Category Archives: Christmas

Dessert: Pandoro

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition
  • Language: English with some Italian
  • Country of Origin: Italy
  • Informant: M.P.S.
  • Date Collected: November 19, 2020

Informant Data:

  • M.P.S. is a 22-year-old senior studying Mathematics and Computer Science at Dartmouth College. She is half Canadian and half Italian, but she spent most of her life in England. As a young child, she spent some time living with her relatives in Italy, where she learned to speak basic Italian and became accustomed to many local traditions, especially ones related to food. She is non-religious but enjoys celebrating Christmas with her family.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context

  • In Italy, Christmas cakes, more accurately described as sweet breads, are traditional desserts eaten for Christmas celebrations. During the Middle Ages, only rich people could afford to eat white bread, and sweet bread was considered a luxury reserved for the nobility. Nowadays, they are much more affordable and extremely popular among Italian households. Most families purchase them at the store days or even weeks in advance, though some choose to bake their own at home.

Social Context

  • Christmas cake, as the name implies, is eaten on or around Christmas Day. Store-bought Christmas cake is often packaged in a beautiful paper container. Many families have their own rituals when it comes to unpackaging the Christmas cake and sharing the delicious contents within.

Item:

  • Pandoro, which translates to “golden bread,” is a type of traditional Italian Christmas cake that originates from Verona. It is a plain sweetbread dusted with vanilla-scented icing sugar that is well-known for its distinctive golden color, which signifies wealth. When viewed from above, the shape of Pandoro resembles an eight-pointed star, which symbolizes salvation and abundance from a Judeo-Christian perspective. When purchased from the store, Pandoro is nicely packaged with the icing sugar included in a plastic packet. For many families, the preparation of Pandoro is an entertaining ritual that typically takes place early Christmas morning: the whole sweetbread is placed in a plastic bag along with the powdery icing sugar. The plastic bag is then sealed and shaken vigorously until the cake is fully coated in icing sugar. Afterwards, the Pandoro is sliced and shared among the family. Unfortunately, Pandoro is difficult to find in the US. Many Italian American families prefer Panettone, a cupola-shaped Christmas cake from Milan that contains dried or candied fruits.

Image File:

Bauli Pandoro, a popular brand (Photo was taken by M.P.S. on November 30, 2020; she ordered the Pandoro from the store more than a month in advance)

Audio Clip:

 

Transcript:

M.P.S. (informant): So I eat this food, so my food is called a Pandoro. Am I meant to say that now?

W.W. (collector): Yeah, yeah.

M.P.S.: Okay, so my food is called a Pandoro. It’s basically a Italian Christmas bread, cake type food. And it is my favorite food of all time. I love it so much. I’ve eaten it every Christmas since I was a baby. Either if I was in Italy, that Christmas, or if I was in England, which is where I live. And this is basically a type of kind of big, fluffy yellow cake that you can eat around Christmas time. I don’t know if there’s any specific rules. But typically, my family we wait until Christmas day to open it. We buy it from the store, we don’t make them ourselves. And one of the fun-est things about them is that you take the icing sugar, and you mix it into, into this kind of plastic bag, and you put the whole cake in the plastic bag, and you shake it around until the cake is coated and icing sugar. So that’s kind of like the ritualistic element every Christmas morning. So the first thing we do is open the Pandoro and shake it up so that it’s ready to eat at lunchtime.

W.W.: Great. And the tradition that you just mentioned is something that you only do with your family, or is this a common thing for Italian families to do?

M.P.S.: Well, a lot of Italians eat Pandoro at Christmas. And I mean, you typically, when you buy them, they’ll come with a packet of icing sugar and a plastic bag in the box ready for you to do, so I think lots of Italian families do shake it up together. It’s kind of like celebratory, although I don’t know whether or not it’s specifically like on Christmas Day or just around the time. And some people obviously make them themselves. They home-make.

W.W.: So you mentioned Pandoro is Italian Christmas cake. Could you talk a little bit about how it’s, like what’s special about the cake? Um, like for example, like the shape, the way it’s made.

M.P.S.: So it’s kind of shaped like a Christmas tree, and it’s really tall. So like from the top it looks like a star which is really nice and Christmas-y and it’s made it’s pretty simple. The ingredients, I’m pretty sure just butter, sugar, flour, eggs, or I’m not even sure I don’t think there’s eggs actually. Um, and it’s originally like bread. So it’s Pandoro, which means like bread, gold bread, right, “pan” is bread, and “d’oro” is gold. So it’s like meant to be very like yellow, yellowy. So that’s kind of what makes it stand out. There’s another Christmas cake called Panettone which is similar and maybe more commonly found, like in America, or I’ve seen it more often like, in places like Starbucks and things, and this has got fruits and stuff in it. But Pandora is typically like plain, and you’re just eating it with sugar. Some people like prepare it different ways. I like to dip it in milk. I think it’s really delicious.

Informant’s Comments:

  • If you haven’t tried Pandoro before, I highly recommend you try it. It’s so good. It doesn’t seem like it should be that good because it’s just bready sponge cake. But it is. There is something about it and the flavor. That makes it my favorite thing about Christmas time. It’s so delicious. And if you try it, you shouldn’t put whipped cream or ice cream or chocolate on top. Just eat it like is meant to be eaten, at least for the first time, so you get the proper experience because I feel like it’s got such a delicate flavor.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Fortunately, I was able to try Pandoro in my freshman year of college. It tastes absolutely amazing, and the experience was one of the highlights of my winter term. I really enjoyed learning about the informant’s lovely family tradition on Christmas morning where they prepare the Pandoro together. I didn’t know food preparation could be so fun!

