Category Archives: Recipe

Entrée: Braised Pork and Gold Ingot Egg

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – dish, recipe; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition, superstition, historical story
  • Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: Y.Z.
  • Date Collected: November 7, 2020

Informant Data:

  • Y.Z. is about ~50 years old, and she currently resides in Shanghai, China. She was born in Beijing, China during the Cultural Revolution and grew up in relative poverty, as was the case with most Chinese families back then. After attending university in Beijing, she pursued her graduate studies in the US. She learned many traditional Chinese dishes from her mother and enjoys cooking for her family.

Contextual Data:

Historical & Cultural Context

  • During the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368) in China, the main currency was gold and silver ingots shaped like tiny boats called “yuán bǎo” (元宝). Many traditional Chinese New Year dishes such as dumplings are prepared in the shape of these ingots as a symbol for wealth and prosperity.
  • In the 1960s and 1970s, China’s economy was in a terrible state. Meat, eggs, and sugar were heavily rationed. As a result, most families could not prepare meat dishes and desserts for their daily meals. During Chinese New Year, the rations were temporarily increased, so families would celebrate by making large meat dishes and fancy desserts.

Social Context

  • Chinese New Year meals are always eaten as family. Most of the dishes have auspicious names, colors, or shapes that symbolize longevity, wealth, or good fortune. By eating these dishes, families express their hope for more prosperity and blessings in the coming year.

Item:

  • Braised Pork and Gold Ingot Egg, or “hóng shāo ròu yuán bǎo dàn” (红烧肉元宝蛋) in Chinese, is a popular meat dish eaten for Chinese New Year, both in the northern and southern provinces. Diced pork belly is braised in a broth consisting of soy sauce, sugar, star anise, ginger, and garlic. Boiled eggs are then flavored using the remaining meat stock. Afterwards, the top half of the egg whites are removed to give the eggs a distinctive “yuán bǎo” (元宝) shape. Finally, the eggs are plated on top of the pork belly, and the family shares the dish together to express their wishes for the new year. There are several variations of this dish according to regional preferences. For example, in Shanghai, families tend to add much more sugar to the dish to give it a sweeter taste.

Image File:

image file

The completed dish (Photo was taken by Y.Z. on November 7, 2020; she prepared the dish using a recipe from her mother.)

Translation of Interview Clip:

Y.Z. (informant): The dish I’m introducing is called “hóng shāo ròu yuán bǎo dàn” (红烧肉元宝蛋). Um, this dish, we always had it for Chinese New Year when I was a child. So, when I grew up in the 60s and 70s, China’s economy was pretty behind. Ingredients like pork and eggs were scarce resources, rationed every month by the government. For each person, every month, um, there was about one pound of meat and eggs in total. So, usually, we rarely had a chance to eat meat. That’s why during Chinese New Year, when the rations are slightly increased, we would use, um, pork and eggs to make the dish. One reason why this dish is so popular is because the meat is braised in soy sauce and other condiments, including star anise, scallion, ginger, and garlic… uh, the remaining meat stock is used to flavor the eggs and can also be saved for other dishes. The reason why the eggs are called ” yuán bǎo dàn ” (元宝蛋), is like this. “Yuán bǎo” (元宝), they are Chinese ingots, the shape is like a boat. During the Yuan Dynasty, gold and silver were used as currency, and they were molded into such a shape. ” Yuán” (元) refers to the Yuan Dynasty, and ” bǎo” (宝) means treasure. So in this dish, you can make the eggs resemble “yuán bǎo” (元宝) by removing part of the egg white. I guess this is a nice wish, the hope that, next year, life will be bountiful, the family income will increase, so people make this dish “hóng shāo ròu yuán bǎo dàn” (红烧肉元宝蛋). That’s about it. Are there any parts that you are not clear about?

W.W. (collector): Great, thanks for sharing. So I wanted to ask, is this dish a Beijing specialty or eaten widely across China?

Y.Z.: Uh, this is great question. This dish, I think it is eaten in many places, by many people. For Chinese New Year, both in the north and in the south, it is one of the most common dishes on the dinner table, suitable for young and old alike. Everyone likes it very much and eats the dish to show their wishes. Even though, the standards of living are higher now, and the dish can be made any time of the year, but as a tradition, many families still prepare it as a festival dish for Chinese New Year.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I remember eating “hóng shāo ròu” (红烧肉), or braised pork, as a child, but this is my first time hearing about “yuán bǎo dàn” (元宝蛋). I am impressed by the level of creativity in the preparation of the eggs.
  • Homeopathic magic is present in the superstitions related to the informant’s dish: eating the ingot-shaped eggs brings wealth and good fortune.

