Discuss the differences and similarities between staple foods and preparation techniques within and across these countries.
danell11
chapter7.pptCentral Europeans, People of the Former Soviet Union (FSU)
and Scandinavia
Chapter 7
*
Introduction
- Some of the earliest and largest ethnic groups to the US
- Contributions include
Bread baking
Dairy farming
Meat processing
Beer brewing
| Central Europe | FSU/Russian Federation |
| Germany | Armenia |
| Austria | Azerbaijan |
| Hungary | Belarus |
| Romania | Georgia |
| Czech Republic | Kazakstan |
| Slovakia | Kyrgyzstan |
| Poland | Rep of Moldavia |
| Switzerland | Tajikistan |
| Liechtenstein | Turkmenistan |
| FSU/Baltic States | Ukraine |
| Estonia | Uzbekistan |
| Latvia | |
| Lithuania |
*
Immigration Patterns: Germans
- Largest ethnic group in US and least visible
- Earliest in early 1700’s
Pennsylvania Dutch seeking religious freedom
German farmers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana
- Second group in 1800’s
Farmers and their families
- Early 1900’s
Unmarried industrial workers
Descendants of Germans who had settled in Russia
- 1930’s brought Jewish refugees
- After WWII there were German refugees
Immigration Patterns: Poles
- Earliest to US was 1608
- Most came between 1860 and 1914
German ruled areas of Poland
Western Germany
- After 1890 Poles from areas under Austrian and Russian rule
Chicago, Buffalo, and Cleveland
- After WWI came from political dissatisfaction
Immigration Patterns: Others
- Austrians
Initially classified with Hungarians and unskilled
Austrian Jews fled Hitler’s arrival
- Hungarians
Early immigrants were wealthy political refugees after 1848
Later Ohio, West Virginia, N Illinois, Indiana coal mines
- Czechs
Nebraska, Wisconsin, Texas, Iowa, Minnesota farmers
Skilled laborers settling in the urban areas of New York, Cleveland, and Chicago.
Immigration Patterns: Others
- Slovaks
Northeast and Midwest
Coal mines, steel mills, and oil refineries
- Swiss
Artisans or professionals
Urban areas of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Los Angeles
- Gypsies or Roma
Insular ethnic group found throughout the world
In US primarily from central Europe
Immigration Patterns: FSU
Often listed as Russians
- Lithuania
After 1861 and then after WWII
- Ukraine
Recruited to coals mines of Pennsylvania
Factory work in Ohio, New York, and Michigan
- Armenia
First in 1890 for economic opportunity
Armenians from Turkey came after both WW
Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Detroit, Chicago, and the agricultural region of Fresno, California.
Current Demographics and Socioeconomic Status
- Germans
Some maintain aspects of their heritage
higher in economic achievement and are generally conservative in attitudinal ratings
Heavy anti-German sentiment after WWI
Rapid assimilation
- Poles
Just below or solidly at middle-class level
Formation and leadership in labor unions
Current Demographics and Socioeconomic Status: Others
- Austrian
Clothing and tailoring, mining
Bakeries, meatpacking operations, and restaurants
- Hungarians
Urban, white collar workers
Engineers
- Czech
Sales, machinist, or white-collar jobs
Founded businesses in cigars, beer and watches
Current Demographics and Socioeconomic Status: Others
- Slovak
White collar families with high incomes
Strong family and cultural ties likely
- Swiss
Multicultural, multilingual
Work in Swiss companies
- Gypsies
Tradition of roaming, are very mobile
Independent trades and service positions
Women are often in the mystical arts
Fortunetelling
Current Demographics and Socioeconomic Status: Russia/FSU
- Recent immigrants settle in urban areas
Ukrainians in PA
Armenians in CA
- Most have easily assimilated
In part due to anticommunist sentiments
- Recent immigrants with advanced degrees
- Recent Armenian immigrants may be far below poverty line
Worldview – Religion: Germans
- Early immigrants primarily Lutheran
- Some Jewish
- Some Roman Catholic
- Mennonites
From the Anabaptist movement
Simple lifestyle
Rejection of oaths, public office, military service
- Amish
Strict sect of Mennonites
No electricity or cars
*
Worldview – Religion: Poles, Others
- Poles
Devout Catholics
- Austrians
Most Catholic
Some Jewish
- Hungarian and Slovaks
Primarily Catholic
- Czech
Catholic, but many have left the church
*
Worldview – Religion: Gypsies
- From Asian Indian religions
- Worldview called Romaniya
Believe in God, devil, ghosts, and predestination.