Collector’s Name: Winston Wang

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Dessert: Kutja; Salad: Salat Olivier

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, religious custom
  • Language: English with some Russian
  • Country of Origin: Russia
  • Informant: V.A.
  • Date Collected: November 13, 2020

Informant Data:

  • V.A. is ~50 years old, and she is a professor at Dartmouth College. She was born in the Soviet Union, which is now Russia, in the city of Moscow. Currently, she is religious and celebrates Christmas as a religious holiday; however, when she was growing up in the atheist Soviet environment, there was no Christmas whatsoever.

Contextual Data:

Historical & Religious Context

  • After the Russian Revolution, the Communists took the secular traditions of Christmas and passed them onto the New Year, which was celebrated as a secular holiday. Christmas trees, gifts, and food became New Year’s trees, gifts, and food. The religious traditions of Christmas were discontinued, and Christmas dishes associated with religious ceremonies were no longer prepared, at least not openly. After the end of the Communist regime, Christmas returned, but, nowadays, it is solely observed in Russia as a church holiday rather than a commercial holiday like in the US. The gift-giving tradition and original Christmas dishes are still part of New Year’s celebrations.

Cultural Context

  • Russian salads are unlike American salads. They are often warm dishes that feature a rich assortment of ingredients such as meat, seafood, root vegetables, and various types of dressing.

Social Context

  • In Russia, families hold a New Year’s feast as a replacement for the pre-revolution Christmas feast. The family or community gathers for a large meal consisting of mainly secular dishes, many invented during the Soviet era. In addition, the New Year is celebrated by champagne and other revelries.

Item:

  • Kutja (Кутья) is a pudding-like dish made using some variety of grain, typically wheat berries or rice, cooked with honey. Sometimes, other ingredients such as nuts and raisins are also added. Traditionally, before the Soviet era, it was served on Christmas Eve as a celebration for Jesus’s birthday. It was also eaten after funeral ceremonies at the church to commemorate the souls of the departed.
  • Salat Olivier (салат оливьер) is a rich salad consisting of chicken, potatoes, mayonnaise, pickles, carrots, onions, and tinned peas that every Russian family prepares for the New Year. It was invented during the Soviet era and remains a popular salad dish to this day.

Transcript of Interview Clip:

W.W. (collector): Thank you so much. So feel free to go ahead and talk about the item you’re sharing as well as any relevant social or cultural context related to the item.

V.A. (informant): Yeah, I think I want to say that so my own way of celebrating Christmas has changed because when I was a child, and when I was, when I was a young adult, I didn’t… when I was a child, I did not celebrate Christmas, because nobody did. It was the end of the Soviet Union. And during the Soviet times, people did not celebrate Christmas, at least openly. And the whole holiday was replaced by the celebration of the New Year.

After the revolution, yeah, that was a deal of the Communists, they just took the traditions of Christmas and passed them onto the New Year, they kind of made this a non-religious holiday. So the Christmas tree became a New Year tree. Christmas gifts became New Year gifts. And Christmas food became New Year food. So people that before the revolution, they used to think that traditional dishes were making a goose or a duck, roast duck or roast goose, as, because meat were… because, why that? Yes, well, for once, the celebration of Christmas is preceded by Christmas Lent, by a fast, a pretty long, fast like a month long when people don’t eat meat. So eating meat was like a way to celebrate after a very long period of not eating it. So that, that was a traditional dish. And another traditional dish also that that also has religious symbolism was what is called kutja (Кутья). And that was some kind of grain like rice or wheat grains cooked with honey. And that is something that is associated with remembering the dead. So this is a traditional dish, for example, when somebody dies and after you give this religious ceremonial saying goodbye to the person at the church, that is the food that you eat. So it was sometimes served during the Christmas, although it is like a birthday. Yes, a birthday of Jesus, still it, it has this association of paying tribute to the dead people and kind of acknowledging that they’re still there. Yeah. So, but that is that food, because of its very religious association, it was not passed into the celebration of the New Year.

So when I was growing up, what people would do for the New Year that at that time replaced Christmas would be some kinds of new Soviet dishes like for example, something which we call salat olivier (салат оливьер), a salad, which is not really a salad but like a warm salad, with chicken, with mayonnaise, with potatoes, etc. Like some very rich salad that people traditionally make for the New Year. That’s another, another thing that people always have for the New Year is champagne.

And so Christmas was totally lost. I didn’t celebrate it. And then I became religious at some point in my life and when Christmas was returned, after the Communist regime was over, and now the new Russia actively promotes religion. Yeah, so people started celebrating it again. But it remained where it was. It’s a church holiday. So what I’m trying to say is that people still make ducks and geese for the New Year, they still make the salad with chicken and potatoes, and they still drink some champagne for the New Year. But celebration of the Christmas is limited to religious families. It is nothing whatever like it is in the States, it’s not a commercial holiday. Nobody’s giving gifts. Nobody’s… all the celebration is around the New Year. So in a way, there is no Christmas, traditional Christmas dishes, now.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I enjoyed learning about the history behind the dishes. It is fascinating that many Christmas traditions were passed on to the New Year and continue to live on. During the Cultural Revolution in China, religious practices, especially Buddhist ones, were also labelled as superstition and purged in favor of atheism.

