Category Archives: Customary Lore

Entrée: Rooster

Leave a reply

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, belief, superstition; Verbal Lore – folktale
  • Language: English with some Chinese (Mandarin)
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: G.P.
  • Date Collected: November 23, 2020

Informant Data:

  • G.P. is a 22-year-old senior studying computer science at Middlebury College and Dartmouth College’s dual degree program. He grew up in Jiangsu province, China, and went to college in the US. He normally celebrates the Chinese New Year with his family in Jiangsu province, which is along the east coast of China.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Roosters are eaten during the Chinese New Year mainly because of its auspicious name. Rooster in Chinese is pronounced as “jī” (鸡), and in ancient China, the word “jī” (鸡) is the same as “jí” (吉), which means good. Many auspicious proverbs are related to “jí” (吉). For example,  “jílì” (吉利), which means good fortune, and “jí xiáng rú yì” (吉祥如意), which is used to wish people good luck. Additionally, roosters are traditionally considered an auspicious animal because of the many folktales associated with it.
  • Social Context: During the Chinese New Year, family members gather together to have dinner or lunch. The rooster is served as a main dish. It is cooked in many different ways, for example, chicken soup, boiled chicken, and calabash chicken, etc.

Item:

  • Roosters are eaten commonly during festivals. They are cooked in very different ways across different areas of China. In the southern part of China, people like to cook the whole chicken altogether as chicken soup. Chopped boiled chicken with salt and soy sauce is also common. In the northern part, roosters are often fried. For example, in the northwest part of China, calabash chicken is common. Roosters are eaten during the Chinese New Year mainly because of its auspicious name. The name of the rooster is a homophone for good fortune.

Image File:

rooster

Calabash chicken (G.P. ordered this calabash chicken last year on the Chinese New Year’s Eve)

Transcript of Interview Clip:

S.T. (collector): What is one of the most interesting or important dishes that is eaten during the Chinese New Year in your family?

G.P. (informant): We often make chicken soup during the Chinese New Year Eve. Although we also eat hens at other times, we deliberately choose the strongest rooster to make the soup during the Chinese New Year. The rooster is a symbol of prosperity and health. We often cook the whole rooster altogether, which symbolizes that good fortune is held together. 

S.T.: Is there any reason that rooster has such an auspicious meaning?

G.P.: The story that I heard is that rooster crows actually not in the morning but at the darkest time of the night. The morning comes following the crow of the rooster. At the darkest time of the day, monsters often come out to search for people to eat. The loud crow of the rooster is a way to drive away monsters and thus protect the villagers. Thus, the rooster is often considered an auspicious animal. 

S.T.: The name of the rooster in Chinese is probably also related to some auspicious words, right?

G.P.: Yes, I think the word rooster in Chinese is “jī” (鸡) which resembles “jí” (吉), which means good fortune. 

S.T.: Any custom when eating the rooster?

G.P.: The elders often eat the head and the rooster crest. The rooster crest symbolizes the “top.” Eating the rooster crest expresses the hope of becoming the best at whatever you are doing. The elders eat the head because they are the “head” of the family. The children often eat the legs of the rooster, since it represents that the children can “run fast” (become the best students) in their schoolwork. 

Informant’s Comments:

  • The rooster is an auspicious animal in traditional Chinese culture. In ancient China, people wake up and go to work when hearing the crow of roosters. Thus, the rooster is often associated with diligence.

Collector’s Comments:

  • My family also eats roosters during the Chinese New Year. We also have the tradition of cooking the whole chicken altogether. My family believes that the whole chicken represents the union of the family. This is an example of homeopathic magic.

Collector’s Name: Stela (Yunjin) Tong

Back to Main Page

Dessert: Glutinous Rice Ball

Leave a reply

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, belief, superstition
  • Language: English with some Chinese (Mandarin)
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: S.G.
  • Date Collected: November 23, 2020

Informant Data:

  • S.G. is a 22-year-old senior studying engineering and mathematics at Vassar College and Dartmouth College’s dual degree program. He grew up in Beijing, China, and went to college in the US. His family is a traditional Beijing family, which practices many northern-China traditions.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Glutinous rice balls are eaten during the Chinese New Year mainly because of its auspicious name and shape. For many Chinese families in mainland China as well as overseas, glutinous rice balls are typically eaten together with family. The round shape of the balls and the bowls in which they are served symbolizes family cohesion. The name of Glutinous rice balls, “tāngyuán” (汤圆), is also a homophone for union, “tuányuán” (团圆).
  • Social Context: During the Chinese New Year, family members gather together and glutinous rice balls often serve as a dessert at the end which is typically eaten together with the whole family.

