If you are an American, your ancestors didn't move here from wherever because things were going so well for them in the country they immigrated from! This led to a tremendously diverse ethnic population, which met, married, went forth, was fruitful, and multiplied.. It created the "melting pot" of people in this country today.. Face it, most Americans who have been here for more than 100 years are mutts! This is our strength, not a weakness! It also has given us a cuisine that is diverse, and probably the most varied in the world today.. Where I am going with this today, is the normal two part Mini-meme- two questions..
1. What is your favorite food that reflects your ancestry?
2. What is your favorite food that has no connection with your ancestry?
Me first!
1. My background is mainly Dutch, and my hands down favorite from that country is Gouda cheese! It comes in mild, medium, and sharp- with medium being my personal favorite. Edam is another cheese I favor, but Gouda (pronounced Gouw-da, not Gooda!)is a big export item from the Netherlands. American made is not as good as the real deal..
2. Pasta- I have no Chinese(where it first came from)or Italian (where they perfected it!)blood in me whatsoever! I love the sauces, the various shapes of pasta, and of course- our most popular food, Pizza! It's a rare week where we don't have pasta or pizza at least once..
Love to hear your answers, it doesn't take long!
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53 comments:
My grandmother always made a noodle kuchen, which is German / Russian. I liked it because its wasn't particularly sweet--I've had some since, and it's always been too sweet.
Tavo's family makes some killer empanadas, too.
My favorite non-heritage food is definitely pizza! I love it :)
None of my ancestors came recently enough for me to be dead certain of where they came from, other than one stray from Canada around 1880. But do you really immigrate from Canada? Isn't that like immigrating from Kansas? So...
1. Unknown.
2. Veal cordon bleu or veal alla marsala or some other form of veal. Which I never cook and rarely eat, because it's so pricy, BTW.
Lini- I love kuchen! I knew you'd say pizza!
Marjie- I actually have Dutch, German, English background- but mainly Dutch.. Veal is good, but I only use in ground, in meatballs..
I'm Irish and German. But we never ate anything "ethnically" oriented. I despise corned beef and I'm just now learning to like things like sauerkraut. See? I can't even SPELL it. Hrmph.
So, I'm going to go with um, what? for the first part. And for the second question, Taste of India makes this amazing thing called butter chicken that you serve over rice and it makes me pant with joy.
Handsdown my favorite food from 'where my family is from' is Swedish Meatballs. My maternal greatgrandparents immigrated from Sweden and Norway, so I am technically the 4th generation here from my Mom's side.
Hmmm, for my non-ansestry side, maybe the Mongolian BBQ Hu Hot in Rochester MN. The sauces and the noodles and the meat-heavenly!
Kate- Irish German= A stubborn person who likes to fight! A lot of the immigrants from Europe dropped customs, and adopted American ways, as they didn't want to be categorized. Speaking Dutch in some Dutch households wasn't allowed- so they would learn English quicker!
Tam- I think a lot of us found out how great Asian flavors were in the past 20 years!
1. I'm Irish, so my favorite food connected with that are french fries, which are made from potatoes (could I be any MORE of a stereotype?).
2. My favorite non-ancestry food: pasta-any kind of pasta-which absolutely must have tomato sauce slathering it.
Kinda hungry...off on a refrigerator hunt.
Al- I'm not Irish or Jewish, but a Reuben is one of my favorite sandwiches!
my family has lived in New Mexico for over 300 years and sorry to tell you but we are NOT mutts - pretty true to our heritage - but recent generations are making mutts so off we go...hands down any and all things chile but I love french food with all the butter and cream and heavy richness as well as indian food since its spice variety is so different than southwestern spiciness.
DogB- I knew you'd say that! You are the reason I said "most of us".. Your tastes run further afield than my own, and mine run pretty far!
My favorite food is pizza, being that I am Italian!
Mexican food is a close second, and I am not Mexican, I don't think??
I'm Swedish and Norwegian on my mom's side. My dad was adopted so I could be anything!
1. They eat some weird stuff. I can't relate to all the fish and casseroles but I do like shrimp and lobster (can't afford it these days, though!).
2. Living in the Southwest, I'd have to say Mexican food. I just asked (begged) my hubby to make his salsa for me.
otin- Ain't America great? I love the choices, and make friends wherever I go, because I understand the bonding power of food!