Collector’s Name: Winston Wang

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Salad: Selodka Pod Shuboy; Soup: Borshch, Shchi, and Gribnoy Sup

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition
  • Language: English with some Russian
  • Country of Origin: Russia
  • Informant: M.R.
  • Date Collected: November 14, 2020

Informant Data:

  • M.R. is a 19-year-old senior studying Computer Science and Economics at Colgate University. He is Jewish and second-generation Russian American. His parents were originally from Nizhny Novgorod (Нижний Новгород), a city four hours east of Moscow, before immigrating to the US around 25 years ago. His family primarily celebrates American and Jewish holidays rather than Russian ones. However, they still cook and eat many traditional dishes from Russian cuisine for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and New Year’s. Although M.R.’s family observes Jewish festivities, they do not attribute much religious significance to most of the food they eat during those occasions. Instead, the food serves as a tool for bringing the family together and creating a sense of community.

Contextual Data:

Historical & Religious Context

  • The majority of Russian households are Orthodox Christian, with Jews accounting for less than 0.2% of the population in Russia. During the latter half of the 20th century, there was a movement of Jews, like M.R.’s parents, who emigrated from Russia to countries like the US due to religious persecution and harassment from state authorities. Many Russian Jewish families in the US celebrate a lot of Jewish holidays as a testament of their faith and religious freedom. However, they have not forgotten their Russian heritage and continue to prepare traditional Russian dishes even for non-Russian holidays.

Cultural Context

  • For many Russian-Jewish American families, New Year’s has replaced the role of Christmas as a gift-giving holiday. Ded Moroz (Дед Мороз) or Santa Claus comes on New Year’s Eve and distributes presents to the children. They also have New Year’s trees, which serve the same function as Christmas trees. The festival food for New Year’s is like that of Thanksgiving, consisting of traditional salads, soups, and poultry. Many non-Jewish Russian families in the US also eat these dishes for Christmas.
  • In the American context, a salad usually refers to a mixture of raw vegetables with small portions of other ingredients. In the Russian context, a salad is a more general concept, often containing a wide variety of ingredients that range from frozen fish to boiled root vegetables.

Social Context

  • Although Russian families in America observe different holidays based on religion and personal preference, it is common for families to celebrate important winter festivals by preparing a large traditional Russian dinner that symbolizes abundance and family unity.

Items:

  • Selodka Pod Shuboy (селёдка под шубой), or dressed herring, colloquially known as “herring under a fur coat” is a popular salad for winter festivals. It typically consists of diced pickled herring covered with layers of root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and beetroots that are boiled and grated, along with chopped onions and dressing like mayonnaise. Beetroots are often placed in the final layer to give the dish its characteristic purple color. The salad is often adorned with grated boiled eggs, and, in some variations, a layer of grated apple.
  • Borshch, Shchi, and Gribnoy Sup (борщ, щи, грибной суп), or Beet, Cabbage, and Mushroom Soup, are common soups served along with the meal. They are all thick soups that are usually slow-cooked for hours. Borshch is commonly made with beef, cabbage, onion, carrots, potatoes, and beet. Other root vegetables like turnip can also be added according to personal taste. Shchi is made with either cabbage or sauerkraut and can either contain meat or be meatless. It is often served with boiled potatoes and sour cream on the side. Gribnoy Sup is prepared using mushrooms that were preserved before the harsh winter season. Many Orthodox Russians eat this hearty dish for sochelnik, the meatless Christmas Eve Holy Supper.

Audio Clip:

 

Transcript:

M.R. (informant): Yeah, yeah. So I would say the majority of Russian households are like, all like Christian and like Orthodox and some other kind of religious group besides Judaism, we saw kind of, we see kind of a large, like movement of Jews outside of like, like Jews from Russia, immigrating to the US because of religious persecution and harassment, and, you know, higher positions, not, not being very kind to Jews, right. So my family is kind of part of that movement, and they immigrated to the US. And here we celebrate a lot of Jewish holidays, right? Because there is kind of the sense of religious freedom. So that’s definitely it’s definitely, it definitely influences what we do at the end of the year, right? Instead of celebrating Christmas, which is very, very big in Russia as well. We celebrate Hanukkah, and we celebrate New Year’s. And mostly, I would say, like Jewish holidays, as opposed to Russian holidays.

W.W. (collector): Great. Yeah. Thank you so much. Yep. So you can go ahead and tell me about your items.

M.R.: Yeah, yeah. So. So for Hanukkah, we don’t have necessarily like, like a specified cuisine. That’s more of a holiday that we like, embrace family and unity, as opposed to like a giant feast. Whereas like Thanksgiving and New Year’s, those are more of like feast the type of holidays. So Thanksgiving, for example. This is celebrated, sort of similarly to how it’s celebrated in the US, like, if we take like the juxtaposition between like a US family and a Russian American or Russian family celebrating Thanksgiving, it’s very similar, right? So we have a big table, all the relatives and friends get together. And there’s a lot of common elements such as the big turkey, there’s usually like cranberry, like stuffing, you know, maybe some mashed potatoes. But this is where it kind of diverges for Russian families. We have a lot more emphasis on like Russian food. So there’s all sorts of things like selodka pod shuboy (селёдка под шубой), which is like beet salad over herring fish, we have lots of soups, like, including like, shchi, gribnoy sup (щи, грибной суп), like mushroom soup. And like borshch (борщ), that’s the classic Russian one. And then lots of salads. Another just like background is that like, salad in in the American context means usually, like lettuce and other things. And that’s, that’s what we like, think of as salads, but in Russian context, a salad is just a group of items. So it’s like, basically, everything’s a salad. Or you can have beet salad, which is just beet sliced. You can have the option of carrot salad. That’s a very common one as well. Yeah, so salads are like, are very huge as well. So those are kind of like the main differences and in terms of cuisine, for like, Russian houses on Thanksgiving. And then should I talk about New Year’s as well?