Item:

  • Glutinous rice ball is a Chinese dessert that is a ball of glutinous rice flour and water that has been either boiled and served in a hot broth or syrup or else deep-fried.  Glutinous rice balls are traditionally eaten during Yuanxiao in the Lantern Festival and also serve as a dessert during the China New Year. It is pronounced “tāngyuán,” which a homophone for union “tuányuán.” Thus, the glutinous rice ball is a symbol of family reunions.  It is eaten in both northern and southern China, but in different areas, people may prefer glutinous rice balls with different fillings.

Image File:

riceball

Unfilled rice balls, cooked with osmanthus and sweet fermented glutinous rice (S.G. took this photo last year during the Chines New Year when he and his parents were eating dinner at a restaurant.)

riceballs

Sweet rice balls with sesame filling (S.G.’s family made this two years ago on the Chinese New Year’s day.)

Transcript of Interview Clip: 

S.T. (collector): What is one of the most interesting or important dishes that is eaten during the Chinese New Year in your family?

S.G. (informant): My family likes to eat the glutinous rice ball, which is also called “yuanxiao.”  

S.T.: I like it as well. What flavor of the rice balls does your family normally eat? Sweet or salty? What fillings?

S.T.: We like to eat sweet rice balls with fillings such as sesame and sweet bean paste. When I go to the southern part of China, I often eat small rice balls with no filling. These rice balls are cooked with soup of osmanthus and sweet fermented glutinous rice.

S.T.: Why do you and your family eat glutinous rice balls? Any meaning or hope associated with it? 

S.G.: The glutinous rice ball is called “tangyuan” and “yuanxiao.” The name of it resembles the pronunciation of “tuantuanyuanyuan,” which means the union of the family. Eating glutinous rice balls expresses the hope that the family members are always united and bonded together.

S.T.: How do you normally cook glutinous rice balls? 

S.G.: We normally just throw the rice balls into boiling water and cook them for 15 minutes. 

Informant’s Comments:

  • Glutinous rice balls are often eaten during family reunions. Eating glutinous rice balls conveys a very traditional Chinese idea that family is an important part of one’s life. Instead of individualism emphasized in western culture, the Chinese people often prioritize the interests of the whole family.

Collector’s Comments:

  • The most renowned glutinous rice balls come from Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, which is near my hometown. My family also likes to eat glutinous rice balls. Unlike people in the northern part, who often like the filled glutinous rice balls better, we eat the unfilled rice balls more often. Glutinous rice balls are a very common dessert nowadays. People eat it during important festivals, but it really can be eaten whenever they want. The fact that the round shape of the balls and the bowls in which they are served can help with family cohesion is an example of homeopathic magic.

Collector’s Name: Stela (Yunjin) Tong

Back to Main Page

Entrée: Dumpling

Leave a reply

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, belief, superstition
  • Language: English with some Chinese (Mandarin)
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: H.S.
  • Date Collected: November 23, 2020

Informant Data:

  • H.S. is 48 years old. She studied at Hangzhou Law school and worked in the field of law for years. At age of 30, She became a businesswoman. She grew up in the northern part of China and currently lives in the southern part (Zhejiang province, China). Because of her experience living in the northern part, she likes dumplings, which are more popular in the North. Her family likes dumplings as well: make and eat dumplings every year during the Chinese New Year.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Dumplings are eaten during the Chinese New Year almost in all areas of China. This dish is eaten mainly because of its auspicious name and shape. Dumplings in Chinese are “jiǎozi” (餃子) and are also called “交子,” meaning the transition from the old to the new. Thus, eating dumplings is a way to celebrate this transition. Also, the shape of dumplings resembles the shape of Chinese gold ingots. Thus, making and eating dumplings also expresses the hope of gaining wealth.
  • Social Context: On the Chinese New Year’s Day or the Chinese New Year’s Eve, family members gather together to make and eat dumplings together for the hope of gaining a good fortune, as well as to celebrate the transition from the old year to the new year. 