Momster- Gramps came from the coast of the Netherlands, and instilled in me a love for seafood I am grateful for! As my experience as a chili competitor, you can imagine my love for TexMex cuisine!
I love your mini-memes!!
1. I am only the 3rd generation of my family here. My great grandparents (mother's side) immigrated from Germany. One of my FAVORITE dishes growing up was knepp - a dumpling of sorts made with flour, baking powder, salt, egg, butter and milk. When finished, the mini-dumplings were tossed with fried bacon, onion and dry cottage cheese. A dollup of sour cream topped it all off. YUMM!!!
2. I am a HUGE fan of Korean food, which I know stems from the year I spent there while in the Army. There is nothing better than bulgogi and kimchi!
Dana- Well said, and well done! I'd eat either one in a heartbeat!
I don't really have anything that I love coming from my ethnic background.
But Italian will always be my favorite food!
1. chicken livers
2. sushi
1.Pierogis for eating kielbasa 4 playing hahaha
2. Fajitas
Scottish ancestry, no great food comes from Scotland... other than Scotch
Favorite non Scottish food...Ribs
BlueV- It is rumored that Italians(Romans) taught the French to cook!
Brian- I love chicken livers too! Sushi is a selective treat to me- not all of it hits my spot..
Donna- The filling of Pierogis have an effect of how much I like them! Kielbasa is almost always good! Fajitas are great, too!
Griller- It's a toos up between Scotland and The Netherlands for bland food! Ribs- no argument here!
1) Ropa vieja made just right is delicious...and I can NEVER make it just right. :(
2) Stuffed grape leaves are my weakness. I had a Lebanese neighbor who'd pick leaves from her backyard and made the best grape leaves on the planet. Miss her...and her leaves!
I'm mostly Italian so pizza and pasta are regulars and favorites. I have a bit of Slovak, the only thing I make or eat is a sauerkraut soup and homemade potato dumplings called halushky on Christmas Eve. I have a touch of Irish too - I think that's where my love of beer came in :-)
My other favorites are Middle East foods - falafel, hummus, tabbouleh, etc. and love Mexican foods too.
Happy Friday BD!
Ily- I have some Cuban favorites(Midnight sandwich!), and we had a Greek restaurant here that served a dish with grape leaves I was partial to..
martha- The Slovak dishes are unfamiliar to me, but I enjoy lamb done in a Middle Eastern style..
Well, on one side, British and Scots. Hmmmm. No comment here. (Although when I visited Scotland and Great Britain, I LOVED their scones. I guess that counts.)
On the other side, German. Lots to choose from here...Grandma's potato pancakes for one. Grandma,as I have said many times, was brilliant in the kitchen.
As far as food I have no connection with, it has to be French, hands down. I loved it when my daughter lived there. The brioche, the croissants and especially pain poilane. I don't think I EVER had a bad meal in France.
Barb- Good answers! The cuisines of the world enhance our lives so much!
I have a French/Irish background...is Brie French? I love Brie en Croute and croissants.
Somewhere inside of me is an old Italian woman screaming, I mean screaming to get out...hands down Italian cusine rule!
Ha I am second generation American from Russian Jews - my kids are the mutts (my husband is pure as the driven rain French catholic).
Fave food from my heritage? Latkes, challah and let's say rugelach. ok that's more than one but I love food, what can I say?
Foreign food fave? Tough one. Shrimp Creole maybe? With a little sushi and a little springroll on the side? Followed by Tiramisu for dessert.
I'm a complete mutt to the point I'm not sure what all I am. I know there is a bit of German and English in there, but beyond that it's a guess.
Great post!!!
1. I am Italian, so I love all things with cheese, bread, and tomato sauce!
2. I adore Thai food. I love the spice and the vegetables! So good!!
mmm Cheeze
My favorite from my ancestry
Mexican side: Tortilla soup
German side: sauerkraut
I love Pizza!
Slovak ancestry: pierogie. homemade not Mrs. Paul's which is cardboard wrapped around mashed potatoes.
Favorite #2: French cooking. Anything from that wonderful cuisine - but I could live on French Cheese, baquettes and wine... with a little chocolate for dessert. :-)
Katherine- Brie is indeed French! We sure agree on Italian food!
Jamie- I like your choices! Actually by percentage, my kids are more Dutch than I am- my wife is Dutch on both sides of her family!
