Showing posts with label links. Show all posts
Showing posts with label links. Show all posts
Monday, September 7, 2020
Thursday, September 3, 2020
Thursday, September 8, 2016
THE PA MELTING POT - PART 7 - 3 - Southcentral Europe: SERBIANS
The
Melting Pot: A look at the evolution of food in Southwestern Pa. Part 7 - 3 SOUTHCENTRAL EUROPEANS: Serbs
The greatest numbers of Serbs arrived during the peak period
of immigration to America between 1880 and 1914 from Austro-Hungarian Croatia,
Slavonia, and other parts of Yugoslavia, Vojvodina, Turkey and Montenegro. The
overwhelming majority of Serbian immigrants were uneducated, unskilled peasants
from the countryside so they turned to the mining areas of Pennsylvania, Ohio,
West Virginia, etc. and to the big industrial cities of Pittsburgh and Cleveland
in the east, working in steel mills and related industries. They did not plan
to stay long, just long enough to make money and return home to their families
with earned money. There was another
mass immigration after World War II.
The number of Serbian Americans is supposedly over 440,000,
however, it is difficult to determine the exact number who came to America in
the early waves of immigration because immigration records often did not
distinguish between various Slavic and, especially, South Slavic groups. The term
Slavonic was used in recording immigrants from various parts of Eastern Europe.
Census statistics compiled before World War I had further confused the issue by
listing immigrants by their country of origin. Thus, the Serbs could be
included in with the Croats, Slovenians, Austro-Hungarians, Turks, Bulgarians,
or Romanians, or simply listed as Yugoslavs after 1929. (This paragraph cites information from Everyculture.com.)
Centuries of
Austrian and Austro-Hungarian rule richly influenced Serbian cuisine, especially
Serbian desserts and confections with a unique mix of various traditions: Kolijivo
(wheat pudding with religious significance), Baklava, Nut Rolls and Sachertorte
(Austrian chocolate cake or torte).
Srpska Kuhinja
(Serbian cuisine) is a mixture of cuisines, sharing characteristics of
the Balkans (especially the former Yugoslavia) and and The Mediterranean (Greek,
Turkish, Austrian and Hungarian). The national dishes include Pljeskavica (a
ground beef patty), Cevapi (grilled minced meat), and Sarma (grape, cabbage or Swiss chard leaves rolled around a
filling usually based on minced meat, or a sweet dish of filo dough wrapped
around a filling often of various kinds of chopped nuts).
Most people
in Serbia will have three meals daily, breakfast, lunch and dinner
as do we. Breakfast in Serbia can be
large and can consist of a choice of: tea, milk, milk coffee or cocoa milk,
pastries or bread served with butter, jam, yogurt, sour cream and cheese along
with bacon, sausages, salami, scrambled eggs and kajmak (a non-aged cheese similar to clotted cream).
The national
drink is the plum brandy Slijivovica (slivovitz). Other
distilled beverages are Komovica, Pelinkovac, Rakia (plum brandy) and
Vinjak. They drink fruit juices, mineral waters and Turkish coffee.
A number of
foods which are simply bought in the West, are often made at home and include Rakija (fruit
brandy), Slatko jam (Slatko is a thin fruit preserve made of fruit or rose petals) and various pickled foods.
The Serbian population is
alive and well in southwestern PA: the American Serbian Club of Pittsburgh (https://www.facebook.com/americanserbianclubPittsburgh/)(which has food and
music on some Friday and Saturday nights & is located in the South Side) and many other Serbian organizations. There are multiple churches in Allegheny
County. There are a few restaurants and a deli (in Dormont) serving/selling
Serbian/Yugoslavian food. http://www.fredosdeli.com/market.php
BELOW PHOTOS ARE LINKS AND INFORMATION
FOOD PHOTOS
END OF PHOTOS
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
THE PA MELTING POT - Germany: German Sects: Part 4: Alsace-Lorraine: Part 2 of 2: German or French? Alsace
The Melting
Pot: A look at the evolution of food in
southwestern Pa. – Alsace-Lorraine
Part 2 Alsace –
French or German?
(see photos and links below column)
U.S immigration records could have been flawed, faulty or
just incorrect. The Alsace and Lorraine
provinces were bandied about by the Holy Roman Empire and German nations. Both languages are spoken in both locations. Due
to heavy immigration the recordation officials could have registered the
countries of origin at the US entry portals by the language spoken, the
spelling of the names and the European ports of exit paperwork language.
An
interesting note is that during Germanic occupations the French Alsatians were
forced to change their French names to German from an “acceptable” list of
German names. The names of towns,
cities, etc. were changed to German and by observation of an Alsatian map one
can see the German names. The names of
foods were changed to German and the French were forced to speak German
especially in public. During parts of
the war-ridden 20th century the maps of France used in school to
study geography featured Alsace & Lorraine blacked out as if they didn’t
exist!!
Some years
ago I had the pleasure of spending several days in Colmar, Alsace, France where
the languages and menus were duel and the foods served were both French and
German. Since Alsace is adjacent to
Germany the German influence on the cuisine was strong. Alsatian cuisine combines the robust
earthiness of German fare and the subtleties of French cooking.