Persons and things are either pure or polluted.
Preserve purity
Avoid contamination through contact with non-gypsies
- Some Gypsy Americans are Christian
Often fundamentalists
Combined Christian and Gypsy concepts
*
Worldview – Religion:
Russians and People of the FSU
- Russia
Majority are of the Russian Orthodox Church
Soviet Jews
- Ukrainian and Lithuanian Americans
Roman Catholic
- Armenian Americans
Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Rite of the Roman Catholic Church
*
Worldview: Family
- Germans
Traditionally large families on farms, later in businesses.
Pennsylvania Dutch (descendants of German immigrants) and the Amish still have large families
- Poles
Patriarchal with mother caring for home.
Wives and children rarely worked outside the home
*
Family: Others
- Austrian
Tight nuclear family with father in charge of finances and mother ruling home life.
- Czech and Hungarian
Male dominated with many relatives.
- Slovaks
Strong family ties with respect for parents.
*
Family: Gypsies
- Maintain extended family
- Temporarily band together while traveling with multifamily groups.
- Father in charge of all public matters
- Women take care of family income and manage all money matters
Retain power due to ability to communicate with the supernatural world
- Arranged marriages are common
*
Family: Russians
- Traditionally large families
- Women legally dependent on their husbands
Changing
Families are smaller due to women working and with more education
Still maintain all household chores
- Russian families have fewer children
- Education emphasized
Russian language
*
Family: FSU
- Ukrainian and Lithuanian early immigrants were single men who were basically forced to intermarry with other ethnic groups.
- Men dominate the household
- Women run the home
- Extended family is the norm
- Armenians are tight-knit with respect for elders maintained
- All are similar to the average American household
*
Traditional Health Beliefs and Practices: Germans
- German biomedicine uses botanicals extensively
- Illness may be believed to be caused by infection or stress
- Expected consequence of hard labor
- Dress properly, avoid drafts, breathe fresh air
- Exercise, work hard
- Take cod liver oil
- Suffering is “a blessing from God”
- Lots of home remedies used
*
Traditional Health Beliefs and Practices: Pennsylvania Dutch
- Hearty diet
- Home remedies, homeopathy, healers common
- Sympathy healing
Laying on of hands
Powwowing or Brauche
Charms, spells, and blessings to cure symptoms
Healer acts as God’s instrument and requests God’s direct assistance in treatments
- Reflexology
- Herbal Teas
*
Traditional Health Beliefs and Practices: Poles
- Shortage of medical supplies in Poland led to widespread use of faith healers
- Faith in God
- Religious medals
- Avoid sick people
- Healthy diet
- Sleep
- Keep warm
- Exercise
- Loving home
- Avoid gossip
*
Traditional Health Beliefs and Practices: Gypsies
- Health maintained through marimé
Purity and pollution related to Asian Indian beliefs
- Separate clean from unclean
Upper body and all secretions pure
Lower half unclean and shameful
Avoid contamination of upper body by touching lower body
Left hand only for personal care
Menstrual blood especially impure
Avoid public places non-Gypsies frequent
Don’t touch contaminated surfaces
*
Traditional Health Beliefs and Practices: Gypsies
- Illness due to
Contact with non-Gypsies
Conditions caused by spirits, ghosts, the devil, or breaking cultural rules
- Home remedies
- Gypsy healers
- Non-Gypsy conditions are suitable for treatment by non-Gypsy physicians
May still consult a non-Gypsy folk healer
*
Traditional Health Beliefs and Practices: Russian and the FSU
- Natural cures, alternative medicine used extensively
- Often integrated with biomedical therapy
- Saunas
- Massage
- Steam baths
- Balneotherapy
Bathing in mineral springs
- Mud baths, sulfurated hydrogen baths
- Homeopathic preparations and herbals
*
Traditional Health Beliefs and Practices: Russian and the FSU
- Magic and the occult
Cure illnesses due to supernatural
Psychics and Znakarki
Elder women who whisper charms and sprinkle water with magic powers
- Siberia
Spiritual crisis, soul loss, evil spirits, breach of taboos, curses