Collector’s Name: Winston Wang

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Entrée: Jamón

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

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Dessert: Suman (Sticky Rice)

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

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Entrée: Lechon

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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PBR and Lil’ Smokies

Title: PBR and Lil’ Smokies

Informant Info: Josie Nordrum is a 20 year-old junior at Dartmouth College. Josie was born in San Francisco, CA and now lives in Corte Madero, CA. She has been climbing for two years and is heavily involved with the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club. Josie’s climbing phobia is exposure to the elements, and her favorite part about climbing is the satisfaction she gets when she finishes.

Date Collected: 5/15/16

Place Collected: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

Type of Lore: Material, Recipe and Tradition

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Social/Cultural Context: At Dartmouth, each term there is a big weekend. Big Weekends include Homecoming in the fall, Winter carnival in the winter, and Green Key in the spring. Over Big Weekends, students tend to party a lot and celebrate. Such celebrations usually include alcohol and gatherings at fraternities. Big Weekends are generally liked by the student population at Dartmouth. Students tend to look forward to Big Weekends as a break from studying and a reason to celebrate together.

Associated File:

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Lore: Before every big weekend, Dartmouth Mountaineering Club members sustain themselves exclusively on a diet of Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer and Lil’ Smokies. Breakfast generally includes Lil’ Smokie Breakfast Burritos and Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. Lunch generally includes Lil’ Smokies in Lil’ Blankets and Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer.

Informant’s Comments: The reason for this weird combination of foods can only be explained by tradition and members are not really sure how it came to be. However, members continue to follow this ritual because it is tradition and a fun bonding experience.

Collector’s Comments: PBR and Lil’ Smokies is an example of a ritual marking the beginning of of something — this time the beginning of a big weekend. This a theme which is consistent throughout the majority of rock climbing folklore collected. Even though the combination of PBR and Lil’ Smokies is pretty disgusting (allegedly), DMCers continue to partake in this celebration to honor tradition. In addition, it is a weird variation of a purification rite before the Big Weekend. Although counterintuitive, drinking beer and eating only Lil’ Smokies is a way for DMCers to prepare for the coming weekend celebration. By following this specific diet, they set themselves up for a fun and safe Big Weekend celebration and prepare themselves for the festivities.

Tags/Keywords: PBR, Lil’ Smokies, Big Weekend, tradition, diet, food, initiation

Pre-Deployment Ceremonies

Title: Pre-Deployment Ceremonies

Informant info: Matt Menezes. Informant attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH as a United States Army Veteran (2004-2013) . Informant was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed twice to Afghanistan (2007-08, 2008-09) as well as spent two years as a drill sergeant for basic combat training (2011-13).

Type of lore: Customary/ Verbal, Tradition, Ceremony, Recipe, Toasts

Language: English

Country of Origin: USA

Social / Cultural Context: Informant was interviewed at Dartmouth College. Informant was asked about various ceremonies that they experienced during their time in the military. Informant took a minute to remember the different ceremonies. The informant discussed the pre-deployment ceremony and how they would make different mixes of drinks that were inspired by alcohol from different regions of the world in which they had military victories.

Associated file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/11vv5a27kzlycgq/Dartmouth_Folklore_Collections_Matt_Menezes.mp4?dl=0

 

Transcript: [I have recorded the item exactly how it was told to me in the interview]: So the military in general has ceremonies for everything. Going from promotion ceremonies, award ceremonies and just kind of pre-deployment ceremonies. One of the things, one of the ceremonies in particular is the pre and post deployment ceremony, where we basically mix a bunch of different liquors together to be a grog that is supposed to signify all our units past combat contributions in the United States History. So for example, I remember one of them was Schnapps for defeating the Germans. Another one was, I think a bottle of wine for beating the Italians and something else for the French, but I can’t remember.

Informant’s comments: Spoke about how those ceremonies were always good times.

Collector’s comments: Although informant spoke light-heartedly about the pre-deployment ceremonies, the interviewer noted a very serious tone to the ceremonies as well.