Food : An Ultimate Menu Of Dishes

Food brings community members together, builds on the existing bond between neighbors and family, and presents a understanding of a person's own heritage. In each area of the world, one will see food change into exoctic and diverse dishes of admiration, however, is the normal to the people of the foods origin. In “Ethnic Hash”, by Patricia J. Williams, she details how food can be changed ever so slightly through the use of seasonings, preparation style, and become a essential part of a culture. She comments, “Throw in as many spices and mysterious roots as you can lay your hands on” (Williams 12). Having a valid understanding of the origins of different aspects of culture allows for altering and imputing personal characteristics for generations to

My family’s traditional Sunday sauce is when my mother’s side of the family gathers for an early dinner to enjoy pasta, meatballs, sausages, and pork cooked in freshly produced tomato sauce. Regardless, the gathering occurs individually every Sunday in all of my family members’ households, however, when my grandparents were alive whoever was available to attend would sit at their long wooden table and enjoy their favorite meal. The setting was not clearly pleasant due to my family’s sarcasm, although deep down, we felt blessed to have each other’s company. Being a large Italian family, we had no choice but to be cramped in my grandparent’s tiny kitchen, where everyone previous to eating seemed irritated and anxious to eat the delicious meal

Growing up in a big Italian family, food has always played a large role throughout my entire life. Whether it was helping my mom and grandma make meatballs for Sunday dinners, having the traditional seven fishes on Christmas Eve or making trips to Little Italy, food has always been the common ground to bring my family together.

Cooking and baking is a central quality of this family’s lifestyle. The narrative goes into great detail and this has to do with a cultural placement. For Giovanni’s family, cooking and eating is a set of cultural rituals and the making of an experience. It is a part of a performance art, not just a consumption product. Another central quality of this family’s lifestyle is essentially work. Puma writes:

My favorite dish is prepared by my maternal grandma; they are referred to as lollipops and they are just as delicious. My grandma’s family immigrated from Greece and her grandmother came from a village outside of Sparta, currently named Selasia. Grandma loves to cook the lamb chops because she knows my sisters and I love to devour them. She says that It gives her “a sense of love that can only be seen on your (grandchildren’s) faces. The recipe is a family favorite that is passed down from mother to mother, generation to generation, going back at least five generations. Cooking in Mediterranean culture is known as a form of cooking with love as food is used as a way of evoking personal a collective memory. Grandma says she learned from her mother, as her mother did, and each added variation to perfect their recipe, with the key ingredient being a dash of love.

My early memories bring back images of my family and I gathered around the white kitchen table. At that table, my mom revealed the list of potential names for my new baby brother. Manner lessons given at meal times consisted of shouts of "elbows off the table" and "stop kicking your sister", which echoed over the commotion of meals. My family and I spent dinner time bonding, finding out about each other's days, and spending a few moments together as a family before we were tucked into bed. Meals show a common tie that bonds us all; everyone eats and can relate to the experience. Many novels use this bond to portray a theme in the plot. Gathering around a table and sharing a meal can lead to friendship and a feeling of togetherness.

The video which topic was about Little Italy was a broad portrayal of what Little Italy is to this day. In the video, many people talked about family values and the importance of having home-cooked meals as a family, because it brings them closer to their Italian roots. Many people, who were showcased in the video mentioned that the table was a big part of their lifestyle. The table was the time of the day where the family would conjugate and discuss while enjoying a traditional Italian feast. Keeping the Italian traditions alive in American, since at the time many Italians were assimilating into the new culture, they wanted to find some elements of their home life to keep alive and to continue the traditions. Another way for Italian-Americans

To be honest, I tried to equal my mother’s cooking skills. She kindled in me a passion. I watched my mother stand over a stove stirring until the soup was just right. She already instilled in me an interest in soup cooking when I was a teenager. To illustrate people’s seeking the solitude in their lives, she referred to a historical figure: “President Harry S. Truman liked to enjoy homemade soup and listen to the birds singing outdoors.” Cooking skills