Shamans realigned life forces, retrieved souls
Visualization, singing, chanting, prognostication, dream analysis, séances
- Russians who don’t believe in occult practices
Illness from social conflict, political problems, war, poor medical care, starvation
*
Traditional Food Habits:
Ingredients and Common Foods
- Determined by what grows in cooler, damper climates
- Potatoes, Beans, Beets
- Cabbage and cabbage family
- Eggs and Dairy products
- Pork, Beef, Fish
- Seafood from the Baltic
- Fresh fish from local lakes
- Apples
- Rye, Wheat, Barley
*
Traditional Food Habits:
Ingredients and Common Foods
- Dried, pickled, or fermented for preservation
Cucumber pickles
Sour cream
Sauerkraut
*
Traditional Food Habits:
Ingredients & Common Foods: Breads
- Rye and other grains
- Darker
Whole or cracked wheat
Black
Rye or pumpernickel
Caraway, egg, or potato
Cornmeal
Pretzels
- Dumplings
May be stuffed or unstuffed
- Pastries
- Stuffed pockets
- Buckwheat - Russia
*
Traditional Food Habits:
Ingredients & Common Foods: Meats
- Pork is the most popular
Schnitzel
Meat cutlet
Ham
- Beef
Sauerbraten
German National Dish
- Veal
Young calf
- Poultry
Goose
German Holidays
Chicken Kiev
Russia
- Game meats
Hasenpfeffer
German rabbit dish
Bigos
Polish “Hunter’s Stew”
*
Traditional Food Habits: Ingredients and Common Foods: Ground Meats
- Seasoned with a binder to stretch meat when it was expensive or scarce
- Steak Tartare
Raw ground beef on toast
- Ground meat to stuff vegetables or make meatballs
- Hungary known for gulyás
Goulash
Paprika-spiced stew
Sweet Hungarian Paprika is ground, dried, red chile peppers with sugar added
*
Traditional Food Habits: Ingredients and Common Foods: Sausages (Wurst)
- Rohwurst
Cured and smoked
Can be eaten as is
- Bruhwurst
Frankfurter
- Kockwurst
Like a cold cut
- Bratwurst
Similar to raw sausage links
- Polish
Kikielbasa
Garlic flavored
- Austria
Wieners
- Czechs and Slovaks
Jaternice
from pork
Jelita
blood sausage
*
Traditional Food Habits:
Ingredients and Common Foods: Fish
- Fresh and salt water fish
Fresh, smoked or cured
- Trout, carp, and eel
- Germany
Pickled herring
- Russia
Smoked salmon and sturgeon
Caviar (sturgeon roe)
- Poland
Fish is not popular as associated with Soviet rule
*
Traditional Food Habits: Ingredients and Common Foods: Dairy products
- Eaten daily
- Cheeses served at any meal
- May be fresh and sweet or strongly flavored
- Fresh milk
- Butter
- Butter milk
Kefir (FSU)
- Sour cream
- Fresh cream
- Whipped cream daily in Austria and Germany
*
Traditional Food Habits: Ingredients and Common Foods: Fruits/Vegs
- Cold weather fruits and vegetables
- Red and green cabbage
- Potatoes
- Beets
- Kohlrabi
- Cucumbers
- Onions
- Mushrooms
In Poland a meat substitute on religious fast days
- Temperate vegetables more common now
Cauliflower and tomatoes
- Apples, cherries, plums, berries
*
Traditional Food Habits: Ingredients and Common Foods: Sweets
- Enjoyed daily
- Cheesecake, coffee cakes, doughnuts, nut or fruit-filled individual pastries
- Apple, cherry, raspberry, chocolate, almond, poppy seed flavors
- Austria:
Apple strudel
- Germany:
Black Forest Cake
- Lithuania and Poland:
Branch Cake
- Russia
Cooked fruits such as the berry pudding kisel
*
Traditional Food Habits: Ingredients and Common Foods: Beverages
- Central Europe
Coffee is most common
- Russia
Strong tea
Served in samovar
Brass urn heated by charcoal
*
Traditional Food Habits: Ingredients and Common Foods: Beverages
- Germany, Austria, Hungary,
Beer most popular
Excellent wines
- German beer can be sweet, bitter, weak strong and typically bottom-fermented
Lager
Bock beer is strong flavored
Marzenbier
Midway between pilsner and bock
Weissbier
Wheat beer with lemon or raspberry fruit syrup
Schnapps
Fruit brandy
*
Traditional Food Habits: Ingredients and Common Foods: Beverages
- Czechs
Pilsner Beer
Bitter but light in color
- Poland
Goldwasser
Has flakes of gold
Mead
Fermented from honey
- Russia
Kvass
Sour beer fermented from rye bread or beets
Vodka
Distilled spirit from potatoes
Popular in Poland and Russia
*
Switzerland
- Known for Fondue
Hot dish of melted cheese, etc., in which food is dipped
- Zesty cheeses with holes
Emmenthal
Original Swiss cheese
Gruyère.
