspects of each countries culinary culture. It shows that for one Tim Hortons coffee is a much larger part of Canada’s culinary culture and cheeseburgers are a much larger part of America’s. It also exemplifies how even though Canada and America seem to be very similar there is a lot of difference between the two cultures.