Item:

  • The dumpling generally consists of minced meat and finely chopped vegetables wrapped into a piece of dough skin. In China dumplings usually refers to boiled dumplings. Some people will place a coin or candy inside the dumpling in the hope of obtaining a fortune or having a sweet life, on the Chinese New Year’s Eve and special family reunions. 

Image Files:

dumpling

Dumplings are being cooked (Photo was taken when H.S. was cooking dumplings this year during the Chinese New Year.)

dumpling

Dumplings with pork inside (Photo was taken by H.S. when the dumplings were ready for eating.)

Transcript of Interview Clip:

S.T. (collector): What is one of the most interesting or important dishes that is eaten during the Chinese New Year in your family?

H.S. (informant): My mother is from the northern part of China, so as I grew up, we love cooked wheaten food. We eat dumplings a lot, and during the Chinese New year, the dumpling is a must.  

S.T.: What kind of fillings do you put inside of dumplings and what kind of flour do you use?

H.S.: We normally use wheat flour and sometimes cornflour. There are lots of different fillings, like pork with different vegetables, beef, shrimp, sheep, eggs with vegetables, or even something weird like sea urchin…

S.T.: Why do you and your family eat dumplings? Any meaning or hope associated with it? 

H.S.: Dumplings are often eaten during family reunions. Eating dumplings express the hope that the family members are always united. The shape of dumplings resembles the shape of Chinese gold ingots. Thus, making and eating dumplings expresses the hope of gaining wealth.

S.T.: Any custom when eating dumplings? Any tradition that you do only during the Chinese New Year?

H.S.: We sometimes place a coin or candy inside of one or two of the dumplings. Whoever gets the dumpling with the coin is the luckiest one. He/she is believed to have good fortune and sweet life in the new year.

S.T.: Do you know any folklore that is related to dumplings, since dumplings are such a representative Chinese New Year dish?

H.S.:  I heard that if you don’t eat dumplings, your name will be removed with the world of the dead and the living. After you die, you will become a ghost that has nowhere to go.

Informant’s Comments:

  • Making dumplings is also a social activity, during which all the family members gather together and make the dumplings. Even someone may not know how to make dumplings, but the fact that everyone is making the effort to do it strengthens the tie between family members.

Collector’s Comments:

  • My family also likes to eat dumplings a lot. Every time I went back home after leaving for a while, my mother will make dumplings with me together. For me, dumplings are a symbol of family reunions. It is also interesting to hear that dumplings are also related to the afterlife. The dumplings symbolize the transition from the old to new and from life to dearth, which is like the liminality stage. The fact that we eat dumplings for the hope of gaining wealth because of the resemblance in shape is an example of homeopathic magic.

Collector’s Name: Stela (Yunjin) Tong

Back to Main Page

Beverage: Ponche

Leave a reply

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – traditional dish; Customary Lore – family tradition, celebration
  • Language: Spanish
  • Country of Origin: Mexico
  • Informant: O.O.
  • Date Collected: November 7, 2020

Informant Data:

  • O.O. is a ~40 year old man living in New Jersey. He was born in Puebla, Mexico and has spent a little over 20 years in the United States, where he lives with his wife and two children. In the US, his family usually celebrates Christmas by attending or, in some cases, hosting family gatherings, preparing food, and partaking in some religious traditions.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Also known as “Ponche Navideño,” the beverage is very important in Christmas traditions. It is high in vitamins due to the variety of fruits included. Due to its involvement in celebratory events, especially Christmas, one of its ingredients, tejocote became the most seized fruit from smuggling attempts.
  • Social Context: It is usually drunk as soon as it is finished boiling but can also be reheated or drunk cold. It is the source of many, MANY, burns on the tongue and the roof of the mouth. It is usually drunk by chewing on the sweet sugar cane, redipping it in the juice, chewing again, and then setting aside the piece of cane to grabbing another, repeating the process all over again.