Traditional
foods are: (French names first if the names are different):
Choucroute or
Sukrut (sauerkraut), Backenoffe (stew of pork, mutton and beef), Berawecka
(rich fruitcake), Boudin Noir or Blutwurst (blood sausage-not as bad as it
sounds), Tarte Flambee or Flammenkueche (bacon and onion tart), spaetzle (a
type of noodle dumpling), waffelpsteta (truffled foie gras wrapped in pastry), Brioche
(highly enriched bread with high
egg and butter content), Tourtiere (pork and beef pie), Bouchées à la Reine or Suppepaschtete (meats and vegetables served in
puff pastry), Cervalas (short fat sausage similar to a hot dog), Jambon en Croute
or Schinken mit Rinde (ham cooked in a pie crust), Foie gras or Fettleber (food product made of a specially fattened duck or goose livers), Tarte au Raisins (grape tart) and Pain d’Epices
or Leb-und-Gewürze (pain d’épices is not a gingerbread as some translate it; pain
d’épices features whole-grain flour, anise seed, ginger and luscious French honey.) (I order it from a catalog near holiday time.)
Alsace is
very famous for its traditional clear, unsweetened fruit brandies called eaux-de-vie
which are distilled from pears, raspberries, cherries, plums, holly berries,
rowan berries, ginger, pine buds, rose hips, gentian and even celery’s country
cousin lovage.
Alsace is an
important white wine-producing region. Vins d'Alsace (Alsatian wines) are white and display a strong Germanic influence. Some of those are the world's most noted
dry Rieslings and Gewurztraminers. Other traditional whites include Muscat, Tokay
d’Alsace, Sylvaner and Pinot Blanc. They
do, however, produce one red which is Pinot Noir.
Beers are produced at Strasbourg area breweries
which include Fischer, Karlsbrau, Kronenbourg and Heineken International.
This is the question. Could some
of the citizens of south central Pennsylvania really be Alsatian (French)
rather than German because of the German influence on language, names, foods
and immigration records?
Christine Willard, a native of
western Pennsylvania, researches and blogs about the food unique to western
Pennsylvania. She currently resides in North Carolina. Her blog is www.ThePAMeltingPot.com.
Alsatian links
Menus with French and German names and photos below
http://www.marga.org/food/int/alsace/ VERY INTERESTING POST WITH
BIBLIOGRAPHY LINKS
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
THE PA MELTING POT - Special HALLOWEEN Post: Column, photos, links and videos!!
Below is the column I authored for the Herald-Standard newspaper which will appear on 10 30 2014. Below the column are photos and links referring to this column/blog.
The Melting Pot: A look at the evolution of food in Southwestern PA – SPECIAL
HALLOWEEN COLUMN
Halloween
originated as a pagan festival in parts of Northern Europe and is a time when
magic is most potent and spirits can make contact with the physical world.
Immigrants from Scotland and Ireland brought the holiday to the United States.
Halloween commercialization
began the US in the 1900’s when postcards and die-cut paper decorations were
produced. Halloween costumes appeared around the 1930,s and the custom of
'trick-or-treat' appeared in the 1950's.
Modern day
Halloween is more popular today with the youth in the countries below because
of the influence and commercialization by the US. In this column Halloween
customs of the top seven ethnic groups in western PA will be addressed.
IRISH/SCOTCH-IRISH
In the old
days children and poor people would sing and say prayers for the dead in return
for cakes. Guising (Scottish trick or treat) occurred when children disguised
in costumes went from door to door for food and coins and then the custom became
known as Trick no a choireail (Irish trick or treat). In Scotland in 1895 masqueraders would carry lanterns made out of
scooped out turnips & visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and
money. While going from door to door in disguise has remained popular
among Scots and Irish and the custom of saying "trick or treat" has
recently become common.
ITALY
These days among
the younger generations Halloween has become more popular than
Italy's very own Carnevale. Like the
Germans and Americans Italians get crazy about dressing up and playing tricks
on their friends. Dolcetto o scherzetto” (trick or treat) is also popular. During
the night of All Dead, the souls of the departed come back from beyond the
graves in a long line, walking around the streets of the towns. That is why we
carve a pumpkin and place it on the window with a candle inside it to use as a
lantern.
POLAND/CROATIA/UKRAINE
Pennsylvania is fourth in the US with Polish-American population with estimated
figures of a million and 9% in Pittsburgh. Today, Pennsylvania's Croatian
population of nearly a quarter million is the largest in the country and they
even have their own consulate in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has the nation’s fifth largest
Ukrainian community. These three countries are a large population contingent in western Pa. However, they don’t celebrate Halloween per
se but All Saints’ Day (Hallowmas - a Christian feast in honor of all the
saints) and All Souls’ Day (a day of prayer for the dead, particularly but not
exclusively one's relatives). The annual celebration is now held on 2 November
and is associated with All Saints' Day (1 November) and its vigil, Hallowe'en (31 October) which is a combined Catholic custom.
For recipes
from 1700s to 1960s and modern day links visit www.ThePAMeltingPot.com. Christine Willard, a
native of western Pennsylvania, researches and blogs about the food unique to
Western Pennsylvania. She currently resides in North Carolina. Her blog can be
found at www.ThePAMeltingPot.com.
German photos
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Irish/Scotch Irish photos
Italian Photos
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Polish photos
Croatian photos
Ukrainian photos
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Halloween customs around the world links
Around the world
Halloween in western PA
Haunted hayrides in PA
Google search link for lots of info about Halloween in western
and southwestern PA
HALLOWEEN VIDEOS LINK
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