*
Armenia
- Cuisine greatly influenced by Greeks, Turks, Persian, Syrians and other Arabs
- Word for bread is “meal” or “food”
- Lamb is staple meat, pork rarely eaten
- Freshwater fish
- Yogurt and cheese daily
- Fresh, dried and pickled fruits and vegetables
*
Armenian Dinner
- Mezze with anise-flavored aperitif raki
- Soups made with yogurt, eggs, lemon, tomatoes
- Salads
- Kebabs, stew or casserole
- Bread such as pita
- Fruit for dessert
- Coffee, tea, than
Yogurt thinned with water and flavored with mint
- Wine and brandy
*
Meal Composition and Cycle:
Daily Patterns
- Central Europe
5 – 6 large meals daily in the past
Today 3 meals plus snacks
- Gypsies
Two meals daily
Morning and late afternoon
Social occasions
- Russia and the FSU
3 hearty meals daily
Snacking is rare
*
Meal Composition and Cycle:
Daily Patterns: Central Europe
- Breakfast
Bread
Butter and jam
Hardboiled eggs
Cheese
Ham
- Midmorning breakfast
Coffee
Tea
Hot chocolate
Pastries
Bread and fruit OR
A small sandwich
- Lunch
Soup
Fish, 1-2
Meat dishes with vegetables
Stewed fruit
Dessert with whipped cream
- Mid-afternoon break
Coffee or tea, cake or cookies
- Evening meal
Lighter
Salads
Pickled or smoked fish
Cheese, ham and sauces
Selection of breads
*
Meal Composition and Cycle:
Daily Patterns: Russia and the FSU
- Bread
- Soup made from beets
Borscht
- Cabbage
- Fish
- Kasha
Cooked porridge from barley, buckwheat or millet
- Lithuania
Soup is replaced with salad
*
Meal Composition and Cycle:
Daily Patterns: Russia
- Czars ate 4 meals daily
- Zakuski
Part of the traditional czarist evening meal
“Small bites”
Still part of Russia today
An array of appetizers
From simple to countless
*
Etiquette
- More formal than Americans
- Germany
Invitations for dessert or wine later in the evening
- Host begins meal with appropriate announcement
- Gifts are good quality dessert wines, candies, or pastries
Not Vodka where it is served
- Fork in left hand, knife in right
In Germany do not use knives unless absolutely necessary
Knife to cut potatoes, etc., an insult as it implies the food is tough
- Hands above the table with wrists on edge
- Pass dishes to left
- Specific glasses for each beverage that will be refilled quickly
Consume vodka in one shot
*
Special Occasions
- Usually have religious significance
- Traditions often have pre-Christian roots
- Christmas and Easter are major holidays
- Immigrants brought to the US
Christmas tree
Easter egg hunt
*
Special Occasions: Germany
- Land of popular festivals
- Lots of food and drink
- Munich’s Oktoberfest
Sausage eating and beer drinking
World’s largest public event
- Easter bunny hides eggs on Easter
- Ham and pureed peas for Easter dinner
*
Special Occasions: Germany
- Advent and Christmas are holiest seasons
Tree lit on Christmas Eve
Christ Child brings presents
Take tree down on Epiphany
Large dinner on Christmas
- Christmas Carp on Christmas Eve
- Hare or goose with apples and nuts on Christmas Day
- Marzipan
- Spice cakes
- Cookies
- Fruit cakes
- Gingerbread houses
*
Special Occasions: Poland
- Christmas and Easter are the most important
- Easter dinner
Roast suckling pig, hams, coils of sausages and roast veal
Painted hard boiled eggs, grated horseradish
Paschal lamb sculpted from butter or white sugar
Babka is a rich yeast cake
All food blessed by the priest
*
Special Occasions: Poland
- Christmas Eve is a fast day
Meatless meal served when the first star of the evening is seen
Barszcz Wigilijny
Soup similar to borscht made with mushrooms and beets
Carp on Christmas Even
Makowiec
A rich Christmas cake
- New Year’s Eve
Paczki
Jelly doughnuts
- New Year’s Day
Bigos
Washed down with vodka
*
Special Occasions: Czech Republic
- Czechs
Eat carp four ways at Christmas