Item:

  • The process begins by half filling and heating a pot with water. You then wash sugarcane and chop it into 10-14cm cylindrical pieces. Then, cut those cylinders into quarter cylinders. Afterwards, you add the sugar cane, unrefined whole cane sugar, and cinnamon after the water begins to boil. You then wash the tejocote and separately put it to boil until it is soft. Once it’s ready, you peel away the skin and add it to the main pot. Once the sugarcane softens, you add apple slices, guava, and prunes. As soon as those soften, the beverage is served in 1-2 styrofoam cups with a bit of everything in it. Optionally, you can also add a whiff of liquor.

Translation:

C.Y. (collector): Thanks so much for the recipe, I really wanted it for myself as well. Is there any sort of traditional background to the punch?

O.O. (informant): With my family there was. One of our traditions involves raising a little baby Jesus figure, singing, and rocking it during the songs. Later, we go outside and light tiny spark fireworks and raise them up to celebrate the birth of Jesus. To protect from the cold, we try to time the punch so that it is ready as soon as we wrap things up so that the vitamins and heat of the drink prevent us from catching a cold or anything.

C.Y.: Oh wow, so from what I’ve heard so far, a lot of meals revolve around keeping healthy.

O.O.: Yea it’s like with that stereotype about Mexicans always eating beans. It’s not far from the truth, but beans are a large part of what keep us strong and healthy even while working very labor intensive jobs here in the US.

Collector’s Comments:

  • It is one of my most favorite drinks. Sadly, since many stores don’t sell sugarcane until December for Christmas, it is very hard to make outside of the Christmas month. This makes it a true Christmas exclusive for my family, unlike other meals which we on occasion make throughout the year.

Collector’s Name: Carlos Yepes

Back to Main Page

Entrée: Filipino Spaghetti

Leave a reply

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

Back to Main Page

Entrée: Jamón

Leave a reply

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, religious belief
  • Language: English and Tagalog
  • Country of Origin: Philippines
  • Informant: M.D.
  • Date Collected: November 19, 2020

 Informant Data:      

  • M.D. was born in the Philippines in 1970, where she grew up in the Northern region, Ilocos Sur. Despite being raised in a rural region, she was sent to Catholic private school in the nearby city, Vigan, by her parents. M.D. then moved to Manila as an adult to study in one of the biggest universities of the country and later settled there. Afterwards, she immigrated to the United States with her husband in 2009 with their two kids and has since lived in the city with her family. 

Contextual Data:    

  • Cultural Context: Ham is a replacement as the main entrée to the typical lechon in the Philippines during Christmas time for many Filipino American households. Unless the town or city has a significant Filipino population, it is hard to find lechon in the United States, which is why this pork substitute suffices. This dish is also an American tradition during Christmas, so it is available in markets. This dish is round in nature, which also signifies good fortune, hence being eaten with Queso de Bola. Pork is eaten during Christmas to signify Catholicism, as other local religions do not eat pork. The practice of making pork as the main dish for Christmas is due to Spanish colonization, during which Spanish practices heavily influenced Filipino culture.
  • Social Context:  Ham is eaten as part of the food in Nochebuena (Christmas Eve Dinner) or is served with the Queso de Bola Cheese and bread on Christmas morning. Nochebuena is typically as important or even more important than the day of Christmas. The purpose of the dinner is to wait for the birth of Jesus Christ, which makes the 24th just as special. Like Lechon, ham is a special occasion entrée, and it is made for a larger gathering. Since Christmas is a time when all family and friends gather, the ham is shared with everyone.

Item:

  • The item is a dish called jamón, or ham. There are variations on what type of ham it is,  ranging from Chinese ham and canned ham to sliced whole ham. It is seasoned with a sweetener to cultivate a salty and sweet taste and is baked for hours. 

Transcript from Interview Clip:

X.D. (collector): Hello, can you please introduce yourself and provide some backstory of your life, especially when you were in the Philippines.

M.D. (informant): I’m MD, and I am from Santa, Ilocos-Sur. I was born in 1970, so I lived a very rural lifestyle. My parents did send me to Vigan to study in St. Paul. And then, I studied in UP (University of the Philippines) in Manila, and just settled there. I did move here in 2009 with my family and husband.

