Here at the Wednesday check in we often talk about how we look at ourselves in relation to COPD or other chronic lung disease, how it affects us, and how we live with it. But, keeping in mind that we are so much more than our disease, it’s okay to focus on other facets of ourselves.
Today we're going to talk about something our thoughts may turn to when we feel the need for comfort – food. There are certain forms of food that every culture has. But the beauty of this is that the food of each culture is unique while still having something in common. If you think about it, just about every culture has some form of meat pocket – meat wrapped in a kind of bread, dough, or pastry, as well as some form of a fritter that is breaded and fried. They each have an interesting history of their own. Food is associated with so many things, including happy memories and different cultures. History. Comfort. Nourishment. Let’s take a look.
Meat pockets in some form have been a basic element in the diet of many cultures for thousands of years. One that is a big deal here in Michigan is the pasty (rhymes with “nasty”). The Cornish pasty was a hand-held meat-and-vegetable pie made as a lunch for workers in the ancient English tin mining region of Cornwall. In the 1800’s, Cornish immigrants brought the pasty to Michigan and into the iron mines of the Upper Peninsula. Similarly, in Mexico, sausage is wrapped in a tortilla and fried in vegetable oil. The name "salchitaco" is a combination of the words salchicha (sausage) and taco (sausage taco). Dutch Si-sen-broaches translate into English as “pigs in the blanket.” Dutch pigs are a seasoned meat mixture wrapped in a light, flaky pastry dough and baked. Our son picks up a dozen at the neighborhood Dutch bakery and shares them at our family brunch every Christmas.
Another common form of food is a fritter, a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, or vegetables which have been breaded and fried. Fritters can be savory or sweet. In India, a pakora is a fritter of assorted vegetables and spices. In Japan, tempura is vegetable or seafood dipped and fried in a light crispy batter. In New Orleans, you’ll find beignets, brought by French settlers in the 1600’s as they migrated to the Acadia region on the eastern coast of Canada. Years later, thousands of Acadians migrated south, settling in Louisiana where their descendants became known as Cajuns.
My father always got up early to load eggs from the cooler in our shed onto his truck. He’d then make early morning deliveries to local bakeries and restaurants. One of my fondest childhood memories was of my dad coming home from that early route with a small white bag of warm ollibollen from the Dutch bakery. Oliebol is a type of fritter filled with raisins, currants, and apple and can be topped with powdered sugar. We didn’t have them often enough, but what a wonderful treat it was when we did!
Do you have memories of foods unique to your culture? Do you still enjoy them today? I look forward to hearing all about it!