Breaded and fried
Baked with dried prunes
Cold in aspic
Fish soup
Vanocka
Christmas bread
Easter dinner is ham or roasted kid
*
Special Occasions: Slovakia
- Christmas
- Break Advent fast with oplatky
Wafer with honey
- Christmas Eve meal
Wild mushroom soup
Cabbage
Potato dumplings
Stuffed cabbage
Mulled wine
Babalky
Bread with poppy seeds
- Easter
- Dinner dessert called paska
Pyramid shaped dessert
- Meal will be blessed by the priest on Holy Saturday
- Ham, sausages, duck or goose
- Horseradish
- Syrek
Easter cheese
- Hrudka
Imitation cheese ball
*
Special Occasions: Hungary
- Easter is most important holiday
- Pancakes are eaten on Shrove Tuesday
- Sour eggs and herring salad on Ash Wednesday
- Easter week has new spring vegetables and painted Easter eggs
- Good Friday meal with wine-flavored soup, stuffed eggs and baked fish
*
Special Occasions: Easter
- Feast of Easter Eve
Rich chicken soup with dumplings or noodles
Roasted meat
Pickled vegetables
Stuffed cabbage rolls
Cakes and pastries
Coffee
*
Special Occasions: Hungary
- Christmas Eve
Meatless with fish and potatoes
- Christmas Day
Roast turkey, chicken or goose
Roast potatoes
Stuffed Cabbage
Desserts
Brandied fruits
Fruit compote
Poppy seed and nut cakes
*
Special Occasions: Austria
- Christmas and Easter
- Fasching
Originally a pagan ceremony
Drive out the evil spirits of winter
Parade down the streets ringing cow bells
Now a multi-day carnival associated with Lent
Doughnuts, fritters, other sweets are typical food
*
Special Occasions: Russia and the FSU
- Fast days
Fish
Mushrooms
Forest meat
- Easter is most significant holiday
- Butter Festival
Maslenitas
Precedes the 40 days of Lent
Blini
Raised buckwheat pancakes
Numerous toppings
Butter is traditional as can’t be consumed during Lent
*
Special Occasions: Russia and the FSU
- Easter meal after midnight Mass
Pasha
Cake decorated with XB (Christ is Risen)
Kulich
Cake made from rich, sweet yeast dough
Red or hand decorated eggs
- Pentecost (Trinity) Sunday
Kulich leftover from Easter eaten
*
Special Occasions:
Russia and the Ukraine
- Christmas Eve
12 different dishes represent the 12 apostles
Kutia or Sochivo
Porridge of wheat grains, honey, poppy seeds and stewed, dried fruit
- Christmas Day celebrated with festive meal
- New Year’s
Children receive gifts
Spicy ginger cakes
- Krendel
Pretzel shaped sweet bread
Eaten on wedding anniversaries and name days
*
Therapeutic Use of Food: Germans
- Chicken soup
Diarrhea, vomiting, sore throats
- Tea
Upset stomach
- Milk with honey
Coughs
- Pennsylvania Dutch
Cold drinks are unhealthy
Eat meat 3 times per day
Herbal teas for many complaints
*
Therapeutic use of food: Poles
- Colic
Tea, soda water, sauerkraut
- Cramps
Chamomile tea
- Colds
Tea with dried raspberries
Wine
- High blood pressure
Cooked garlic
- Coughs
Warm beverages
- “Sweat out” an illness
Tea with honey and alcoholic spirits
*
Therapeutic Use of Food: Gypsies
- Fresh food most nourishing
Leftovers unwholesome
Canned and frozen items not fresh
- Non-Gypsies carry disease
Use disposable plates and utensils in public places
- Insufficient intake of lucky foods cause poor health
Salt, pepper, vinegar, garlic
- Home remedies are common
Tea with crushed strawberries
Asafetida (devil’s dung)
Ghost vomit (Fuligo septica)
*
Therapeutic Use of Food:
Russia & the FSU
- Butter
Eyesight
- Dill
Dyspepsia
- Honey
Flatulence
- Gogomul
Egg yolk, sugar, milk, baking soda
Respiratory infections
- Teas
Raspberry, chamomile, eucalyptus, cornsilk
- Alcoholic beverages
Kvass cures hangovers
- Balsam flavored vodka
Cures anything
- Vodka with herbs
Supplement
Consumed as a shot
Added to coffee or tea
- Full hearty meals
To maintain health
*
Adaptations of Food Habits in US
