Food is a Common Theme in Many Cultural Traditions
The Power of Tradition
Traditions Involving Food Bring Comfort and Connection to Families
Tradition: a ceremony consisting of actions performed in a prescribed order.
Traditions provide a sense of belonging and a connection to past generations. They provide comfort and security, help to pass on cultural heritage, and offer a way to connect families.
Most cultures have traditions involving food: harvest festivals abound across the globe, the Japanese have their sacred tea ceremony, and many religious celebrations, be they Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jewish or a multitude of others, involve food.
Growing up, my family’s traditions always involved food.
My father’s family was British, my mother’s Scandinavian. Christmas celebrations were divided between these two sets of traditions.
On Christmas Eve, my Scandinavian family served Lutefisk, a dish of dried whitefish and lye. It was a gooey, disgusting, gelatinous mess, (sorry Grandma.) My grandparents would open all their presents that night, and we would open our gifts from them.
