Tag Archives: food

Tamales at Christmas

Text: Making tamales every Christmas in an assembly-line style with family.

Context: The informant, who is Mexican American and grew up in Texas near the border, participates in a yearly Christmas tradition where family members gather to prepare tamales together. Each person takes on a specific role in the process (spreading masa, adding filling, wrapping), creating a collaborative, assembly-line system.

Analysis: This is a strong example of foodways folklore, specifically a holiday-based family tradition rooted in Mexican and Mexican American cultural practices. Tamale-making at Christmas is a tradition, but the assembly-line method highlights its communal nature, turning food preparation into a ritualized family activity. The repetition of this practice each year reinforces cultural identity and the intergenerational nature of the practice. Knowledge and roles of the activity are passed down within the family.

Matzo Ball Soup

Age: 21

Text
“My dad’s side of the family is Jewish so they had a lot of like food and meals that they would eat either for special occasions or like just throughout the year because it’s like Jewish food. And the one that’s carried through to my immediate family is matzo ball soup because it’s a really good remedy for like a cold or just general sickness normally in the winter so the cultural tradition here is getting lots of matzo ball soup and using it as like a cure to sickness when we’re not feeling well.”

Context
ML says that not a ton of Jewish customs carried over to her immediate family, but matzo ball soup was one that did because of their belief in its comforting and curing powers. She remembers eating it when her or her sister were sick, and she said that eating it did make her feel better.

Analysis
ML’s story is an example of material culture, specifically foodways, as well as folk medicine. The tradition of eating matzo ball soup contains religious and traditional values in her family, but also showed a long standing belief in its remedial and comforting powers. ML notes that not many other Jewish meals or traditions were passed on to her family, showing that some beliefs or pieces of folklore are stronger or hold more meaning and are able to be passed on more easily even as other traditions of the same folk group fade away. For ML, this belief was enforced by evidence, as she said that eating matzo ball soup did genuinely make her and her sister feel better, which only serves to enforce the folk belief. ML’s story with the soup is a great example of Kaptchuk’s discussion on healing rituals, as the soup represented a sensory experience, family, and hope along with the nutritional value, all of which combined to comfort ML. I think this is a very powerful idea, because my mom would make a specific noodle dish when my brothers and I were not feeling well, but I remember the love and the care that the meal represented more than how I felt after eating it.

Rosca de Reyes/Wreath of the Kings

Context: The Rosca de Reyes/Wreath of the Kings is a sweet bread commonly made/consumed during January 6th, the Day of the Three Kings

“Every year on January 6th, many who are Catholic celebrate the Day of the Three Kings following Christmas. Because of this, we have a yearly tradition where we eat la Rosca de Reyes (Wreath of the Kings), in which it is a sweet bread that’s super good. You usually eat it with either hot chocolate or champurrado. However, the tradition also comes with a fun game. Inside of the bread are a few little white babies that represent Jesus when he was born. If your slice of bread happens to have a little baby Jesus, you usually have to make tamales the month afterwards. I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone though, I think some people make different foods.”

Analysis: La Rosca de Reyes seems to be a common tradition in many Mexican-Catholic Communities where many continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus after Christmas. The Biblical story of the Three Kings explains how the Three Wise Men traveled to see the birth of Jesus in order to deliver him gifts. Because of this, many celebrate this day with different foods, one of the foods being The Wreath of the Kings.

Salad After Dinner

Text:

“We always ate salad after dinner”

Context:

My dad grew up in a large Italian-American family in New Jersey. Every night they would have family dinner. They would eat different meals depending on the day of the week: spaghetti on Sunday, leftovers on Wednesday, etc. However, one thing remained the same: when salad was eaten. Salad was always eaten after the main course. At school, my father would sometimes tell other kids that his family would eat salad after the meal, and the kids would make fun of him, not understanding why his family did that.

Analysis:

Eating salad after the main course is a very Italian tradition. It’s a ritual because it is a repeated and patterned act that followed every family dinner my father had. My dad believes they ate salad after dinner in order to promote digestive health with the fiber. After having spent time in Italy, I agree with my dad’s belief and add onto it saying that salad is eaten after dinner in order to not be full for the main course. The pasta, fish, or meat dishes in an Italian meal are considered the highlight. It is considered almost disrespectful to not finish the main course, so eating salad after the main course ensures that you remain hungry for the meal and don’t fill up on salad. With food being so innate and important in Italian culture, it makes sense that rituals such as this one exist surrounding dinner time.

Meal Train

Folklore: A meal train is a tradition where following a member of the community having a baby or another significant event, the community organizes a group of people to help make and provide meals immediately following the event.

Context:
The informant encountered the practice through her local church and after moving to Los Angeles. The informant noted they were exposed to the practice a bit as a child, but not in such a large and traditional scale. It is to help provide meals to a member of the community and help them in times where the extra care is helpful.

Analysis:
The folklore is used to help bring together community and emphasize care for its members especially those in tiring, difficult, or wonderful situations. The experience brings people together and helps the member receiving the care feel appreciated.