The Family Tableau

Family Life - Home Cooking

I wonder how many families have foods that are a bit unique to their family? I am thinking of foods that are quite possibly ethnic in origin that might not be so familiar to your friend's backgrounds. They are foods that might not seem unusual if you live in a community where your parents and grandparents -- uncles, aunts, cousins, and of course siblings -- grew up in. But if you no longer live in the lands of your parents... these dishes might be out of the ordinary.

(image to above right from Mennonite girls can cook)

For some of you there might be two completely separate sets of cuisine -- one from each parent's family -- or only one if your parents come from the same culture.

I come from in some ways three backgrounds. One is the fairly common generic Canadian-Average American one of bacon & eggs, pot roasts, fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, and that sort of thing. The other two are a bit more exotic though not Earth shattering.

Mom's parents originate from Norway and a few tastes have entered my culinary vocabulary from there -- though mostly it was diluted by way of New York and Alberta. There were a few things that basically only came out at Christmas time like Fattigman Bakkels or Cookies (image to left - image from about.com) which are deep fried and dusted with sugar. There also were cheeses and other foods that normally weren't bought or served except for during the holidays.

Dad came from a Mennonite community in Southern Manitoba that had come to North America around 1875 and hold cohesively as a community even today. There are many dishes I remember from our visits to family there which we have taken out here to the West Coast of Canada. Among many others is a favourite of my Sister's and mine, "Wareneki" or "Vareneki" -- in particular "Blueberry Wareneki".

Wareneki are one of those foods that sort of turn up all over the place in one version or another. I find they are different from perogis though some consider them the same. I think some would consider them a stuffed noodle or liken them to ravioli I guess. Anyhow the translation of wareneki I have seen is "fruit pocket" though I wonder if simply "pocket" or "dough pocket" might be more true?

Basically you make a dough and roll it out, then you cut out circles and put the fruit in the centre with a bit of sugar and press the edges together. You carefully put the sealed pockets into boiling water to cook and then serve with a cream sauce. Now my Grandma and relatives tend to make squares and fold the corners in so that the points meet in the center giving a squarish wareneki rather than the more crescent shaped ones shown in the pictures I am including, but I am sure they taste the same... I think the more square ones might hold a bit more of the sweet fruit filling.

(image to above right from Mennonite girls can cook)

Now the two pictures from "Mennonite girls can cook" show cottage cheese wareneki or "Glums Wareneki" rather than the blueberry wareneki, but they are fairy illustrative. Some people also make saurkraut wareneki, but I think they are spoil sports. I guess I grew up with the treat of blueberry wareneki from freshly picked blueberries while other folk might remember other fruits more.

(images above to left and right from recipezaar.com)

To me though blueberry wareneki were like eating dessert for dinner!

Technorati Tags: cooking, ethnic cooking, wareneki, vareneki, fattigman bakkels, Mennonite cooking

Later!
~ Darrell

(I have also posted this on my Xanga site.)

155.

Time to Celebrate?

Can One Celebrate When So Much Is Wrong?

On a mailing list I belong to -- which I will leave in anonymity -- someone made a posting about their year being good and hopes that the next would even be better. They wished the same for everyone else. They also made a statement though about celebrating the season which I thought I might share, and I must admit that it is because I disagree with it. Here is the statement:

You know, for me everyday is important and not different from other ones. I do not believe in these sentimental days as long as there are wars and people starving!

I can understand where the person is coming from and in some ways agree with it. I am a firm believer that the sentiments of this holiday season be carried through the year. But I don't think that we shouldn't observe "these sentimental days" because of the bad things that are going on in the world around us.

I think that if we were to wait until all wars and famine were gone before we celebrated, there would never be any celebration and all there would be would be the negative and suffering. I think that we have to highlight what is good in the world and that we need boosts to the spirit to help carry us through the dark sometimes.

But in partial agreement, I do believe that we should try to carry the sentiments of the season with us throughout the year regardless of what holiday you might observe.

Just as with Thanksgiving Day or similar
holidays, it is important to be thankful for what we have all year
round and not just that one day or meal, we should keep the positive
spiritual feelings with us and the spirit of giving all year through.

So Season's Greetings and may the Joy of the Season stay with you all year long.

Later!
~ Darrell

149.

To Be Merry or not To Be Merry...

Happy Holidays!

Would you be offended if I wished you a "Merry Christmas"?

I know that many institutions worry that you might be -- or that it might lead to messy discussions about religion and perhaps politics.

To me holiday greetings like "Merry Christmas" are not attempts at evangelizing, but simply ways to share the joy I might be feeling at the time of an important holiday for me. I'm trying to share my joy. I don't mind if others share holiday greetings for other holidays that I might not celebrate. I don't celebrate Ramadan but would not be offended if someone were to wish me an enlightened one or if someone wished me Solstice Greetings.

I'm really not sure what an appropriate Ramadan greeting might be or if there is such a thing and I hope I do not offend in my not knowing. I'd like to know.

I think it is a good thing to be able to share our positive feelings with each other and perhaps a bit of our heritage and culture and especially to be able to hold onto our cultures. Celebrating Christmas just happens to be a part of my culture as blended as it might be..

Later!
~ Darrell

148.