My Culture Essay

Food can partially shape a person's cultural identity. Geeta Kothari explores the cultural nuances between American and Indian food in the essay, “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” She expresses this through the symbolism of food, growing up and living between two different cultures. Kothari begins her story as a nine-year-old child curiously wanting to eat the same foods as American children: tuna salad sandwiches and hot dogs. She does not have the guidance from her mother regarding American food and culture. Kothari’s mom curbs the curiosity by reluctantly letting her daughter indulge in a can of tuna fish. Kothari describes the open can of tuna fish as “pink and shiny, like an internal organ” and she wondered if it was botulism (947). The way

Paula J. Johnson, a curator at the National Museum of American History, says that foods such as wasabi, Sriracha, and hummus would have been considered “foreign foods” 50 years ago, but today they are common, everyday staples for many people across America. Ramanathan briefly states before this that the only constant in American foods is global influence and then goes on to say that it’s not uncommon in modern times for people to eat, for example, Thai food for lunch and then Italian for dinner. She writes that America has people from all backgrounds, cultures, and countries and their influences are present everywhere, especially the food. In America today, there are so many influences on our foods that using the term ethnic to describe them makes it sound foreign when the food is something people eat every

It’s almost Mardi Gras time, and we can’t think of a way we like to celebrate better than a big old crawfish boil (or crayfish, or crawdads, or mudbugs, or whatever you call them). These tiny, freshwater crustaceans are basically tiny lobsters, but that doesn’t stop them from perplexing people from outside Fat Tuesday’s homeland year after year.

Food is a part of my culture because my family, for the most part, is pretty healthy and we like traditional foods also. We have lutefisk for dinner on special holidays like Christmas I think it is terrible, but my family likes it. My grandpa always makes sausages for any Holiday and everyone knows he is going to bring them because he makes the best in the world I think. When I grow up I want to be a chef and most the time I make food for dinner. For Christmas last year my parents

In my family, dinner is a big part of our lives because I can relax and talk about what I have done in the day. Also, realistically, dinner is the best time of the day

“Ethnic hash” Vs “What is C.I” “Ethnic hash” and What is “Cultural Identity” both talk about cultural identity and how it affects people throughout their lives mentioning things like family traditions stereotypes and languages. “Ethnic hash” is a personal essay that uses informal voice to communicate the opinions and personal experience of the author ,it is written by Patrica. J Williams. She generally talks about food in her essay as she is preparing for a book party so she tells us how her family would make types of food such as black beans, fried rice and chicken.

I have so many cherished memories through food. Ever since I was young we have been traveling down to Fort Lauderdale Florida to visit my Dads family for Christmas. For Christmas eve, my Aunt Zaida throws a giant party with large amounts of Cuban food. The house always smells strongly of garlic and plantains. The house is filled with sounds of my aunts yelling at each other and loud roars of laugher soon after. My family spends days preparing the food for this event. My dad is originally from Cuba, so Cuban cuisine is a very essential part of my life. A traditional meal that my family serves on Christmas eve consists of a full pig, plantains with garlic sauce, beans and rice, sweet plantains, and a slice of Cuban bread. My favorite part about

My side of the family is mexican and I can’t recall my side of the family having a mexican christmas dinner. However since we have Christmas Eve and day at my grandma’s house we have an Italian style dinner. My Nana and her prepare the food from scratch, and since it’s Christmas Eve they prepare a seafood dinner. They make regular seafood like octopus, lobster tails, fried shrimp, and other fish if they please. My sister and I love fried shrimp, but as for my mother she does not love any kind of seafood. So she always hears this from someone at some point, “Your favorite!” Mother then gets this smile from ear to ear because she knew she was going to hear that.

Growing up, Friday was the day me and my mom ate out. She cooked dinner at home Saturday-Thursday, but Fridays were our day to hit up a restaurant. I remember us going to Freeman & Harris and picking up a to-go order of chicken fried steak for my mom and half a dozen of fried shrimp for me. It was always a half a dozen fried shrimp for me until I became a teenager. That was the ONLY thing my mom would let me order. I could never get a dozen, nor could I get a stuffed shrimp. It was always those six perfectly fried, golden, crusty shrimp and tartar sauce.

Dada takes its name seriously, using its colorful ambience and irreverent culinary creations to give a playful nod to the art movement it is named for. No need to worry about high-brow here, Dada is definitely good eats. Appetizers include the grilled brie with toasted ciabatta bread and fruit and the watermelon brulee "steak" salad with feta and basil pesto oil. The simple, yet inventive culinary spins continue with house entrees, such as the Indian vegan stew, the blackened redfish in herb brown butter and the seven cheese grilled cheese served with tangy tomato bisque. Dada also makes an adult version of the childhood favorite, s'mores. Graham cracker crust layered with chocolate mousse and marshmallow meringue make for the perfect end to

For many people, culture and identity are closely tied to identity-- sometimes so closely that the things they do, eat, or say may not even feel like a conscious decision. However, from an outsider’s point of view, it is easy to note the differences between cultures in many different ways. One of the most tangible examples of this is, of course, food. When speaking to many people from older generations, it is easy to see how much food is entwined in their stories from the past, whether they come from far away or are still living where they were born. Throughout Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, food is heavily used in many different ways to represent multiple races.

He seemed very excited to talk about this one because he says him and his family love food! They even have a special meal they eat only on Sundays for lunch. This is called to’ona’j, and they eat it after church then get to sleep the rest of the day! He told me his family really loves Sunday foods because it is a time they can gather and tell stories and just enjoy one another’s company. This is another similarity to my culture and his culture in that food is a place that family’s gather and memories are shared.

Now moving on to the middle drawer. This drawer consists of meats such as; chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, pork, turkey, ham, bacon also as well as seafood such as grab legs and shrimp. My favorite out of all of the meat is the seafood. This is my favorite because I have grown up eating Red Lobster and learned to love crab legs. When traveling its unique to see how everyone’s seafood differs. Seafood is huge in our culture, especially in places near the coastline. Almost everywhere you go there will be options to choose from that are seafood related.

On top of everything my mom does she still has food on the table by seven. One of her famous dishes is her spaghetti. That might seem boring ,but it isn’t. She spends hours just perfecting the sauce alone and when you eat it it’s like you’re eating heaven. Especially at our old house we had a whole room full of my mom’s cookbooks. Now my mom has a whole shelf dedicated to her books. All I can say is that my mom’s cooking is finger licking delicious.

This paper will discuss the multifaceted relationships among food, and culture. I will be looking at the relationships people have with food, and explore how this relationship reveals information about them. Their food choices of individuals and groups, can reveal their ideals, likes and dislikes. Food choices tell the stories of where people have travelled and who they have met along the way.