Mexican Proverb

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 35
Occupation: Nanny
Performance Date: 4-26-17
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Main Piece:

 

Mexican Proverb – “Mucho hablar y poco decir juntos suelen ir”

 

Transliteration – “Much talk and little say often go together”

 

Translation – “The empty vessel makes the most noise”

 

Background:

 

This is a proverb taught in schools and just as a general life lesson. It was told to me by my Mexican nanny, Mirna, who has been with my family for nearly 19 years, and she likes it because of its meaning as a way to determine someone’s ignorance. My nanny was told this saying at a young age by her mother, as a way to teach her proper etiquette when speaking and how to carry herself to stay on people’s good side, as well as how to tell when someone might just be talking out of their rear end.

My nanny has always been sort of quiet, and only really joining into a conversation when she had something to add. My sister was always just a talkative one and oftentimes just spoke to make noise, and my nanny would oftentimes just sit there and listen so as to please my sister. She would actually tell us this in Spanish when we were young, because being exposed to her speaking Spanish we could understand it a little bit, but I did not pick up on the deeper meaning of it.

 

Context:

 

I just asked for a proverb from home and this is what was told. It doesn’t seem to make much sense at first, but when it is looked deeper into the meaning of the two words – one being talk, and one to say – it is meant to say that just because someone talks a lot, doesn’t mean they really have much to say. The translation serves to say that those who have the least in their mind tend to talk and talk when they don’t really say anything.

When you hear someone talking and they just keep babbling on and on, a lot of what they say isn’t necessarily intelligent, and they are generally just talking to get attention and keep it. Because the literal translation (as given from my nanny) is “the empty vessel makes the most noise” this means that people who are empty minded tend to have a lot of nonsense to talk about.

 

My thoughts:

 

It is interesting to hear proverbs from other languages because the literal translation seems to just be nonsense but talking to someone who has grown up with it as a part of their culture and getting the explained meaning from them is much more interesting to me.  I was confused originally because with my knowledge of Spanish I thought hablar and decir meant the same thing so the saying made no sense to me but once it was explained this has become one of my favorite proverbs.

Mexican Recipe

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 35
Occupation: Nanny
Performance Date: 4-26-17
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Main Piece: Beer Battered Fish Tacos

 

For this piece, I asked my nanny of 18 years, Mirna, for a recipe, and being native to Mexico, she delivered. She prepared beer battered fish tacos, which consists of frying a white fish meat in a batter made from bread crumbs and beer (Corona, of course). It is put into a taco with a chipotle sauce, cabbage, and salsa. I asked if there was a set recipe she followed but there was not, she just cooked based off how she had done it in the past. The entire time she was cooking she was adding little bits of ingredients here and there according to taste, and nothing was perfectly measured. Once the fish was battered it was fried in a pan with vegetable oil, not a traditional deep fryer. There was no set time to cook or anything of the sort, just judging based on the look of the food and feel based on the cook.

 

Background:

 

This is a traditional recipe from my nanny’s home in Mexico, and she has been using it for as long as I can remember at home. It was a traditional recipe used when a successful fishing trip returned and would be cooked right away.

She learned it from her mother, who would generally cook for all of her brothers and sisters, of which there were 6 of them. She had many recipes she could’ve chosen from, having grown up in this large family and also having cooking as a big part of life for them. There was never really much take out or dinners out, so it was typically home cooked meals from her mother.

 

Context:

 

This time she cooked the meal for me, it was just one night for dinner, and did not have much contextual meaning. I used to fish a lot during the summer, and fresh fish was my favorite food for that span of time. I used to call my nanny as we were unloading the boat telling her what we had caught and she would prepare to cook it for me, and this became one of my favorite preparations of fish. She cooked a very large portion as it would serve as our family dinner that night, and had a sort of system going where she would be constantly breading the fish, frying it, warming the tortillas, and prepping the plates. She said that’s what it was like at home when her mother would cook for everyone, needing to feed many mouths.

When this dish was being prepared, my dad had a few different beers at home but none were a Mexican beer, so my nanny actually went out and bought Coronas to cook this recipe, which I think is interesting in that even though I’m sure other types would have worked, it is more traditional to the recipe that she used a Mexican beer for the recipe.

 

My Thoughts:

 

I had always thought this was just a random recipe my nanny had found and cooked for our family, but it turned out this was a recipe she had learned from her mother and brought here to cook for us. There are many more dishes my nanny knows how to cook from home and makes them constantly, but this one is hands down my favorite that she does.

English Recipe

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: English Recipe

 

This was told to me by my friend Liv, who’s grandmother was born and raised in England.

 

“My grandmother was born in Wimbledon, England and grew up during WWII. Her father worked for the British Army putting out incendiary bombs with sand and her mother did not work, so they did not have a lot of money. Because of this, my grandmother and her siblings would often eat mashed turnips or rutabaga to fill up their stomach as they were growing children. On special occasions though, their mother would make them Shepards Pie, a recipe that is still his favorite many years later. The recipe has been passed down from her mother to my grandmother, to my mother, and finally to me. It is pretty simple as it just uses the ingredients for mashed potatoes for the top, and a lot of different fresh spices, vegetables, and ground beef for the filling.”

