From Cheryl in Food conference: It is interesting what people will and will not eat do to their cultural stylization. In some cases it even defines their class within a society. A case in point would be the Eta of Japan. The class was historically that of tanners, butchers, and executioners; hence, those who handled death literally. Since the Japanese are not really a nation of meat-eaters; they have something of a predisposition to look down upon those that deal with carcasses. The Eta are still very discriminated against today.

Also from Cheryl.. As for the popularity of Spam among the Pacific Islanders, I have my own theory on that. Pigs are the most widely dispersed livestock animal in the world. The Pacific Islanders, even the non-cannibal ones, have a lond tradition of eating and enjoying pork. From what little I know about the culture of Oceania, it would seem that at great feasts the featured dish was pork. The popularity of Spam with the Pacific Islanders may be because it is pork, a meat that they have long eaten and enjoyed. After all, they might get tired eating fish all the time.

To say that the consumption of food is a vital part of the chemical process of life is to state the obvious, but sometimes we fail to realize that food is more than just vital. The only other activity that we engage in that is of comparable importance to our lives and to the life of our species is sex. As Kao Tzu, a Warring States-period philosopher and keen observer of human nature, said, "Appetite for food and sex is nature."1 But these two activities are quite different. We are, I believe, much closer to our animal base in our sexual endeavors than we are in our eating habits. Too, the range of variations is infinitely wider in food than in sex. In fact, the importance of food in understanding human culture lies precisely in its infinite variability -variability that is not essential for species survival. For survival needs, all men everywhere could eat the same food, to be measured only in calories, fats, carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins. But no, people of different backgrounds eat very differently The basic stuffs from which food is prepared; the ways in which it is preserved, cut up, cooked (if at all); the amount and variety at each meal; the tastes that are liked and disliked; the customs of serving food; the utensils; the beliefs about the food's properties -these all vary. The number of such "food variables" is great. An anthropological approach to the study of food would be to isolate and identify the food variables, arrange these variables systematically, and explain why some of these variables go together or do not go together. For convenience, we may use culture as a divider in relating food variables' hierarchically. I am using the word culture here in a classificatory sense implying the pattern or style of behavior of a group of people who share it. Food habits may be used as an important, or even determining, criterion in this connection. People who have the same culture share the same food habits, that is, they share the same assemblage of food variables. Peoples of different cultures share different assemblages of food variables. We might say that different cultures have different food choices. (The word choices is used here not necessarily in an active sense, granting the possibility that some choices could be imposed rather than selected.) Why these choices? What determines them? These are among the first questions in any study of food habits. Within the same culture, the food habits are not at all necessarily homogeneous. In fact, as a rule they are not. Within the same general food style, there are different manifestations of food variables of a smaller range, for different social situations. People of different social classes or occupations eat differently. People on festive occasions, in mourning, or on a daily routine eat again differently. Different religious sects have different eating codes. Men and women, in various stages of their lives, eat differently. Different individuals have different tastes. Some of these differences are ones of preference, but others may be downright prescribed. Identifying these differences, explaining them, and relating them to other facets of social life are again among the tasks of a serious scholar of food. Finally, systematically articulated food variables can be laid out in a time perspective, as in historical periods of varying lengths. We see how food habits change and seek to explore the reasons and consequences. . . Adapted from K.C. Chang, Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1977. Reprinted with permission from Yale University Press. To read the rest of the article go to http://www.askasia.org/frclasrm/readings/r000044.htm