K- My own family was very remiss about keeping track of our heritage..I tell people I'm descended from Dutch horse thieves that were bad at it, and had to immigrate!
Kris- Good choices- I love them both!
Darngirl- I like the soup better than kraut....
Good Cook- Pierogies are great- depending on the filling! Most French cooking is to my taste, also..
Love this meme buffalodick! From my
England ancesters (my grandad) I love tea and scones!
From Spain (grandma) I think hot chocolate.
and the second question:
I love cheese specially blue cheeses, well I really love french cooking!! nice meme! xxx gloria
Gloria- They are fun, because it's a short, easy to do participation theme! We all get to learn a bit about each other, without going through 20 questions!
I learned to like tea from my Dutch grandfather..I still have the chair I sat on as a five year old when I had tea with milk and sugar with him in the afternoons.. With those nasty windmill cookies! Blue or veined cheeses are a favorite of mine!
Well said BD.
Mother Dutch, Father Scotch. I'm not sure if the food I grew up on is really all that Dutch or a product of parents that lived through the Depression as young children. My favorites were all of those wonderful mashed potatoes and all the homemade noodles and dumplings. Lordie! I would have no idea was Scottish food even is.
My favorite food is Oriental. I'm not talking about the Americanized breaded sweet and sour pork stuff (even though I do have to admit it's good) I like going to authentic Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean restaurants.
Highlander- The Dutch around here dropped many traditions- but Mettwurst, double salted licorice, herring, eel, Gouda and Edam cheeses, split pea soup, and the sweet tooth from Hell survived! Panakoeks (pancakes!) and eggs were always around, too! Oddly, the Dutch eat a lot of Asian foods, during the colonial days, when they had holdings in countries over there, they adopted that cuisine..
I am a mutt! The food I remember most is from my mother's side which was 5 generations in the West Virginia mountains. A family of coal miners. I remember most is lots of beans and cornbread. Definitely a lot of Spam too.
My favorite food now is Spanish. Simple, basic and very soul satisfying.
1. Lithuanian - I don't even know any Lithuanian foods.
2. Greek - give me some feta and black olives and I'm happy.
Velva- The history of spam is kind of interesting..check out their website someday! Spain does a lot of seafood, I'm told..
Pam- We have quite a few Lithuanians in this area- seems German and Polish influenced their cuisine.. I have come to appreciate olives and olive oil a lot!
Buffalo I love tea with milk (LOL) gloria
Gloria- The Dutch around here have quite a sweet tooth! Coffee is more popular now days..
1) I have no clue. What do the bloody Welsh eat? Seriously, I've never researched the culinary aspects of my ancestors.
But from a generational standpoint, my recent ancestors are farmers in NC, so BBQ fits the bill.
2) I'd have to say thai food, I love that whole flavor profile. I'm pretty sure the Welsh didn't do fish sauce and jasmine rice :)
Chris- I'm sure they ate a fair amount of seafood, and pasties for lunch in the mines.. The U.P in Michigan was mined for copper and iron, pasties are still on the menus up there!
Happy Sunday UncleBuf,
I haven't had anything "authentic" that I know of, so I think my favorite "ethnic" food would be anything that comes from your house. ;)
For the second question, I have to go with Chinese food. I like all of it too, I don't even have a favorite dish...too many delicious flavors to choose from, that's for sure. :)
--snow
Snow niece- Hope all is well with you, and the kids! America's ability to accept others and their food is an amazing thing!
favourite food of the ancestors is a german stew of some sort that i cannot pronounce but eat at my grandparents' home.
favorite food not of the ancestral variety is pizza.
how terribly boring
Still awesomw as ever, I see.
I'm back Uncle buck!
JST- Welcome to the blog!
RLM- Welcome back!
I am Irish and my family settled in the Appalachian Mountains I have learned, so we had to food, not even potatoes was our own, but we ate a lot of potato soup growing up. I love most all foods, so it is hard to say one in particular, but I do know being from Texas, well I love a good hunk of meat! Or is that the female in me :)
Chef- I grew up poor but didn't know it..Dad came back from the war, and swore we would eat well..After a Depression, and a World War he figured he had a good meal coming!
Back in December, I did a post on how long my family has been in America--a long time (you have to go back to before the Civil War to find a grandparent not born in NC, a steak I broke by having a daughter born out west). By the way, came her by another blog where I see we're both in W. MI
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