X.D.: So what Christmas food will you be talking about? Please do give some cultural context on it.

M.D.: During Christmas, we eat a lot of ham. We get it from the store, maybe add some sweeteners like pineapple, and basically bake it. It’s like the main dish.

X.D.: How about lechon? Why is ham eaten here (the United States) and not Lechon?

M.D.: Yea, lechon is more common in the Philippines. You have Filipinos in the US, yea, but where are they going to buy the lechon? It’s really rare here, even in Los Angeles. The process is more common in the Philippines, so ham is like our lechon here. Americans do eat ham on Christmas, so we can find ham here easier. I mean, people would eat ham in the Philippines too, but it is usually Chinese ham or canned ham. Ham also represents good luck because of its shape. Back at home, if my husband brought ham from his company, it was eaten with the cheese (Queso de Bola) and pandesal (bread) on Christmas mornings.

X.D.: So why is ham eaten during Christmas Eve instead, and why did it replace lechon?

M.D.: Pork is really important to eat on Christmas. It was like a celebratory meat, and we are Catholic, so pork makes us different from Filipino Muslims. I guess that is from Spanish influence, since they did eat ham too. Nochebuena is really big because that’s the time we expect Jesus’ birth. We wait until midnight when it’s Christmas because that is when he was born. With ham, you can share with people since it’s already sliced, and that’s what a Filipino Christmas is: to share. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • My family eats ham as a Christmas dish when we are in the United States but eats lechon in the Philippines. While both ham and lechon can be eaten together either in the Philippines and the United States, it is slightly uncommon to do so as both dishes are expensive.

Collector: Xenia Dela Cueva

Back to Main Page

Entrée: Mole

Leave a reply

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration; Verbal Lore: legend
  • Language: Spanish
  • Country of Origin: Mexico
  • Informant: G.P.
  • Date Collected: November 7, 2020

Informant Data:

  • G.P. is a ~60 year old woman living in New Jersey. She was born in Tlaxcala, Mexico and has spent over 20 years in the United States, where she lives with two of her siblings and, up until they started university, her two nephews and niece. In the US, her family usually celebrates Christmas by inviting over more family members, preparing food, and partaking in some traditions with respect to her religion.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Mole is one of the most prominent dishes in Mexico, and it can be called the national dish. It has many variations, and some variations even have their own names, such as “pipian.” It is also one of the more complex recipes in Mexico as it involves creating what’s known to many as Mexico’s spicy chocolate dish.
  • Social Context: Usually when made, it is for a VERY large gathering since it yields impressive portion sizes. Due to its high yield and complexity, it is typically made on rare occasions, but it also leaves lots of leftovers which allow it to be used in other meals such as tamales or enchiladas.

Item:

  • For this dish, the informant wasn’t able to give very accurate measurements since most of them are done through estimation.
  • The process involves obtaining several dried chile peppers: pasilla, chipotle, and ancho, which are boiled to soften them up. While that’s going on, you fry some plantain, raisins, crackers, and peanuts and set those aside. Then, you scorch the tortilla, onion, and garlic and, again, set them aside. Afterwards, you toast some sesame seeds, and blend EVERYTHING together: the softened peppers as well as the fried, scorched, and toasted ingredients. Then you start to heat up water to a boil with some salt, and, once the water is hot, you add chicken thighs or drumsticks. As soon as the chicken begins to cook, take some water from the soon-to-be broth and dissolve chocolate into it. Then add the chocolate and spice blend into the pot the chicken is cooking in.

Translation of Interview Clip:

C.Y. (collector): So then, why were so many ingredients used? The recipe seems pretty weird so far.

G.P. (informant):  Yea, yea it is. I remember when my mom told me I thought the same thing. She told me that mole was created from a woman being afraid she wouldn’t be able to cook anything for her family. So she leveraged all the ingredients she had remaining and began cooking, but due to the stress her hand slipped and ingredients were mixed, things burned a little, and everything was integrated into the sauce.

C.Y.: Wow that’s quite a story. If I remember correctly back when you made it for us, you used animal crackers?

