Food & Identity

Culture: the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; (Merriam-Webster)

...or company, or country, or... it's what we use to identify ourselves and the group of folks who are similar to us.

I find that cultural self-identification begins and ends with music and food. (Today I'm focusing on what I'm most familiar with--food.) I believe that the things we enjoy together bind us to one another and help us to understand where we belong--where (and with whom) we feel most at ease. I think of Germany and I cannot help but jump straight to beer and platters filled with sausages, Sauerkraut and Schnitzel; Italy and the never-ending variety of regional pasta and sauces; Korea and Bibimbap, Bulgogi and the pungent fermented banchan (side dish), kimchi; and when I think of Greece, I remember Easter cookies fresh out of an outdoor oven in the courtyard of my maternal grandmother's home. I am so easily transported to a crispy filo dough-encased spinach and Feta cheese Spanakopita and a Greek Domatosalata (tomato salad). Yes, I can smell the dry oregano rubbed between the hands, I can see the juice of perfectly ripened tomatoes mixing with the dark green olive oil and I can feel the crunch of bread being torn in preparation for the dunking into that oh-so-easy salad dressing. I also think of the cold watermelon that we ate as a family under the speckled shade of the grape vines trellised over the stone floor of the courtyard. These smells and flavors are imprinted on my brain and I can use them to comfort me when I feel lost--when I'm not sure who I am. Give me a pan filled with lemony, oregano-infused chicken and potatoes and I am whole again. I am Despina Panagakos Yeargin and no one else.

What is the one dish that you identify with, culturally speaking?

For my Southern-born husband, Dewey, it might be his mother's barbecued rabbit. While his mother never ate it, having no desire to eat rabbit, she always prepared this dish made from wild rabbits that Dewey's father had hunted. She prepared it because it showed love to Dewey and his dad. I cannot tell you how many times my husband has shared this story of a meal that (unless he goes rabbit hunting) he will never get to eat again.

Chef Sean Brock shares his "favorite dish of all time" in this episode of one of my favorite PBS series, "Mind of a Chef." I cannot watch this enough. I love it for so many reasons.

Come on, share. What is your "favorite dish of all time" that you feel connects you to your culture? What's the one dish that binds you to your heritage?