Cultural differences showing up through food...
By freedomg
@freedomg (1684)
United States
November 19, 2011 11:40am CST
Living in Florida I have found myself encountering people from soooo many different cultures and honestly we are all very a like in many ways. One thing that has stood out though is the food, which in my book is a bonus YUM
. I myself grew up mostly in Rhode Island and then married a man from Georgia and we have both had to learn to either love or at least tolerate the foods from either region. For instance I grew up eating cream of wheat while the hubby ate grits. Then I have a neighbor from Mexico that brought me these things ( I won't even try to spell the name since I can't even say it) that look like very pretty waffles but taste of anise, sooo good. Another neighbor I have is from Haiti and is always bringing me things I can't pronounce but will forever crave.
So this got me thinking about holiday foods (agian) and was wondering who makes what for their holiday dinners. My house is very yankee traditional with turkey & stuffing and lots of pies (mincemeat for me pumpkin for him).
What are you guys planning for the up coming holiday season? If you are from another country please share what holiday the food is for. I confuse easily.
. I myself grew up mostly in Rhode Island and then married a man from Georgia and we have both had to learn to either love or at least tolerate the foods from either region. For instance I grew up eating cream of wheat while the hubby ate grits. Then I have a neighbor from Mexico that brought me these things ( I won't even try to spell the name since I can't even say it) that look like very pretty waffles but taste of anise, sooo good. Another neighbor I have is from Haiti and is always bringing me things I can't pronounce but will forever crave.
So this got me thinking about holiday foods (agian) and was wondering who makes what for their holiday dinners. My house is very yankee traditional with turkey & stuffing and lots of pies (mincemeat for me pumpkin for him).
What are you guys planning for the up coming holiday season? If you are from another country please share what holiday the food is for. I confuse easily.1 person likes this
3 responses
@polaroidsredwine (509)
• United States
20 Nov 11
Turkey, stuffing, and pies are also on my agenda (I'm definitely looking forward to some sweet potatoes, yum). Oh, and can't forget a greenbean casserole because that stuff is glorious. We also cook up a glazed ham with pineapples on it if we have the resources for it. Since I come from a Chinese family, if we have extra money to burn, we'll get some food more likely to be found during a New Year's feast to eat during the day - roast duck, chicken, almond cookies, sponge cake, dumplings ... the list goes on.
2 people like this
@polaroidsredwine (509)
• United States
22 Nov 11
Oh man, greenbean casserole is something I could eat forever and never grow tired of. It's like the greatest thing since mashed potatoes to me, haha.
Almond cookies are delicious! Usually though, they're really crunchy and hard (at least, most of the time when I buy them from Asian food markets haha), but I'm pretty sure you can make them softer when preparing them.
2 people like this
@aimhrea (181)
• Philippines
19 Nov 11
the Philippines is like a hodge podge of cultures. so even our Christmas feast is a mixture of different specialties from different places.
we usually cook spaghetti (the sweet Pinoy kind,lol), ham, cheese (Queso de bola), barbequed pork, leche flan (a kind of steamed flan), puto bumbong (rice cake steamed via bamboo shoots), bibingka (rice cake cooked by coals below and on top of the pan).
these are just the basics, other families cook other stuff depending on which region they come from (we have 7,101 islands here)
so yeah, you can imagine how colorful and diverse the noche buena (midnight christmas feast) is like here :)
@freedomg (1684)
• United States
19 Nov 11
OK first I had no idea the Philippines had so many islands, thank you I got to sound very smart sharing that info with the kids. 
Second YUM the stuff I recognize sounds great, the rest I'll be looking up and trying new stuff. Thank you again for sharing.
Second YUM the stuff I recognize sounds great, the rest I'll be looking up and trying new stuff. Thank you again for sharing.1 person likes this
@marie2052 (3691)
• United States
22 Nov 11
I am originally from Missouri and am now living in florida too.
While I still make the traditional turkey, I got the taste of a real baked pecan pie from my first mother in law from Georgia. And we know pecans come from Georgia.
Like you I ate Cream Of Wheat and when I saw Grits for the first time in basic training I thought it was cream of wheat. got me a bowl added milk and sugar and that was HORRIBLE! LOL
Trust me Grits has not past these lips again LOL!
My husband now is from Kentucky and his mother always made sweet potato pie.
Heck looked like Pumpkin to me. But when I ate it, it seemed blander and that was it for me.
I am making Pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. I will make them a Sweet Potato Pie for Christmas.
Getting ready to go make cookies and bake fresh cornbread today for my stuffing.
have a wonderful day.
1 person likes this
@freedomg (1684)
• United States
15 Dec 11
Oh my goodness grits with milk and sugar... that would so ruin them for just about anyone I would think. 
I have had sweet potato pie and it was a little bleh to me as well. I make my own version and give it a bit more bite with extra spices. Thanks for sharing.
I have had sweet potato pie and it was a little bleh to me as well. I make my own version and give it a bit more bite with extra spices. Thanks for sharing.