Celebrations between Cultures

In my family, holidays are a very important time for all of us to get together. Since my parents got divorced, I alternate going to my mother’s side or my father’s side for Thanksgiving and Easter every year, and I end up seeing both of them for our own Christmas celebrations. Those three holidays are our biggest meals when a lot of my immediate family from one side or the other gathers together to celebrate over a meal. It’s always a female member of my family who cooks most of the food; sometimes it’s a collaboration of many female family members.

For Easter and Christmas, we generally have very similar meals. The main dish is ham, and then we have other side dishes to go along with it, such as au gratin potatoes and green bean casserole. On Thanksgiving, however, it is a much bigger feast. My family makes many dishes, always including but not limited to: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn casserole, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie, and cookies. On all of these holidays, we always have core foods of meat (ham or turkey) and potatoes, but secondary foods, like casseroles, stuffing, and cranberry sauce are also added. There are also certain signifier foods for each holiday. Turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie signify that it is Thanksgiving, ham and a variety of Christmas cookies signify that it is Christmas, and Ham, pie, and Easter candy signify that it is Easter. I think these meals are “good” because they bring together my family. Holidays are the only time of the year when everyone takes a break from their regularly busy schedules to relax and enjoy each other’s company over a meal. We all celebrate together on holidays.

In other cultures, celebrations have similarities and differences to my family’s customs. In Menzel and D’Aluisio’s What the World Eats, the Caven family from the United States is mentioned as eating a lot of chocolate and candy on holidays. My family has this in common with them. In Great Britain, the Banton family goes to a local pub to celebrate their teenage son’s birthday. Oftentimes, my family also goes out to eat to celebrate birthdays. In China, the Cui family buys foods for their son’s birthday that they wouldn’t normally eat. He requested butter and cake, so they bought those Westernized foods for him. In my family, a birthday doesn’t pass without having a cake. In Guatemala, on holidays, the Mendoza family eats rice, beans, potatoes, eggs, and tortillas three times a day. They also eat fruit as dessert. My family has one big feast on holidays, not three like the Mendoza family does. We also have sweet, baked goods for dessert, never considering fruit to be dessert. It is very interesting to see how different traditions and eating habits differ between cultures.