W.W.: Yeah. Okay.

M.R.: Yeah, New Year’s is also interesting, because, for us, we’re Jewish, so we don’t celebrate Christmas. So Santa Claus or Ded Moroz (Дед Мороз) comes on New Year’s for us. And we have a New Year’s tree similar to the way Americans have, like, have a Christmas tree, right. So we have like, presents under the nearest tree. And Ded Moroz comes to give all the kids podarki (подарки) or presents. And they have to be like, really nice to receive the presents and not naughty and stuff, right. So it’s, it’s like a very similar thing. And there’s a specified kind of cuisine for New Year’s but similar to Thanksgiving. It provides kind of a sense of community and allows people to get together to just have Russian cuisine.

Collector’s Comment:

  • It is interesting to hear that many Russian-Jewish Americans celebrate common Christmas traditions on New Year’s due to religious and cultural reasons. My family, which is Chinese, also places great emphasis on soups for the winter; however, the soups we prepare are much thinner and contain traditional Chinese ingredients such as ginger and winter melon.

Collector’s Name: Winston Wang

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Entrée: Surf Clams

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – Christmas dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: H.J.
  • Date Collected: November 10, 2020

Informant Data:

  • H.J. is a 22-year-old male living in San Diego, California. He has lived in New York, San Francisco, and Boston. He lives with his parents, grandparents, and a sister. His parents were originally from China but lived in Montreal, Canada before giving birth to H.J.

Contextual Data:

Social Context

  • H.J. first had this dish in elementary school. He invented this Christmas dish for his family because of the Surf Clams’ distinct red and white color. He had recently learned about the Christmas symbolism in those colors and wanted to eat something in those colors for Christmas. Over time, he also grew to associate Surf Clams with cold weather because the clams are served chilled, similar to the weather during Christmas in the areas where he lived before. Now, eating Surf Clams is an important tradition within his family.

Cultural Context

  • In America, the traditional colors of Christmas are red, green, and white; the red and white color of the Surf Clams ties the dish to Christmas
  • Since Christmas is celebrated in the cold winter season, Surf Clams are also served chilled to mimic the environment.

Item:

  • Surf Clams are a type of fresh clams bought at a local grocery store. The clams are deshelled and placed in a ring on a plate while still cold. The dish is served with a dipping sauce mixture combining soy sauce and a bit of Japanese wasabi. It is usually eaten with rice. This dish doesn’t originate from a specific culture. Rather, it was put together by H.J. and his family.

Transcript of Interview Clip:

Y.H. (collector): What is a special Christmas dish to you?

H.J. (informant): I eat Surf Clams every year.

Y.H.: When did you first start eating this dish and why?

H.J.: We first started eating these Surf Clams because they were red and white. I remember I was really young, probably in elementary school and we learned that red, white and green were the colors of Christmas, so I really wanted to eat something red and white for Christmas. Looking back, there were definitely other foods that are red and white, such as some fish probably, or even crab and lobster, but I didn’t like those at the time so we decided to get the Surf Clam.

Y.H.: Why have you continued eating it throughout the years?

H.J.: Mm. I think that over time, it still carried with it the tie with Christmas colors, for me at least. And so I have already wanted to eat it every year. My sister and parents don’t really have that connection but we still eat it every year. Also it’s really tasty so there was no reason to stop. Oh and since it’s served chilled, it gives me Christmas vibes even when I just think about it so, in my mind, I already associate it with Christmas since, you know, Christmas is in the winter.

Y.H.: That makes sense. Do you think there is a cultural background needed to understand your appreciation?

H.J.: Ya I think with two things. The first one I think is like the person needs to associate Christmas with winter and the cold. I know like around the world, some places celebrate Christmas in the summer because their seasons are flipped, so they may not think of Christmas as a cold time of the year. The other thing is that they need to associate the colors red, green and white with Christmas. I don’t know if there are different cultures that associate different colors with Christmas but ya.

Y.H.: Thank you.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Among the dishes I collected, this was definitely the most interesting because it had nothing to do with family history. The origin of the dish isn’t tied to the Christian religion, nor H.J.’s Chinese ethnicity. Instead, it is a ritual and tradition invented by him for his family based on his personal interpretation of Christmas.

Collector’s Name:

Yilin Huo

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Entrée: Rotisserie Chicken

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – Christmas dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: J.H.
  • Date Collected: November 10, 2020

Informant Data:

  • J.H. is a current junior in high school residing in Southern California. He was born in Singapore and moved here in 2008, when he was 5 years old. His parents are from China. His favorite restaurant is KFC. J.H. is also non-religious. J.H. first ate Rotisserie Chicken the first Christmas after he moved to the US in 2008. He ate it with his parents, brother, and cousins. Originally, they just bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco, but then they started making their own rotisserie chicken at home.

Contextual Data:

Social Context

  • For J.H., Rotisserie Chicken symbolizes family, as Christmas is one of the few times where the whole family can sit down at the dinner table together and eat without being in a rush. Additionally, the chicken does not carry any religious symbolism, as J.H. and his family are non-religious. Generally, people who enjoy cooking at home tend to make their own rotisserie chicken at home, but people who like to eat out will buy a prepared one from stores like Costco.

