Question- Our association of food with culture is generally automatic and unquestioned. Food, because it is so inextricably tied with need and pleasure, becomes the nexus of rich association. In this essay, tell us about a dish that holds a strong associative power for you and teach us something that is of personal importance to you.
Coming from Greek descent, culture is very important to me. It is vital that I don't forget my heritage because I am going to have to pass it on to my children as my parents did to me and their parents did to them. For us Greeks, Easter is the most sacred and celebrated of all the holidays. To show our devotion and commitment to religion, we fast all meat and dairy products for seven weeks and attend church every week. On Easter Sunday we end our fast and celebrate and feast with family and friends.
I know that on Easter, after seven weeks of not eating any meat or dairy, I am going to enjoy the feast more than anybody else. I'm going to sit down, take my first bite and be overwhelmed by the taste that I haven't felt for seven weeks. Every year I experience this feeling. For the main course I eat platefuls of meatballs, chicken cutlets, different kinds of cheeses, rice, and everything else being served. For dessert I eat tsoureki (Easter bread), koulourakia (Easter biscuits) and other desserts. With no comparison, Easter is the day where my palete is overwhelmed the most by the pleasures of food.
While all the food served on Easter is absolutely delicious, the most important and mouth-watering dish is the lamb. Lamb is sacred for us and is therefore the centerpiece of the table during Easter. Greeks believe that every part of the lamb must be utilized. As a result, we separate the lamb into three distinct dishes. The first dish is mageritsa; take the intestines, heart and liver of the lamb, mix it with rice, dill, lettuce, eggs and lemon and make it into a soup. The second dish is kokoretsi; they cut the liver, spleen, heart and glands of the lamb and place them one by one threw a skewer, wrap the fatty membrane from the intestines around everything, and grill it. The last dish coming from the lamb is placing the lamb as a whole onto a spit, tying it securely so that it does not stir and slow roasting it until it is ready. This dish is my personal favorite because of the outstanding taste of the lamb, but even more so because it is the first piece of meat I eat after seven weeks. Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God, and on Easter we eat lamb to praise Jesus' role as a sacrificial lamb.
Coming from Greek descent, culture is very important to me. It is vital that I don't forget my heritage because I am going to have to pass it on to my children as my parents did to me and their parents did to them. For us Greeks, Easter is the most sacred and celebrated of all the holidays. To show our devotion and commitment to religion, we fast all meat and dairy products for seven weeks and attend church every week. On Easter Sunday we end our fast and celebrate and feast with family and friends.
I know that on Easter, after seven weeks of not eating any meat or dairy, I am going to enjoy the feast more than anybody else. I'm going to sit down, take my first bite and be overwhelmed by the taste that I haven't felt for seven weeks. Every year I experience this feeling. For the main course I eat platefuls of meatballs, chicken cutlets, different kinds of cheeses, rice, and everything else being served. For dessert I eat tsoureki (Easter bread), koulourakia (Easter biscuits) and other desserts. With no comparison, Easter is the day where my palete is overwhelmed the most by the pleasures of food.
While all the food served on Easter is absolutely delicious, the most important and mouth-watering dish is the lamb. Lamb is sacred for us and is therefore the centerpiece of the table during Easter. Greeks believe that every part of the lamb must be utilized. As a result, we separate the lamb into three distinct dishes. The first dish is mageritsa; take the intestines, heart and liver of the lamb, mix it with rice, dill, lettuce, eggs and lemon and make it into a soup. The second dish is kokoretsi; they cut the liver, spleen, heart and glands of the lamb and place them one by one threw a skewer, wrap the fatty membrane from the intestines around everything, and grill it. The last dish coming from the lamb is placing the lamb as a whole onto a spit, tying it securely so that it does not stir and slow roasting it until it is ready. This dish is my personal favorite because of the outstanding taste of the lamb, but even more so because it is the first piece of meat I eat after seven weeks. Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God, and on Easter we eat lamb to praise Jesus' role as a sacrificial lamb.