G.P.: Oh yea that was a one time thing haha, it was all I had on hand. I typically use Maria cookies. Thinking about it, that does make the story I just told sound more believable hahaha.

Collector’s Comments:

  • My family makes this a little less than often. We typically eat it with pure tortillas since the family says we won’t get full otherwise (which is a lie, because we serve ourselves a lot). My family also believes in that bit of verbal folklore: that the wonderful dish was a result of someone being in a panic and cooking up with the few ingredients they had, so it is pretty widespread.

Collector’s Name: Carlos Yepes

Back to Main Page

Dessert: Suman (Sticky Rice)

Leave a reply

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, religious custom
  • Language: Tagalog
  • Country of Origin: Philippines
  • Informant: J.D.
  • Date Collected: November 19, 2020

Informant Data:      

  • J.D. was born in the Philippines in 1963, where he grew up in the Northern region, Ilocos Sur. He grew up in a rural town, where he had helped farm rice as part of his everyday life. During the 1980s, he moved to the capital, Manila, to study engineering, where he would eventually settle to have two kids. He later moved to the United States in 2009 and has since lived in the city with his family. 

Contextual Data:    

  • Cultural Context:  Suman is a traditional Christmas dessert because the Philippines is historically agrarian. Christmas is a time for feasting and represents abundance, so this dessert is made with cheap and accessible ingredients, like rice and coconuts, to be able to serve everyone. However, what sets this apart from a typical dessert is that it is labor intensive, as each suman is wrapped individually, and the coconut milk used for it is traditionally squeezed manually from the coconut meat although more modern takes just use canned coconut milk. 
  • Social Context:  Suman was eaten after morning prayers and masses. Christmas is also similar to the American Thanksgiving, where the celebration is meant to be thankful for everyone and the blessings within your life. It was necessary to pray or go to Church as Filipinos were Catholic, and giving thanks meant being grateful to God. This dish was served after the prayers, as people finish spending a portion of their day with God and are ready to celebrate the rest of the holiday.

Item:

  • The item is a desert called Suman, or Filipino sticky rice. It is made with glutinous (or malagkit) rice, coconut milk, and sugar. It is half-cooked, and then the rice and coconut milk mixture is individually wrapped in either a cylindrical or pyramid shape with banana leaves. Finally, the suman is steamed until the rice is fully cooked and served with sugar. 

Translation of Interview Clip :

X.D. (collector): Hi, please introduce yourself and give a backstory of your life, even when you lived in the Philippines.

J.D. (informant): Ok, my name is J.D. I was born in 1963 and I lived in Santa, Ilocos-Sur. I moved to Manila to study engineering, and I stayed there to raise my family, until around February 2009. Then I came here.

X.D.: Can you give a little backstory on your life in Santa. You’ve mentioned before this interview a little about it.

J.D.: Ok. Santa, when I lived there, was mostly farming. You know, it’s very rural. As a young boy, I would help in the rice fields for some money because we were really poor back then. 

X.D.: So what Christmas dish will you talk about? Please give context to it.

J.D.: Suman, which is a desert, is a Christmas food. They make it with, how do you call it in English? Malagkit?

X.D.: I’m not sure, I’ll research that later for you.

J.D.: Yea, they make it with malagkit rice, coconut milk, and sugar. They pack the rice in a banana leaf, and they steam it. It comes in either the triangular shape or just the regular stick. As a child, I ate it after we all prayed. I’d dipped it in sugar so it was sweeter.

X.D.: Was there a reason why you ate it in Christmas? I know suman is common nowadays.

J.D.: Back then, suman was the only thing that could be made for everyone. The Philippines mostly had farmers, and we only had rice and coconut milk, so suman was the dish that could be eaten. But it was labor intensive! You had to squeeze the milk from the coconut meat and then wrap it. Now it’s easier, but it still takes a lot of time! We ate it after the prayers because usually it was a community prayer, and then after one of the ladies would help pass it around. As a child, I’d be so happy to eat it. 

X.D.: So are the prayers before the dinner? Can you explain more on that?