Cultural Context

  • There isn’t a lot of cultural context required to understand this dish. However, the one thing to note is that people who are non-religious and also celebrate Christmas may understand this dish better because Rotisserie Chicken wasn’t chosen for any specific religious reason. Even though the rotisserie chicken cooking method historically comes from Christian countries like France, Germany and Mexico, the dish itself is secular and is now thought of as an American staple.

Item:

Rotisserie Chicken can be bought already cooked from stores like Costco. Alternatively, it can also be cooked at home. The first step is to buy a whole raw chicken and soak it in a brine. It is then seasoned and cooked in a rotisserie oven until the skin is crispy. In the rotisserie oven, the chicken is positioned using three skewers, and an in-built mechanism rotates the chicken as it roasts. Many homes do not have the specialized rotisserie oven, so people often opt for store-bought Rotisserie Chicken or cook Roast Chicken instead.

Transcript of Interview Clip:

Y.H. (collector): Thank you. So for this project, I’m collecting information on dishes that people eat during Christmas that is symbolic to them in some way. Do you have a dish like that?

J.H. (informant): Ya so one thing that we always eat during Christmas is Rotisserie Chicken. We used to get the chicken from Costco, cause they’re super cheap there. But I think two Black Fridays ago, there was a deal on a rotisserie oven so my family bought the rotisserie oven and we have been making the chicken at home ever since.

Y.H.: Can you describe the chicken a bit more?

J.H.: Ya so we get like a raw whole chicken from Costco, put it in a brine, season it and then stick it in the rotisserie oven. Usually we also serve other food like mashed potatoes or seafood or something like that.

Y.H.: And when did you first eat this chicken?

J.H.: Ya so I think I first had it the first Christmas we celebrated in the US in 2006. It was with my parents and my brother. We also have cousins in San Diego, so they came over.

Y.H.: Great and do you think there’s any symbolism to eating rotisserie chicken?

J.H.: I mean, my family is non-religious so there’s no religious symbolism to eating chicken. I think the reason we kept on eating it was because that was our first Christmas in the US, and I remember when the second Christmas rolled around, my brother also really wanted to eat rotisserie chicken, and we’ve been eating it ever since. But to me personally, I think it represents family? Like how it’s the one meal where everyone’s at the table because my dad works late a lot of the time and my brother is away at college.

Y.H.: Do you think someone needs a certain cultural background to understand rotisserie chicken the way you do?

J.H.: Like I said before, we are non-religious so probably someone also non-religious would understand? I know a lot of people who aren’t religious who still celebrate Christmas and they don’t always eat foods that carry religious symbolism just like how our roast chicken isn’t religious. But other than that, not really anything else.

Y.H.: Great, thanks.

Collector’s Comments:

  • My family is also non-religious, so we don’t attach any religious symbolism, whether Chinese or American, to the foods we eat during Christmas. I wonder if there is a cultural difference between those that usually eat out as opposed to those that eat at home. Although the informant didn’t mention this, it is worth investigating.

Collector’s Name:

Yilin Huo

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Entrée: Dry Noodles

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – Christmas dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: D.G.
  • Date Collected: November 11, 2020

Informant Data:

  • D.G is a ’22 at Dartmouth. He currently resides in San, Jose California. He was born in San Jose and has lived there his entire life prior to college; however, his parents are from China.

Contextual Data:

Social Context

  • D.G. first ate this dish at Christmas in his middle school years. It was very important to him because he was only able to eat the dish once a year during Christmas. The recipe to the dish is currently only held by his grandpa, and he would only get to see his grandpa on Christmas, so it was the only opportunity to eat it. D.G. ties the dish to seeing family around festive occasions.

Cultural Context

  • In Chinese culture, long noodles symbolic long life due to the visual appearance. Additionally, because of taste preferences and familiarity with their own culture, Chinese immigrants adopted many traditional Chinese dishes for American holidays such as Christmas and choose to celebrate Christmas culturally instead of religiously. The immigration experience can be isolating, which is why many Chinese immigrants emphasize family and unity.

Item:

  • As you would expect, Dry Noodles is a dish made from long strands of dried noodles. The noodles are first boiled, then tossed in traditional seasoning and eaten with seafood.

Transcript of Interview Clip:

Y.H. (collector): What is a special Christmas dish that you eat?

D.G. (informant): So every Christmas, we eat something called Dry Noodles, which is similar to fried noodles, but it’s not fried. We eat it with different Chinese seasonings and a lot of seafood.

Y.H.: So when was the first time you came across this dish and what was the situation?

D.G.: So, when I first came across this dish, I guess, at Christmas when I was really young at a family gathering. I think this was around when I was in middle school.

Y.H.: Ok, and then, what meaning does the dish carry to you and what does it remind you of, if anything?

D.G.: Uh. Well. I guess this Dry Noodle dish is meaningful to me because it’s always my grandpa who cooks this dish, and we only get to see him during Christmas, so I guess I have come to associate the dish with Christmas because that would be the only time I can eat it. He’s the only one who knows the recipe and knows how to make it well. Also, when I eat it, it’s always a festive celebration so we reserve it for important events like that.

Y.H.: Besides that, is there any other symbolism?

D.G.: Symbolism? Well, I guess that one thing is that it is supposed to represent a long life because the noodles are very long. Originally I think we meant it for birthday celebrations within the family, but I only remember eating it for Christmas so I’m assuming that my family adapted it. There’s nothing beyond that.