- Diet not significantly different from U.S. fare
- Quantity did increase
Especially of meat
- Many traditional foods have become common US fare
- 3 meals a day but with more dairy and sausages
- More traditional meals served at special occasions
- Amish families celebrate religious holidays only
Add a day to the celebration
Celebrate quietly at home with family
Nutritional Status
- Central European diet among highest in animal products, potatoes, sweets, refined/processed items
- Germany
Highest in fats and oils of animal origin
50% German woman are obese, 66% for men
- Slightly lower rates in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary
- Recent Russian and FSU immigrants consume diet high in saturated fats, sodium, sugar
- All at risk of developing CVD and other conditions associated with high-fat items
*
Nutritional Status: Russia and FSU
- Immigrant nutritional deficiencies from lack of vegs/fruit
- Dietary selenium deficiency, moderate iron and manganese deficiencies
- High rates of diabetes, HTN, HLD, CVD, TB, HIV
- Leukemia and thyroid cancer rates increased
80% of Russian immigrants from regions affected by Chernobyl
- May resist x-rays
*
Nutritional Status: Russia and FSU
- Strongly support breastfeeding
- High rates of iron-deficiency anemia and endemic goiter
- Heavy alcohol use in Russia, some FSU nations and Poland
- High rates of gastric cancer Lithuania
Due in part to a high consumption of salted and cured meats and fish
- Homemade cheeses with unpastuerized milk
Increased risk of listeria
- Eggs sometimes used raw in uncooked dishes
Increased risk of salmonella
Nutritional Status: Gypsies
- Boston Study:
High rates of HTN, Type 2 Diabetes, Vascular disease
Obesity at 85%
Chronic renal insufficiency
- Europe
Dyslipidemia, obesity and insulin resistance
- At risk for genetic problems
PKU
Galactokinase deficiency
Citrullinaemina
Wilson’s Disease
Metchromatic Leucodystrophy
- High rates of infant mortality and unfavorable birth outcomes
- Life expectancy overall is low
*
Counseling
- May be a language barrier with Russians
- Germans – monochronistic
Formal, polite, respect education and titles
Direct eye contact and handshake
- Poles – quieter than Americans
Uncomfortable with loudness
Handshake and direct eye contact
- Both may be reluctant to seek medical care
Counseling: Amish
- May need an interpreter
- Reserved and respectful and expect it in return
- Conservative and modest
- Modern health technology ok
- No photos, pictures, depictions of human faces
- More digestive problems, obesity, bedwetting
- High fat, high sodium diet
- Less issues with heart disease, alcoholism
- Genetic issues such as PKU more common
Counseling: Gypsy Americans
- English may be second language
- Illiteracy common
- “Man’s worth is in his girth”
- May seek care only in emergencies
- May refuse injections
Impure
- Will bring food to patients
Contamination feared
Counseling: Russians
- Russians expect more formality
- May always respond “no”
- Direct and possible loud communication
- 3 quick kisses and handshake common greeting
- Direct eye contact
- Preventive medicine unfamiliar
- Compliance issues with medication or lifestyle changes
- Avoid mental health care
Counseling: Russians
- Many feel ailments/treatments not understood in US
- Culture specific ailments not familiar in US
- Medical care in Russia drugs with alternative treatments
- Prefer injections over oral meds
- May self medicate
- Assertive in US as they had to be assertive in Russia
- Many are highly acculturated
Scandinavians
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland
*
History of Scandinavians in the US
- Legend says Norsemen first discovered North America
- Documented presence in US