Greek culture and food "Whatever It Takes" Batches of baklava for the church, 175 chickens for charity. Marion Kopsidas has always known how to feed a crowd. By Stefanie Berry Special to The Washington Post Wednesday, September 13, 2000; Page F01 In one evening Marion Kopsidas peeled 50 pounds of onions by herself. Another time, she cooked 175 chickens in her own kitchen. Enormous family? No, and she's not a caterer. As usual, she was cooking for charity. She started almost 30 years ago, selling her special Greek food to raise money for the Salvation Army. She would cook spanakopita, moussaka, cheese pies, spinach pies, stuffed grape leaves, chickens and baklava. Then she would call friends and neighbors and take orders, making notes about the delivery. Either she would deliver the delicacies or they would pick them up at the Salvation Army. Or "Mrs. K," as many called her, would have their requests packed and ready to go. "I furnished all the food, cooked everything and gave the Salvation Army every penny of it," she recalls. Sitting on the screened porch of her home in Northwest Washington, she pulls out old records from 1973, tattered pages of names, notes, phone numbers, instructions about delivery. And a shopping list: 30 pounds of sugar, 20 pounds of flour, 26 pounds of butter, 16 pounds of onions. "One year, I cooked 175 chickens! My husband bought me a second stove and we put it in the laundry room, so I had two ovens in the kitchen and one downstairs, three total going around the clock. I was so young. I had great energy." And then there's her church, the Greek Orthodox church of Sts. Constantine and Helen on 16th Street NW. In 1961, when she was president of the women's charity group of the church, she and the priest decided to a hold a bazaar. "I thought people would come to help cook, but no one came. People had small children, and I was able to do it," she explains modestly. "I peeled and chopped 50 pounds of onions by myself one night, and that was before the Cuisinart!" Her hard work paid off. The church bazaar, which begins Friday, is now a regular fundraising tradition. Kopsidas today has lots of help at festival time. "Now all the women come to the church. It's mass production, but it's very good," she explains. "It's a lot of work, but teamwork. There's such fellowship, it's wonderful. And everyone says our food is the best--and it is. It's really good Greek food, the genuine article." When she is not cooking for charity, she relaxes by . . . cooking for neighbors. Sometimes just as a pleasant surprise, sometimes after a loved one has passed away. "Cooking is part of being Greek, I guess, or being a woman. I love it, it's part of me. And, I love eating." Kopsidas moved to a a small cul de sac in Northwest in 1945, 10 years after she married, and she's kept tabs on neighbors who have moved in, grown up and moved out since. (I know this because I'm one of them. My parents' house is just down the block.) She refers to neighborhood children as "her girls" or "her boys." My brother fondly recalls the times that Kopsidas called out to him as he passed by on his walk home from school. "She would give me a little china plate with three baklavas on it, and they'd be gone before I got home," he remembers. Once I opened our front door and found, for no apparent reason, a foil-wrapped dinner plate with a dozen or so kourabiedes, buttery shortbreadlike treats with almonds, cloves and powdered sugar. There was no note but no need for one. We'd always return the china the next day; whoever did so had another chance of getting another delicious snack. Drop by her modest "one-man operation" kitchen a few weeks before the festival begins and a sheet of baklava is sitting on the table, a beautiful, fluffy phyllo quilt. She is serving a lunch of Greek chili over rice, spanakopita, and then the baklava and kourabiedes I've been looking forward to. She didn't learn to cook from her mother, who was from Sparta, Greece. Instead, like many young brides, she taught herself after she got married. "When I was a little girl, my mother said, 'When you get up in the morning, the first thing you're going to ask yourself is, 'What is my husband going to have for dinner?' "My husband loved to eat and I wanted to make him happy. He had a Greek cookbook by Nicholas Tselementes, a wonderful book which wasn't easy to get at the time in the U.S." She disappears for a moment and returns with the book, covered in worn brown leather; the text and recipes are in Greek. "I really had to struggle with the syllables," Kopsidas recalls. "Of course, I'd gone to Greek school, but I didn't pay attention!" As festival time approaches, Kopsidas often spends her mornings at the church, where she will catch up with a group of 15 or 20 women making dolmades--the stuffed grape leaves that are popular at the bazaar. They talk about children and grandchildren while their hands busily fill the grape leaves with a mixture of rice, ground beef, lemon juice, parsley, onion, garlic and eggs. Trays of dolmades are already prepared, but the women keep working. The dolmades will be frozen until the festival, when they'll be cooked each day, and served with a freshly made lemon-egg cream sauce. They anticipate selling about 1,500 dolmades at the three-day festival, along with about 2,000 pieces of baklava, 2,500 pieces of spanakopita, 2,000 meatballs (served with freshly made tomato sauce) and much more. Preparation for the bazaar started in June under the organization of Cookie Papuchis. Food for the festival is cooked on the premises, using only fresh herbs and ingredients. The women know what can be frozen and what must be made fresh daily, as well as what needs to be done the week before the big weekend--pastries will be dipped in honey, the church hall will get decorated and so on. Yes, they follow recipes (and also sell a cookbook), but one woman explains that sometimes it's not exact. "Osopare," she says with a smile, explaining that's Greek for "whatever it takes." How do they do so much in such a short amount of time? "We've got great camaraderie," says Papuchis. "We're happy. We sing." One memory of a past bazaar remains strong: the year they ran out of baklava. " 'Go home and make baklava, they told us!' " says Kopsidas. "So we did." And I think to myself, "Osopare." MARIOR KOPSIDAS' RECIPE FOR KOURAMBIEDES Once, Marion Kopsidas was asked what she thought was the best Greek restaurant in town. She gave her own address. When Kopsidas was asked if she would share some of her recipes for this article, she exclaimed, "What am I doing? I'm giving away my children!" But then she obliged and also gave some cooking tips: Always use good olive oil and unsalted butter (never ever use canola oil or solid vegetable shortening). Never take shortcuts or skimp on ingredients. Use fresh parsley, mint and dill rather than dried. Kourambiedes (45 pieces) Kourambiedes were the traditional wedding treat of Sparta. "Everyone got one at my wedding," Marion Kopsidas recalls. "I don't like to call them cookies because they're not cookies--they're creations." Kopsidas says the secret is to whip the butter until it's white. The excess of confectioners' sugar represents wishes for good fortune. She prefers to sprinkle the confectioners' sugar on wax paper, transfer the cookies to the sugar, then cover them with additional sugar. 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 2 egg yolks 1 demitasse cognac (optional) 1 cup (about 6 ounces) blanched, coarsely chopped almonds, lightly toasted* (optional) About 45 whole cloves About 2 pounds confectioners' sugar for dusting Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Set aside. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until white, about 10 minutes. Beating constantly, slowly add the sugar and egg yolks and mix until combined. Using a spoon, stir in the cognac and almonds, if desired, and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Using about 1/4 of the dough, form it into a log about 1 inch in diameter. Cut the dough on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces. Press a clove into the center of each piece and shape each piece into a ball. Transfer the ball to the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining ingredients. Bake the dough in the preheated oven until lightly golden but not brown, about 20 minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven and immediately sprinkle the confectioners' sugar over the kourambiedes, being careful to cover the sides and tops of each piece. Set aside to cool for at least 1 hour. Using a small spatula, transfer each kourambiedes into a small paper pastry cup without disturbing the sugar. *NOTE: To toast nuts, spread them on a baking sheet and place them in a 350-degree oven, shaking the pan occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully because nuts will burn quickly. Per serving: 102 calories, 2 gm protein, 9 gm carbohydrates, 7 gm fat, 21 mg cholesterol, 3 gm saturated fat, 12 mg sodium, 1 gm dietary fiber Foodways: one in an occasional series that looks at cooking in the community. The annual bazaar at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. daily. 4115 16th St. NW, Washington, D.C.; call 202-829-2910. Stefanie Berry is senior editor of Washington Flyer magazine. � Copyright 2000 The Washington Post Company