Y.H.: What cultural context and what background information does someone need to know to appreciate the dish?

D.G.: Well the dish is a Chinese dish so they would probably need to know Chinese culture or Chinese customs. I really can’t think of anything else.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I think that it’s really interesting because the dish does not have anything to do with the history of Christmas itself. Rather, it is a symbol of familial folklore, in this case, a family recipe that is passed down from generation to generation. Christmas not only serves as a holiday, but also an opportunity where the elders in the family can pass down the folklore recipe to the younger generation. It’s really interesting when compared to Hot Pot and Roast Chicken, which also emphasize family.
  • Additionally, I think that to really understand the importance of this dish, one must understand family recipes that are passed down. Not every family does that and those that don’t may not fully comprehend the importance of family recipes.

Collector’s Name:

Yilin Huo

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Entrée: Filipino Spaghetti

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, superstition
  • Language: English Country of Origin: Philippines
  • Informant: E.R.
  • Date Collected: November 12, 2020

Informant Data: 

  • E.R. is a Filipino American that immigrated to the United States when she was 10 years old in 2012. She is from Nueva Ecija in the Philippines and lived in Manila with her mom before she moved. This dish is something she loved eating during Christmas time, as her mom made it for her, along with her siblings. Nowadays, she tries to make it during Christmas with her cousins in the United States.  

Contextual Data:    

  • Cultural Context: Filipino spaghetti is a special occasion treat because of its red color and stringy shape. Red represents good luck, and the noodles represent longevity. It is eaten during Christmas as the year comes to an end, and Christmas in the Philippines is celebrated similarly like New Year’s. Since rice is the most common source of carbohydrates, noodles like spaghetti are not eaten everyday. This is from American influence during colonialism, as spaghetti was liked by American army men. 
  • Social Context:  Filipino spaghetti is part of the Nochebuena feast. Specifically, it is made for the kids due to its sweetness. It adds on to the celebratory feel of the dinner as spaghetti represents festivities and brings joy and happiness to the dinner.

Item: 

  • Filipino Spaghetti is a Christmas dish that is not like the American and Italian pastas. It is made with either ground pork and beef, with tomato sauce, but also has sugar, Filipino red hotdogs, and sometimes, banana ketchup. It is topped with grated cheese, and made for special occasions like birthdays and Christmas.

Transcript from Interview Clip:

X.D. (collector): Hi, so please give a little introduction of yourself and your life. Do include life in the Philippines if you can.

E.R. (informant): Hey, so my name is ER, I am 18 years old, and I currently live in Eagle Rock, California. I did live in the Philippines in Manila, but my family was from Nueva Ecija.  I moved to the United States around 2012, when I was about 10 years old.

X.D.: What Christmas dish will you be talking about? Please do give some cultural context.

E.R.: So a special dish during Christmas I loved eating growing up was Filipino Spaghetti.

X.D.: Do explain how Filipino Spaghetti is different from the typical American Spaghetti.

E.R.: So Filipino Spaghetti is a sweet version of spaghetti. It has sugar, banana ketchup, Filipino hotdogs. People do eat it outside of Christmas, but only for birthdays and holidays because no one in the Philippines eats pasta on a regular basis. Filipino Spaghetti became a dish when the Americans came and introduced it to the Filipino people. Usually, Filipinos eat rice, so noodles are special. When the spaghetti is part of the meal, I don’t know, but it makes the meal more fiesta-like and festive. It feels happier around the table. And because it’s sweet, kids like to eat it. 

X.D.: A previous interview did state about red being good luck with Queso De Bola. Do you think spaghetti has some sort of connection with fortune and good luck too? Or is it just festive?

E.R.: No Yes! It kind of does play into that red is for good luck, so eat spaghetti for good luck. But another superstition with Filipinos is that noodles represent a long life. That is why it is eaten during birthdays with pancit (another Filipino noodle dish). Spaghetti is a Christmas meal since you do want to share good feelings with everyone and you hope for the best for everyone since it is the end of the year and you are looking towards a new year.

X.D.: Is there more on why Filipino Spaghetti is eaten during Christmas?

E.R.: I think that’s it.

X.D.: Thank you!

Informant’s Comments

  • Filipino Spaghetti is not just a Christmas dish, but also a dish for birthdays. This is due ot the noodles and its symoblism for a long life.

Collector: Xenia Dela Cueva

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Entrée: Roast Chicken

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – Christmas dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: A.Z.
  • Date Collected: November 13, 2020

Informant Data:

  • A.Z. is a Dartmouth ’22. She currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts and identifies as an Asian-American. Her parents are from China, but she was born and raised in the United States her whole life.

Contextual Data:

Social Context

  • A.Z. first had the dish 10 years ago with her family for Christmas. Either she or her parents cooks the chicken. While the roast chicken is the star of the Christmas meal, she also makes side dishes that go along the chicken.
  • The family tradition of eating roast chicken during Christmas started because A.Z. and her family were looking for a type of poultry to eat. According to their interpretation, the idea of eating poultry is closely tied to holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
  • As a result, for A.Z., it symbolizes family and getting together as well as taking the time to sit down with each other to have a good time during Christmas.

Cultural Context

  • Poultry is viewed as a significant part of the American Christmas meal. A.Z. and her family sought to adopt this tradition. The roast chicken and the accompanying side dishes represent a fusion between American and Chinese cuisines.

