Tag Archives: traditional food

Brasilian Traditional Food

Date of performance: 04/29/2025

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title-   Feijoada (Brazilian black bean stew) 

Context- M’s mom is from Brazil, so when asked about her favorite foods, M shares that a Brazilian staple in their household is feijoada, or black bean stew. M says, “The traditional foods you eat them whenever, but when there’s a celebration there will without a doubt be those foods, you know. They definitely do remind me of home!”

Analysis- M shares a favorite food of hers that represents a part of her home in Brazil. Traditional foods are a key part of folklore as they convey tradition, customs and identity throughout generations. These traditional foods, as M has experienced, can be generationally passed down through oral tradition. Folklore relies on oral transmission to expand and develop in different regions of the world, which can also be observed in traditional foods and cuisine.

Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival

AGE: 20 

Date of performance: 04/30/2025

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title-   Tết Trung Thu

Context- J shares a Vietnamese festival he celebrates to commemorate the fall season— “Usually we go to this big Vietnamese church where they hold fall fest and usually you just sit around and listen to a whole bunch of live music. There’s also different performances like the lion/dragon dance and you eat moon cake. It’s a time for family to hang around and spend time with each other where you play different viet games like lotto (Vietnamese bingo) and an animal gambling game where you put money on a certain animal and roll a dice and if the dice is a picture of your animal, you win money.”

Analysis- J tells about the Vietnamese mid-autumn festival filled with games and money, paired with ritual food and performances. Specifically, the lion/dragon dance takes place. These dances are typically high energy in extravagant costumes made with bright colors as a way to manifest good fortune and deter bad spirits. The theme of good fortune is common not only throughout the Vietnamese culture, but East Asia as well. J also mentions the eating of moon cake, which symbolizes completeness and unity. Tết Trung Thu is a living example of folklore as traditions, customs, rituals and cultural identity are celebrated when the festival is celebrated. There are symbolic rituals such as the lion/dragon dance, and traditional foods like the moon cake.

Always eat noodles on your birthday

Context: My informant is a family

My informant states that a Filipino superstition that she knows of is that “you should always eat noodles on your birthday”. Though, she acknowledges that this superstition may not just apply to Filipinos because other Asian countries prominently have noodles as a part of their culture, just like white rice. And in this case, Filipinos eat Pancit.

She says the reason for this is that noodles symbolize having a long life. And her experience with this tradition, and also superstition is that she has always had noodles for her birthday and has always seen noodles (or specifically pancit) in the dishes among many others at family’s birthdays and get togethers.

She interprets this as carrying on noodles as a part of being Filipino, and also because of the length of the noodles.

Analysis:

This Filipino tradition is also a superstition.

Analyzing this piece of folklore, it seems to stem from other Asian cultures. Noodles are a part of many Asian cultures, and I believe that it emphasizes on the idea of “pan-asianism”. Though it does seem to be very harmonizing and it does not mean it is all the same for all Asian cultures. Because the Philippines has their own staple of noodles, which is pancit.

Furthermore, my informant does not seem to state any worry about this superstition. Pancit/noodles are just that important to Filipinos because it is an important part of a celebration meal and a favorite common (but not basic) food. Food can carry heavy symbolic messages for people. In this case, noodles may represent longevity but also embracing and loving a staple food that most people enjoy in all sorts of contexts (not just parties).

Family Christmas Cookie Making

Main Piece

“Every Christmas, our house becomes a ‘candy factory’ – at some point when I was growing up, my mom found recipes for chocolate fudge, peanut butter toffee fudge, and peppermint bark, tweaked some of them so they didn’t have quite as many sticks of butter and cups of sugar, and started making them to give to neighbors and family. My dad started bringing them to work to give to his coworkers too, and now it’s something everyone looks forward to getting from us each year. My brother and I started helping make them pretty early on, at least since I was in eighth grade, and it’s become a key Christmas tradition – responsibility, even – to share with our mom every year.”

Interpretation

Informant’s Interpretation: This tradition holds primary relevance to informant as a family tradition. She likes to spend the time with her mom, but notes that since the whole thing puts a stress on her mom, helping can sometimes “feel more like a duty than a fun cozy Christmas tradition.” However, she notes that she still heavily associates this with how her family celebrates Christmas and thus enjoys it.

Personal Interpretation: I find this to be a classic example of a family Christmas tradition–particularly so because other families recognize it as such and come to enforce the idea of the tradition from a slightly-external perspective. While associated with a religious holiday, I don’t see any particular direct connection to Christian tradition other than perhaps the origins of the types of cookies. That said, it feels pretty removed from any religious context and has more to do with the time of year and family-centric association than anything else.

Background

Informant is a 21 year old college student raised in Rancho Bernardo, California. She is female-presenting, white, and of European descent.

Eating Haroseth for Passover

Informant: M.M

Nationality: American

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

Age: 20

Occupation: Student

Residence: Denver, CO

Performance Date: 04/25/2024

M.M is 20 years old and is from Denver, Colorado. She is my friend from USC, and I asked her if there are any festivals or rituals she participates in regularly. She tells me about a holiday custom his dad does for Passover. 

“During Passover, which is this big Jewish holiday we celebrate every year, my dad always makes this special dish called Haroseth. It’s kind of a mix of fruits, nuts, and spices, and it tastes amazing. What’s cool about it is that the recipe has been passed down in our family for generations. Passover is pretty much the only time Dad ever cooks, which makes it extra special for me because Mom usually handles the kitchen. It’s kind of a treat to see him in there, taking over for once. This tradition has been around since I was a kid, and I interpret it as a way for us to connect back to our Jewish roots and kind of remember our ancestors through this longtime, shared recipe.”

Personally, this recipe keeps a part of their history alive. Culturally, it connects them to their Jewish heritage, celebrating freedom and resilience, which is what Passover is all about. Their passed-down recipe signifies how long this celebration has stood in their family and ancestors. So I assume this holiday was really important for them. It gives them a chance to remember where they came from and strengthen their identity.