English food! One of my favourite dinner party recipes ..we also call them Tipsy Chops and I put some cider in the stock instead of water .... Devon Chops http://englishculture.about.com/aboutuk/englishculture/library/bldevchop.htm A great autumn recipe from beautiful Devon A warming autumn recipe from the third largest of England's old counties. Cooking Time: 1 hour 20 minutes Oven: 180�C Serves 4 INGREDIENTS 4 large pork chops 2 medium-sized onions 8 medium-sized potatoes 4 cooking apples 100g Cheddar cheese 20g butter Seasoning COOKING INSTRUCTIONS Chop the onions into thin slices, blanch for 1-2 minutes and drain. Slice the potatoes and arrange a layer in a dish with the onions. Season, add sufficient stock to just cover and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Then, using a frying pan, brown the chops quickly in butter and add the potatoes. Quarter the apples and arrange around the chops. Deglaze the frying pan with the remaining stock and pour over chops. Sprinkle cheese over the dish and put a few extra dobs of butter around the dish - especially on the apples. Return to the oven for 30-35 minutes, brown and serve.

I'm going to try the pork chops out. They are something that both my house males will and do eat. Maybe I can get my husband to make them. He's the better one at cooking and sometimes he can really get into being creative in the kitchen.

Have you looked at the African food topic in Food conference???

Yes, I might even be brave and try some of them out.