Item:

Roast Chicken is a whole chicken bought raw from the grocery store and then cooked at home. The chicken is seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary and other herbs. The chicken is then placed on a baking tray and inserted into the oven to cook and roast.

Audio Clip:

 

Transcript:

(0.08) Y.H. (collector): All right, so what is a special Christmas dish?

A.Z. (informant): So we don’t usually eat like a set Christmas dish every year. But a lot of the time when we look at reverse chicken, and we usually eat a mixture of Chinese and American food. So it’s like a, like a full chicken, but we’ll cook it ourselves. So I don’t really, my mother, usually will help out. But like, since the roast chicken is harder to do, show, like, do the main stuff with that will help out with like the side dishes.

Y.H.: When did you first eat it? What does the roast chicken symbolize for you?

A.Z.: I can’t remember, but maybe like 10 years ago. We also do the same thing for Thanksgiving. So, um, I guess it symbolizes family for me. I think I think it’s like, less so than what the chicken itself symbolizes. But like, the chicken is a proxy for like, what Christmas symbolizes for me. I think, like I said before, I think it symbolizes family and getting together. And just like taking the time to, like, sit down with each other. And just have a good time relaxing.

Y.H.: In your opinion, what sort of cultural background understanding is required to enjoy the dish?

A.Z.: Could you rephrase the question? So I guess like, Okay, I’m not sure if I’m understanding the question, right. But I don’t think you need to have like any certain kind of background to understand why we eat chicken like it’s not I feel like it’s not, it’s definitely not a Chinese dish. And like we more so adapted it to like American standards. Because like, we do feel that like Christmas is an American holiday. So we tend to emphasize the American dishes a little more than we do the Chinese dishes. So like, for example, like chicken will be the star of the dinner rather than, like some Chinese fish dish that we make.

I think it’s like when we think of like stereotypical Christmas, we think of like this giant bird. Or like, or, like we think I feel like I feel like ham is like a very, um, Christmas-esque dish. But I feel like none of us know that our family doesn’t really like ham. And I think like, just like the look of a chicken. It’s very gray. And so that’s why we eat it. (4.00)

Collector Comments:

  • I actually really empathize with the fact that the roast chicken is not purely a Chinese dish, like A.Z. said – it is a blend of Chinese and American cooking styles, especially when combined with the side dishes. It creates a really interesting family culture that is only present in the presence of people who are part of the Chinese diaspora. Similar to the discussions of the origins of folklore potentially stemming from a diaspora, this Roast Chicken tradition is a result of the Chinese culture that A.Z.’s family brought with them combined with American culture.

Collector’s Name: Yilin Huo

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Entrée: Lechon

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family traditions
  • Language: Tagalog and English
  • Country of Origin: Philippines
  • Informant: B.B.
  • Date Collected: November 7, 2020

Informant Data:      

  • B.B. was born in 2000 in the Philippines, where she grew up in the Northern region called Ilocos-Sur. She studied from pre- school to high school in Ilocos-Sur, in a private Catholic school named St. Paul, and she was raised by her grandmother and distant relatives as her parents worked in the United States. She later moved to Los Angeles in 2016, where she is currently studying at a local college. 

Contextual Data:    

  • Cultural Context:  The Philippines is historically a poor country, and meat is rare to eat, let alone a whole pig. So during Christmas, it is shared with others, as the Filipino culture is family and community oriented, and Christmas is a time to bring people together. The reason to share abundance with the community is because Christmas is an important holiday for Filipinos to celebrate, especially since most of the country is Catholic.
  • Social Context:   Lechon is served during Nochebuena, or Christmas Eve Dinner. It is the main entree of the dinner, and the dinner consists of family members and neighbors as well as friends that are not regularly seen. Sharing this dish reflects the intimacy between the community, and therefore the spirit of Christmas, as the holiday is meant to be celebrated with loved ones.

Item:

  • The item is a dish called Lechon, which is a whole pig. It is gutted and then stuffed with aromatics native to the Philippines and the region like lemongrass. It is then roasted on a bed of charcoal, constantly rotated and glazed. This process is about 6-8 hours long, which leaves the skin to be crispy and golden. It is served on top of banana leaves and is placed as the center dish on the table for Christmas dinners. 

Transcript of Interview Clip:

X.D. (collector): Can you please introduce yourself and where you are from in the Philippines and a little backstory of your life.

B.B. (informant): Uh, my name is BB, I’m from Santa Ilocos-Sur. I’m 20 years old, and I moved here in the United States around 4 years ago. I went to school at St. Paul (Catholic School in Vigan, Ilocos-Sur), while mom and dad were here. I lived with Grandma and my two other cousins before moving here. 

X.D.: Ok thank you. So what Filipino Christmas dish will you be talking about?

B.B. : So I will be talking about Lechon, which is a roasted whole pig. Usually in the Philippines, a group of men will degut the pig in the morning of Christmas Eve, and they’ll stuff it with aromatics like lemongrass and bay leaves, whatever Filipinos had. And they’ll roast it on a big bed of charcoal with other pigs until and gets really crispy and delicious.

X.D.: Do you know how long it takes?

B.B. : Uhh, a long long time. Like I’d say more than 6 hours, at least. That’s why it’s eaten for dinner, because it’s not yet ready by lunchtime. 

X.D.: Can you explain why Filipinos eat lechon during Christmas and can you explain its cultural context a bit?