J.D.: No, going to Church during Christmas is an early morning event. You had to go to Church. Remember, everyone is Catholic, and you have to say thanks to God and your blessings. It’s like Thanksgiving here. After that, people were hungry, which is why Suman is eaten.

Informant’s Comments:

  • There’s different types of suman, depending where you are in the Philippines. In the Ilocos-Sur, suman is popularly in a triangular shape.

Collector: Xenia Dela Cueva

Back to Main Page

Snack: Queso De Bola

Leave a reply

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish; Customary Lore – celebration, belief, superstition
  • Language: Tagalog
  • Country of Origin: Philippines
  • Informant: R.P.
  • Date Collected: November 26, 2020

 Informant Data:      

  •  R.P. was born in 1975 in the Philippines, where she grew up in a region north of the capital Manila called Pangasinan. She was raised in the Philippines all her life, and went to a private Catholic school in Manila for college. She then married and settled in Manila, where her parents also moved, and ran a small convenience store for the local neighborhood. She later immigrated to the United States with her family in 2008, staying in a Southern California suburb named Norwalk.

Contextual Data:    

  • Cultural Context:  In the Philippines, processed foods before the mid 1980s were scarce in rural areas as most people lived in the countryside provinces. Therefore, Queso de Bola was not as accessible until the nation was more modernized. Queso de Bola nowadays is given by companies to its workers as Christmas gifts and is sold by groceries during the Christmas season.  Christmas can be seen as a mega holiday for Filipinos, depending on their wealth. Because many Filipinos work in the cities, they come back only at Christmas time to their families in provinces, which is why Christmas is celebrated to not only be thankful for others, but also to look forward to the next year or the future (as they would not be able to come back for New Year’s). The dish is red and round, and in the Philippines, round things represent fortune and good luck. The red also means luck due to Chinese influence but is simultaneously significant as a Christmas color.
  • Social Context:  The Queso de Bola is not an entrée, but rather a snack eaten during Christmas. By giving a piece to everyone, they will then have good luck and fortune for the days to come. Christmas is a time for getting together with loved ones, so it also has significance in spreading happiness and good fortune. 

Item:

  • The item is a dish called Queso De Bola, which is a ball of Edam cheese, covered in red wax. It is usually bought from an outside source instead of being home made, but, during Christmas eve, it is cut into smaller pieces to be eaten either by itself or with Filipino bread rolls called pandesal.

Translation of Interview Clip:

X.D. (collector): Hi, can you introduce yourself and a backstory of your life.

R.P. (informant): Hello, my name is RP, and I am originally from Pangasinan, but I later moved to Manila. I went to college there too, in an all females Catholic school. While I had my family in Manila, my parents also ran a Sari-Sari (Filipino convenience) store, until we moved here in 2008.

X.D.: Thank you. Now can you please talk about your Filipino Christmas dish. What it is, how it’s made, what the traditions behind it are. 

R.P.: The Christmas food is Queso de Bola, which is a round piece of cheese in red wax. I don’t know how to make it, but it’s usually given by a company or bought in the grocery store. I didn’t eat it growing up because it wasn’t common to get branded foods like that. But it’s on display during Christmas because it signifies good luck and fortune. You eat it will pandesal (bread) and ham, for merienda (snack time).

X.D.: Why is it eaten at Christmas when good luck is usually a New Year’s thing?

R.P.: Christmas is like a combination of New Year’s too, well for some people in the Philippines. A lot of people go back for Christmas to the provinces, but return by New Year’s, so they can’t really celebrate New Year’s with their families. So Christmas in a way also celebrates New Year’s. Round things display luck, which is why things like ham or Queso de Bola are eaten. The red also kind of signifies that, like in Chinese New Year’s, but I think they make it red for the Christmas season. Eating a piece of that ball means you will be prosperous, so that’s why you share it with family and friends.

X.D.: Thank you!

Collector’s Comments:

  • Queso de Bola is always bought and never made at home. Here in the United States, it is not easy to find. It is sold by Filipino grocery stores during Christmas time, and not every town has a Filipino grocery store, which is why Filipino Americans rarely eat this.

Collector: Xenia Dela Cueva

Back to Main Page

Entrée: Lechon

Leave a reply

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

Back to Main Page