Italian food, in my life, is about how culture and identity are sustained and evolve within my family here in Canada. I spend a lot of time with my husband’s Nonna, and almost all of that time is spent either at one shop or another (frequently at ‘the Italian store’ as she calls it, on Fraser Highway in Surrey), or, in her kitchen. Nonna’s kitchen is where the magic happens! Not only does she demonstrate and guide me in how to prepare the meals that have kept bellies happy and full in her family for generations, but while doing so, imparts upon me the stories of her life, those of her family and her husband’s family. Brombert quotes: “Identity… is not inscribed in the genes of a people or in

This ethnographic text will describe how the typical Italian dinner is structured, through a rather classic Saturday dinner in my house. The first paragraph will illustrate the social hierarchy of the family when setting up the table. The following parts of the essay will describe the processes that occur when starting the meal, and then the different rules and habits when eating.

A local family has a traditional family night dinner on Sundays. They keep in touch throughout the week, but on Sundays they are able to see each other face to face. Slowly, the three girls, Emily, Samantha, and Allison, are taking over cooking the meals. Their parents, grandparents, and uncles are all pitching in to help the girls learn how to properly cook various foods such as hulushki, halupki, homemade pasta, and desserts like cannolis. They are keeping with the tradition of making food to represent their heritage of being Polish and Italian.

Laughter, sizzling, the clinking of wine glasses and the crunching of chips float down the hallway. The smell of good food made with cumin and love. The kitchen is a place of joy and family, a place of sharing our days and silently scarfing Mom’s chicken tacos. Many of the greatest moments in my life have been in my kitchen: cooking pork ribs with my dad and listening to his ridiculous old rock music, opening my first college acceptance letter, learning we were moving to Munich. Many of the worst times have been in the kitchen, too.

“Food is Life” means that everything people do in life revolves around food. Most social events focus around food and people correlate significant memories with particular foods. Furthermore, people travel to faraway cities and countries just to experience a new variety of food. For instance, the Minnesota State Fair gets roughly two million visitors in the two week span it’s open, this is the United States’ largest fair. Many of the people that do visit the fair are from Minnesota, there has been a large amount that travel across the country, mainly just to try the different foods. Humans obviously need food in order to survive, just like we all need oxygen and water, but it is the chef’s job to make the dining experience memorable and exciting. A chef once told me, “I like making people happy, so that’s why I became a chef. Food always makes people happy.” There is truth to that statement, almost everyone loves eating good food and many people love to be the ones to make it. Food brings people together through the creation of it and the eating of it. Different cultures have unique eating habits, foods, and traditions. After all, eating is one of the few things on earth that every single person has in common with one another. So many people’s fondest memories involve restaurants, cooking or baking with a loved one, or special traditions in their culture or family. My family has a tradition of making a gingerbread house in December, decorating it together, then eating it

Food plays an influential role in our lives not only because it allows us to live and grow physically, but it also acts as the backbone of our culture and it has shaped who we have become. But why? Why do we never forget the warm taste of our mother’s chicken noodle soup? Why does the creamy smoothness of mashed potatoes still linger in our mouths? After a thorough search on why our culture and identity are affected by what we eat, I have begun the path to understanding the answer.

We as humans, see food as just a necessity of survival. As we intake our meal for the day, it is uncommon for us to think past the taste or temperature of what is being placed in our mouth; we don’t pay attention to the depth of what the food on our plate could mean to not only us, but to others in the world. Unlike what most may believe, food is an essential component of society. The consumption, preparation and the values and customs that attribute to creation of these foods symbolize a variety of thing in a culture. The way a culture prepares and eats its food shows us a glimpse of what this culture may be like. The art that is involved in the process of a culture’s breakfast, lunch and/or dinner illustrates characteristics and the personality of that culture.