B.B. : Lechon is really a special occasion dish. No one is going to eat lechon on a weekly basis, everyone is too poor for that. It is eaten with the whole community: friends, family, neighbors because Christmas is the excuse to get together and celebrate. As Filipinos, Christmas is like our number one holiday. Because of Catholicism, we really become festive for Christmas time and we celebrate it with who we love and the people in our lives. So lechon is a way to share that love and bond, because it’s a special to share something so rare to eat with people.

Informant’s Comments:

  • The sheer abundance of the pig means there are plenty of leftovers after Christmas. So, those leftovers are split with the people and their own families and made into a new dish called Lechon Paksiw, which is a pork stew with vinegar. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • Lechon is not really eaten by my family in the United States because in the Philippines, Nochebuena dinners have much more people (usually 20+). When I do go to the Philippines, Lechon is served for Christmas. Instead, the substitute that many Filipino Americans use as their main entrée for Christmas is ham. 

Collector: Xenia Dela Cueva

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Entrée: Hot Pot

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General Information:

  • Genre: Material Lore – Christmas dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: E.S.
  • Date Collected: November 8, 2020

Informant Data:

  • E.S. is a ’22 at Dartmouth College, raised in San Jose, California. She currently studies Economics, French and Psychology. Her parents are from China, but she has been in the US her whole life.

Contextual Data:

Social Context

  • She first participated in this Hot-Pot-eating tradition at Christmas during 2004. Her sister, father, and mother were also at the event. Every time they eat Hot Pot, they would eat thinly sliced lamb, fried tofu curd, spinach cabbage, fish balls, stuffed fish balls, and a personal dipping sauce. At the end of the meal, they would wrap it up with glass noodles.
  • To her, Hot Pot always gave her a cozy, sheltered and safe feeling because the Hot Pot would always steam up the windows. E.S. said that she could not imagine feeling the same with other foods during Christmas.
  • E.S.’s parents don’t place much significance on Christmas, so for them, it is not a serious holiday. However, for the family as a whole, it is definitely a nice opportunity to spend time together. Even though they don’t follow the gift-giving tradition, they make sure that they spend quality time as a family. Because Hot Pot requires the eaters to cook the food themselves, the long cooking time provides E.S. and her family with more time together.
  • As a second-generation Chinese American, it was interesting for her to see the food that her parents ate in China growing up. She appreciated participating in their culture and also views this tradition as a tribute to her parents and ancestors.

Cultural Context

  • Because Hot Pot is a Chinese dish, it is important to understand the background behind the dish. Hot Pot is a simple, no-frills dish that is simply a variety of ingredients put into a soup. Historically, many people could only afford simple ingredients for Hot Pot.
  • Not all people who celebrate Christmas are religious, or believe in Jesus. Hot Pot might surprise people because it has no religious significance. Nevertheless, it is a very important family custom for E.S.

Item

  • Hot pot consists of a broth cooked in a large pot at the center of the dinner table. The pot is shared by all members, and people can just reach into it as they please. Traditionally, different meats (thinly sliced beef and lamb, fish balls, seafood, etc.), vegetables (bok choy, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms), and noodles (ramen, udon, pasta) are cooked in the broth.

Transcript for Interview Clip

Y.H. (collector): Alright so let’s get started. My first question is how you would describe yourself, maybe in one to two sentences.

E.S. (informant): Ok so I’m a ’22. I live in San Jose, as you know. I’m studying Economics, French and Psychology at Dartmouth. Both my parents are from China but I was born in the US.

Y.H.: Great. So this project is about collecting traditional foods eaten during Christmas. Does your family have one?

E.S.: Yes we do.

Y.H.: Can you tell me a bit more? what is the food you eat and when was your first time eating eat.

E.S.: So the food we eat is Hot Pot, which is like a broth where we throw random things in, cook it, and then everyone eats from the same pot. We usually eat it with thinly sliced lamb, fried tofu curd, spinach cabbage, fish balls, stuffed fish balls and a personal dipping sauce. And when was the first time I had it? Hmm. I got to think about this one. I think it was in 2004? I’m not really sure because I have been eating it for a long time.

Y.H.: Did eating Hot Pot make you feel a certain way? Or what was significant about it to you?

E.S.: I also feel cozy, sheltered and safe feeling because the Hot Pot would always steam up the windows. I could not imagine feeling the same with other foods during Christmas. My parents don’t really celebrate Christmas in the traditional way so for them, it is not a serious holiday. However, to the family as a whole, it is definitely a time to spend together. Even though we don’t have a traditional gift-giving, we make sure that they spend quality time together. Because Hot Pot requires the eaters’ to cook it themselves, it gave us a lot of time. However, for me personally, it was interesting to eat the food that my parents ate when they were in China. I really appreciate participating in this culture and also see this tradition as a tribute to my parents and ancestors.

Y.H.: Great. And overall, do you think that there is any cultural or background knowledge that someone would have to have to appreciate Hot Pot the same way you do?

E.S.: I mean, Hot Pot is a Chinese dish so you probably would need to know Chinese culture. It represents the only types of food that most people could afford in Chinese history. Also, I think that we eat Hot Pot instead of other foods because we still celebrate “Christmas” without eating “Christmas” dishes, so probably someone who isn’t Christian yet still celebrates Christmas would understand.

Collector’s comments:

  • Hot Pot is also a big tradition in my family. However, for us, we usually eat Hot Pot during New Years and not Christmas. Nevertheless, I understand the significance of coming together around the dinner table and catching up on each other’s lives. We also take the opportunity to tell each other short sayings such as wishing each other good fortune or good education.

Collector’s Name:

Yilin Huo

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