Ancestry Magazine

Those of us involved in family history research want to know more than the names and dates of events in our ancestors’ lives. We also want to understand our families and their experiences, to capture even the smallest insight into what life was like for them.

“Mrs. Shimerda ” measured a teacup full, and presented it ceremoniously to Grandmother” That night”Grandmother … threw the package into the stove, but I bit off a corner of one of the chips I held in my hand…. I never forgot the strange taste; though it was many years before I knew that those little brown shavings, which the Shimerdas had brought so far and treasured so jealously, were dried mushrooms. They had been gathered, probably, in some deep Bohemian forest”.” (excerpted from My Antonia by Willa Cather 1977, pp. 77—79)

Those of us involved in family history research want to know more than the names and dates of events in our ancestors’ lives. We also want to understand our families and their experiences, to capture even the smallest insight into what life was like for them. Who were they? What did they leave behind for us to discover? How have they influenced our lives?

There are many ways to discover these detail s, but the traditional focus has generally been on the material remnants they left behind: a log cabin, the family Bible, a piece of furniture, a single delicate china cup said to have been brought over with them on the ship that brought them to America. In addition to these tangible items, our ancestors also brought patterns of thoughts, behaviors, and beliefs with them from the old world, leaving us a rich source of information in the cultural templates of their lives, one that is perhaps more satisfying and ultimately more intriguing. This ethnic identity may be expressed in many of their everyday practices, religious observations, language, clothing, music, celebrations, and even in the foods they ate—perhaps especially in the food.

Immigrants and Food Preparation
Some traditions, such as apple pie and potato salad on the Fourth of July, seem timeless and unchanging, but all traditions began sometime. Immigrants coming to America had to adapt their cooking to their new circumstances while also attempting to maintain the integrity of their origins. As traditions around food continue to crop up in America, family historians should pay attention, since these traditions may provide important clues to family origins or even to origins of other traditions.

During the immigration experience, most families attempted to retain at least some traditional or family recipes as reminders of the “old country.” Food represented their old lives and reminded immigrants of their youth, their families, and their homes. Immigrants were perhaps more likely to attempt to keep their recipes unaltered through the years precisely because of their symbolic importance, which was no doubt increased during the holidays when feelings of yearning toward the old country and family members were at their strongest.

Our ancestors’ recipes from the old country generally fell into one of two categories: 1) recipes that were adapted because ingredients could not be duplicated in Ameri ca due to lack of availability or high cost, and 2) recipes that remained largely intact because of their holiday importance. The degree to which the recipe remained intact may indicate the significance of the emotional link it provided to the immigrant family or it may simply indicate the availability of the ingredients, although the former appears more likely. Other factors also influenced the changes that took place, such as a new bride who often had her own way of doing things and her own family traditions to carry on.

Tradition and Food
Latkes to a Jewish family and fried potato pancakes to a Catholic or Protestant German family enjoyed lowly status in the home country and eastern Europe before 1900. So our ancestors would be surprised to see just how much we view them as a specialty today served with sour cream and applesauce. But again, many dishes were likely to obtain more sentimental status in America than in the “old country.”

Another central and eastern European tradition is pierogi: delicate pastries, sometimes savory and sometimes sweet, that are stuffed with various fillings. The use of pastries with any sort of filling is characteristic of central and eastern Europe. While they are a daily staple, they are often used in the United States as a holiday treat.

A Catholic and otherwise southern European tradition was to eat fish on Christmas Eve, often after midnight. In Poland and Germany, dishes such as pickled herring and “rollmops” were and are very popular. Throughout northern Europe, dishes we would today call “sweet and sour” or “hot and sour” were especially prevalent in recipes with fish. “Sweet and sour carp,” as well as the more mundane “sweet and sour cabbage,” were not holiday specialties; rather “sweet and sour” reflects the practical use of leftover fruit and meat in daily cooking.

Our first European Americans adapted their English pies to American ingredients and cooking circumstances. The pies became more shallow , were sweeter and circular, and had new ingredients that were easily at hand, such as pumpkin. This made them easier to cook and to store.

Many of our current food traditions associated with Halloween trace their origins to Scotland. To our Scottish forebears we owe gratitude, for the American celebration of Halloween has evolved separately and taken on new life and from thence moved back to Europe. In 1735, under King George II, a law concerning witchcraft prohibited the eating of pork and pastry on Halloween. Today “pigs in a blanket” remains a popular autumnal treat. And a European tradition is to display jack o’lanterns on Halloween (previously the tradition was to use turnips rather than pumpkins).

Traditional American Dishes
No holiday in the United States is as completely American as Thanksgiving. While in the last thirty years turkey and cranberries have become almost mainstays in the national diet, other foods such as pumpkin pie remain quite distinct as a holiday item: it retains its place as a national dish to honor the first Thanksgiving. The history here may be our Elizabethan and Jacobean English ancestors who were unsurpassed on this matter of pies: shepherd’s pie (generally consisting of lamb and vegetables) and cottage pie (generally consisting of beef and vegetables) were very popular among the first English settlers in America.

Another uniquely American holiday and an increasingly popular holiday among Americans is “Juneteenth.” This holiday dates back to the day African Americans in Texas and Tennessee learned that they were no longer slaves. It should come as no surprise that this southern celebration involves the ceremonial digging of a barbecue pit and the slow barbecuing of lamb, pork, and beef. In the so-called border states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, lamb and mutton are more likely to be used. Otherwise, pork is often the exclusive delicacy.

To the extent that you can this holiday season, look around you r own table as you sit down to eat. What do you see in your own family traditions of the influences of other cultures? What traditions do you see in the books and movies you enjoy?

And as you settle down for your traditional reading of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, you might notice for the first time his colorful descriptions of food, of “turkeys, geese, game, poultry, ” great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince pies, plum puddings, barrels of oysters, red hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, twelfth-night cakes”.” And perhaps for the first time, you might think of your ancestors, what they ate, and how their traditional recipes have impacted you.

Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, Ph.D., has been researching her family history since 1978. Her special interests include oral histories and social history. Derek Agard, a software training manager for Gateway Computers, has a masters degree in political science.