 

Background:

 

Liv’s grandmother passed this recipe down to her, and it is one of their families favorites. Liv likes this recipe because not only is it delicious, but has a cultural connection to where her family came from and their heritage.

This was passed to Liv’s grandmother by her mother, and it continues to be passed down through the generations, and gets brought out for family gatherings and holiday celebrations.

 

Context:

 

The present day context of this recipe is not the same as what it was used for back when Liv’s grandmother first had it, but it is still used in the same sense. It is brought out at family gatherings because they all have the same ties to the culture and heritage of England, and her family’s recipe is something she holds close to her.

This is a common recipe found with microwave options and even variations at restaurants that put a modern spin on a classic dish. The origins though are English, and the traditional recipe is something unique to different families from the region.

 

My Thoughts:

 

I’m personally a fan of Shephards Pie, and remember my favorite being sold by a street vendor I passed after surfing one day. I’ve never had a traditional Shepherd’s pie, but I hope some day to try the recipe Liv has been taught by her grandmother.

Peruvian New Year’s Tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: Peruvian New Year’s tradition

 

This was told to me by my friend Liv about a New Year’s tradition in Peru:

 

“In high school, my Spanish teacher was from Lima, Peru. She told us about celebrating New Years Eve in Peru and the many festivities that went on. First, people in Peru buy new clothing to wear on New Years Eve to represent a fresh start in a new year with new clothes. They frequently buy and wear yellow clothing, as yellow represents happiness and luck. Some people even go so far as to wear yellow underwear. Secondly, at the stroke of midnight, adults and children across Peru eat 12 grapes for good luck in the upcoming year- 12 grapes for 12 months.”

 

Background:

 

Liv is a freshman at USC, and this tradition was told to her by her high school Spanish teacher around New Years before they went on winter break. Liv likes this piece because it is a great tradition, and has much more of a meaning than how Americans usually celebrate New Year’s with parties and those types of festivities.

Liv told me she began to incorporate these traditions into her New Year’s celebration to give it a more symbolic meaning. She doubts many other people will do it, but it is something she enjoys doing.

 

Context:

 

This is a commonly practiced tradition in Peru, and occurs every year with most of the citizens participating. This tradition is only practiced on New Year’s and does not necessarily hold any other context.

 

My Thoughts:

 

I personally like this tradition, as it gives an added symbolic meaning to the New Year, not just people going out and not remembering the festivities and making resolutions that fall through within the next week.

I may start using this tradition at New Year’s, and could give me something to take the New Year seriously and use it as a time to get more done and more effectively.

Story of Dundee

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: Scottish Story

 

From my friend Liv, who’s grandfather was born and raised in Scotland:

 

“Dundee is a town of around 150,000 residents on the east coast of Scotland.  It is known as the city of ‘jute, jam and journalism’.  Dundee is built on the river Tay estuary and was a trading center dating as far back as the 12th century.  Textiles, trading and shipbuilding were the center of the Dundee economy.  There is a story told to all elementary school kids when telling of Dundee’s glory days:  In the late 1700’s a ship of oranges from Seville, Spain had to seek refuge in Dundee harbor because of inclement weather.  Unfortunately, the delay caused by the storm caused the oranges to age and they were sold at a discount to Janet Keiller.  She was an accomplished cook and baker and she created the first marmalade with a rind present in the recipe and resulting preserve.  The Keiller family, then manufactured a large quantity of this particular brand of marmalade. The international distribution of this marmalade began in the 19th century when it was shipped throughout the British Empire and to this day it can be purchased throughout the world.”

 

Background:

 

Liv is a freshman at USC, and she told me of her grandfather who had been born and raised in Scotland, but is now living in the US. I asked her if he ever told her stories about home, and she gave me this one. Her grandfather told a lot of stories from home, and almost all were new to her because she was born and raised in New Jersey and wasn’t aware of them beforehand.

She likes this story in particular because it gives her a sort of cultural heritage that would not be felt if she didn’t have anything to relate to from her grandfather’s past. Although she is not from Scotland, she still holds this story as if it is part of her and where she was originally from.

 

Context:

 

Liv tells me her grandfather mentioned to her that this is a story told to elementary school kids about the prosperity in Dundee where he is from. This is more so a historical account of the region but it is a sense of pride for the inhabitants because of its mention of an event in history that accounted for the creation of a popular spread used worldwide nowadays.

The only other context this story would be used in would be history books talking about the creation of Orange Marmalade, or something outlining the history of Dundee and how it became to be prosperous at one time or another.

 

My Thoughts:

 

I found this story pretty interesting because I did not know where or how orange marmalade was invented, and I always find those facts to be pretty interesting. I doubt this would be used much outside of the given contexts, but it is a pretty interesting fact to pull up when talking about where their family is from.