1629 when Jonas Bronck (Danish) bought land that became known as the Bronx in NYC
- Immigration began in 1800’s
Norwegians, Swedes primarily
Few Icelanders
- Moved to homestead Midwest states
- Danes developed 24 Danish communities
*
Current Demographics
- All assimilated well
- Were literate, valued education
- Norwegians and Sweded
Continued farming in Midwest
Construction
- Swedes
Engineering, architecture
- Danes
Livestock, dairying
- Finns
Natural resource management, mining engineering, geology
Women in home economics, nursing
Worldview: Religion
- Majority who immigrated were Lutheran
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- If not Lutheran, other Protestant churches
*
Luther’s Seal
Worldview: Family
- Nuclear family was center of rural life
- Large families with father head of household
- Kinship ties were strong
Brought other relatives to US and helped them
- Smaller families now
Finns often with one child
*
Traditional Health Beliefs and Practices
- Fish necessary for good health
- Norway
Cough and cold confectionaries
Herbs and dietary supplement boost immune function
- Finns
Natural health care
Massage, cupping, bloodletting
Sauna used for many things
- Swedish Massage
Relaxation
Increase circulation
Promote Healing
*
Traditional Food Habits
- Hearty and simple
- Abundant seafood
- Limited foods produced on land
- Preservation methods of previous centuries used
Fish dried, smoked or pickled
Milk is fermented or allowed to sour
Preserve foods with salt
*
Ingredients and Common Foods: Staples and Regional Variations
- Feature natural flavors with subtle seasoning
Black pepper, onions, dill
Juniper berries
Caraway, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom
- Lots of FISH
Scandinavian dried salt cod
Pickled herring
Lox
Fish sticks
Fish with cheese and breadcrumbs
*
Ingredients and Common Foods:
Staples and Regional Variations
- Cream and butter popular
- Lots of fermented dairy products
Sour cream, cheese, buttermilk, yogurt-like products
- White sauce with milk and parsley
Known for cheeses
Common for breakfasts and snacks
*
Ingredients and Common Foods:
Staples and Regional Variations
- Meats more popular inland
- Pork is popular, veal, mutton and lamb
- Reindeer
- Game meats such as elk
- Goose and grouse, not chicken
- Historically meat was scarce and chopped and combined with other ingredients
Swedish meatballs
*
Ingredients and Common Foods: Staples and Regional Variations
- Cold weather vegetables (especially root crops)
Rutabagas
- Yellow and green split pea soups with ham or pork
Served with pancakes
- Wild mushrooms
- Berries
Lingonberries
- Fruits stewed or made into preserves
Sometimes served with meats
*
Ingredients and Common Foods: Staples and Regional Variations
- Breads are often rye
Norwegian flatbreads
Swedish knäckebröd
Like hardtack
Norwegian lefse
Potato and wheat flour dough
Norwegian potato dumplings
Tunnbrød from Sweden
Thin, tortilla like bread
Sold as fast food wrapped around fillings
*
Ingredients and Common Foods: Staples and Regional Variations
- Desserts rich but not overly sweet
- Butter, cream, sweetened cheese, cardamom
- Aebelskivers
Danish pancake puffs
- Pancakes or crepes served with berries or jams
- Almonds, almond paste or marzipan
- Danes known for their pastries
Weinerbrød
*
Ingredients and Common Foods: Staples and Regional Variations
- Milk is popular beverage
- Aquavit
Water of life
Distilling potatoes or grain
Flavored with caraway or other herb
Serve ice cold in a Y-shaped glass
Down like a shot, chase with a beer
*
Meal Composition and Cycle:
Daily Patterns: Breakfast
- 3 meals a day
- 3 coffee breaks
- Breakfast
Bread
Eggs
Pastries
Cheese
Fruit
Potatoes
Herring
Sour cream or yogurt like fermented milk
