Ethnic Traditions in the Salt Lake Valley

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Foodways are practiced by everyone, and even those of us whose diet leans heavily on the "all-American meal" of burger and fries are likely to spend a lot of time and money preparing those special meals that mark our most important holidays. Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, Passover and Hanukkah, Pioneer Day and the Fourth of July, Valentine's Day and Halloween, all have special food customs connected with them. Some of them-turkey for Thanksgiving, for instance-are adopted by almost everyone in the United States. Others-certain vegetables for Christmas dinner, or a special kind of cake for birthdays-are restricted to a par­ticular family and are part of its own tradition. Ethnic foods-despite the widespread popularity of pizza, tacos, and sushi-have a special significance for each of us. Preparing and eating the old-country foods is a way of keeping in touch with family and ancestors. The food becomes a symbol of ethnic heritage, and an occa­sion as well. An Italian family that makes fresh pasta together, then sits down to it with a perfectly done sauce, bread, salad, and wine, may very well spend the meal tell­ing stories of relatives, recalling the difficulties they faced in making the decision to leave their homeland and migrate to an unknown country, and reminiscing over similar meals enjoyed in the past. In fact, the entire process of food preparation can often become an annual ritual for a family or community. Many rural families of German descent still spend an autumn day slaughtering a hog, dressing it out, making fresh sausage, and then enjoying a meal of fresh pork, potatoes, cabbage, and other traditional foods. Tongan families may do much the same, even though their menu may include roast pork, sweet potatoes, and roasted bananas. Some foods with an ethnic identification have spread throughout our society. Many families have corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, whether they're Irish or not. Scandinavian cookies and British plum pudding at Christmas are other examples of how foods that begin from a single ethnic heritage can be adopted by members of other groups. In the same way, many ethnic groups-especially churches and community-service groups-have found * that foods taken from their heritage are an ideal way to bring their community together and raise money for their organizations as well. In fact, much of the popularity of Greek, Mexican, and German food in the Salt Lake Valley can be attributed to the of community festivals of those groups, festivals that have made the wonderful tastes of Europe, Latin America and Asia accessible to all. But ethnic foods have a deeper significance. When black church members gather to eat soul food, when Polynesians celebrate a wedding with the traditional feast of their islands, when Swedes mark Midsummer's Day with traditional food and drink, or when a Catholic church brings its parishioners together with a full-scale Mexican feast, they are not only remembering and honor­ing their heritage. They are saying that these bonds con­tinue into the present, that the act of eating and drinking together is one of the most permanent ways we have of honoring and respecting each other-and enjoying each other's company as well. Foodways, like crafts and performing traditions, are not fixed and unchangeable. The best musicians, dancers, folk artists, and cooks maintain tradition but change it, too. We adapt musical sounds and instru­ments, change dance steps and costumes, use modern craft materials, find substitutes for traditional foods. Our skills develop, our traditions evolve. Product of both our own heritage and our individual craftsmanship, respon­sive to tradition and innovation, our folk arts link us together as individuals and as communities. For Further Reading Histories of the Salt Lake Valley: John S. McCormick, Salt Lake City, the Gathering Place: An Illustrated History (Windsor Publications, 1980); Thomas G. Alexander and James B. Allen, Mormons and Gentiles: A History of Salt Lake City (Pruett Publishing, 1984). Studies of immigrants and ethnics in Utah: Helen Papanikolas, The Peo­ples of Utah (Utah State Historical Society, 1976); Ethnic Folklore in Utah, a special issue of the Utah Historical Quarterly edited by Margaret K. Brady, volume 52, number 1 (Winter, 1984). Many other issues of the Utah Historical Quarterly have interesting arti­cles pertaining to the history of ethnic peoples of Utah and of the Salt Lake Valley. General introductions to folklore: Jan Harold Brunvand, The Study of American Folklore, 3rd edition (Norton, 1987);BarreToelken, The Dynamics of Folklore (Houghton Mifflin, 1979); Folklore and Folklife, a booklet published by the American Folklore Society (1984); and Folklife andFieldwork, a pamphlet published by the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress. Many of these publications are available from the Folk Arts Program of the Utah Arts Council (533-5760). While his son watches, Bounsouvine Siriamphone weaves a traditional Laotian rice carrier. Folk and ethnic arts are generally passed from one generation to another by observation or by oral communication, (photo: C. Edison) Full Joy, an eight-member ensemble of singers from several local congregations, performs a mixture of traditional and contemporary gospel music that expresses religious beliefs while reinforcing cultural and group identity, (photo: C. Edison) page 11