A lot of the connection I have with my ethnic heritage is food-related, some of it near-term (the Minnesota-specific, Scandinavian-influenced, and Midwestern parts), some more remote (the Mennonite parts and the Danish aebleskiver, which I inherited from my mother, despite the Danish ancestors being in the paternal part of the tree). My in-laws also eat in a typically Midwestern way, with an overlay of traditional New Mexican flavors.
So I often think about the how the foods I feed my daughter differ from what I experienced growing up. Tonight, the kiddo was watching T.G. spoon beans and rice onto a tortilla, and I said to her, "Daddy is making a burrito."
"No way!" she said, "It's not a burrito; it's a tortilla."
At 23 months, I'm sure I had never even heard the words tortilla or burrito. Mexican food meant tacos. We didn't have tortillas, we had soft-shells for our tacos. I'm pretty sure the first burrito I encountered was a McDonald's breakfast burrito. Or maybe something more enchilada-like at Mrs. Lady's in Okoboji.
I feed my family a lot of Asian-influenced food, American-style Chinese, Thai, or Indian. Then there are the Turkish, Middle-Eastern, and Mediterranean flavors we like. Even in the realm of something as "normal" as Italian food, I first had fresh, soft mozzarella cheese on a ham sandwich in Italy when I was 15. Now even the supermarket in my small, rural hometown has two or three varieties. I make and freeze my own authentic-ish refritos, and I've done New Mexican chiles rellenos and posole from scratch.
On the other hand, roasted chicken, meat-and-potatoes meals, grilled cheese and tomato soup, and tuna salad are all in frequent rotation. Some of my family traditions that the kiddo has had include thin, crepe-like pancakes; ham-green bean soup; tweback; pfeffernusse; schnetke; cucumber salad; portzilke; and cherry moos. I still need to introduce her to verenike, canned/stewed beef (with the delightful Low German name dampfleisch), kringles, cheese buttons, rommegrot, lefse, aebleskiver, and borscht (which in our tradition is cabbage-and-tomato based, not beets). Maybe lutefisk, or not.
One's family heritage comes out in a lot of unexpected ways. My little Northern-European mutt says noodles; a quarter-Italian of the same age whom we know says pasta.
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When I think about this - which I do periodically and actually pretty frequently - I'm thinking about if from a four-generation viewpoint. Going back to Ada's great-grandmother (my mom), everything was pretty Mennonite/Dutch/German/Russian influenced with a touch of WWII-influenced convenience foods. Also a preponderance of homegrown and locally produced or available foods (think bullheads :o). Aunt Ada's recipe box is full of recipes that use Jell-O, Cool-Whip, Velveeta, canned cream soup, and boxed cake mixes. She doesn't include written recipes for the meats, chicken, garden vegetables and fruits which were used everyday. Growing up, the first outside-of-the-community food I remember is probably boxed Chef BoyArDee pizza, which was a very poor imitation. My mom made both spaghetti sauce and "French" dressing starting with canned tomato soup. The only Far Eastern inspired food I can think of from my growing up years is the '60s version of chow mein, which I still make and enjoy by the way.
So I thought I was making progress when I made homemade pizza, tacos, spaghetti sauce starting with canned tomatoes,and served some vegetarian meals. I was also influenced by being involved when the food coop started in Windom in the '80s.
Every once in awhile I think it would be fun to write a cookbook based on what I consider to be family favorites along with the Christmas and Valentine cookies made by the Three Sisters. It would have to include chapters contributed by you, Bethany, and Mariel because you all cook very differently than I did/do.
Food is a universally interesting and intriguing topic. Right now working on homemade turkey noodle soup, a big batch of chili, pfefferneuse, and Terri Schoenwald's chocolate mint cookies.
Maybe we can fill in some blanks for Ada later in December by making verenike, kringles, and lefse :o)
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