Fruit soups in winter
*
Meal Composition and Cycle:
Daily Patterns: Lunch
- Lunch in Denmark
Smørrebrød
Open-faced sandwich
Means buttered bread
May be a snack
- Swedes consume hot lunch
Pea soup
Brisket or hash
Mashed rutabaga
At work or school cafeteria
Swedish Smörgåsbord
- Buffet meal
- Means “bread and butter table”
- Large variety of hot and cold dishes
- Served with Aquavit
- Starts with herring, then other fish dishes
- Meats and salads
- Hot dishes like Swedish meatballs and mushroom omelets
- Dessert
- Today served only on special occasions
*
Meal Composition and Cycle:
Daily Patterns: Dinner
- Heavier dinner if lunch is light
Appetizer, soup, entrée, vegetables, dessert
Potatoes
- If heavier lunch, lighter dinner
Informal
Convenience foods
Italian foods
- 3 most common dishes in Swedish homes
Falun sausage, spaghetti with meat sauce, pizza
- Milk, beer or wine
Coffee or wine with dessert
Etiquette
- Fork in left hand and knife in right
- Sandwiches consumed with fork and knife
Only bread eaten with hands
- Keep hands above the table with wrists on edge
- Pass dishes to the left
- Finland: wait for host to initiate eating
- Norway: male guest of honor is to thank hosts on behalf of all guests
- Wine is always appreciated as a hostess gift as it is expensive
*
Special Occasions
- Conferences and meetings
- Milk and coffee with sweets
Cinnamon buns
Open-faced sandwiches
Fruit
- Sandwich cakes
Layers of bread and fillings
Served mid-afternoon at events
*
Special Occasions: Christmas
- From Advent to St. Canute’s Day on January 13
- Sweden
December 13
St. Lucia’s Day
- Christmas Eve is the big meal
*
Special Occasions: Christmas in Norway
- Rice porridge sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon
- Lutefisk
Dried salt cod soaked in lye, then boiled
- Pork ribs and sausages with cabbage
- Dried lamb rib specialty with mashed rutabaga
- Cod or halibut with white sauce and green peas
- Boiled potatoes
- Cookies and cakes
Traditionally 7 types of sweets
*
Special Occasions: Christmas
- Christmas Smörgåsbord in Sweden
20 – 30 dishes
Ham, herring
- Denmark
Roast duck, goose or pork with brown gravy
Red cabbage and caramelized potatoes
Rice pudding with whipped cream and hot cherry sauce
- Finland
Pickled herring and salmon, then ham
Vegetable casseroles with potatoes, carrots, or turnips
Prunes, cookies, pies
*
Special Occasions: Christmas
- Dozens of cookies
Ginger and cloves
- Tree hung with gingerbread figures
- Deep-fried, brandy-flavored dough
Klejner, klener, klenätter
- Traditional holiday beverage
Glögg
Hot alcoholic punch
*
Special Occasions: Midsummer’s Day
- June 24
Swede’s Day in the US
- Maypoles, bonfire, feasting
- Sweden
Boiled new potatoes and wild strawberries
- Norway
Rømmengrøt
- Finland
New potatoes with dill and smoked salmon
*
Adaptations of Food Habits
- Diet did not change significantly
- 3 meals a day
Dairy products
Animal protein
- Many Scandinavian foods adopted by Americans
Nutritional Status: Intake
- In Finland
40% obesity for women, almost 60% for men
Somewhat lower for Denmark, Norway, Sweden
- Finns
High rates of heart disease, stroke, alcoholism, depression, lactose intolerance
- Scandinavian Americans may be at increased risk for CVD due to high fat, high cholesterol diet
*
Counseling
- Low context communicators
- Highly analytical
- Emotions controlled
- Superficiality and personal inquiries are avoided
- Danes are less formal
- Direct eye contact
- Firm, brief handshake
- Other touching is reserved for friends and relatives
- Sickness considered a weakness
- Will avoid talking about it
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Luther’s Seal
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
