Mormon foodways encompass the traditional food and drink surrounding the religious and social practices of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and other churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, colloquially referred to as Mormons. The Word of Wisdom prohibits Mormons from consuming alcohol, coffee, and tea. These restrictions began to be observed more closely in the 20th century. Traditionally, members are encouraged to fast two meals during the first Sunday of each month.
Mormon foodways in Nauvoo, Illinois, were similar to surrounding frontier foodways. Brock Cheney argues that Mormon foodways in the west were distinct from those of miners, Native Americans, and other non-Mormons in the same area. Mormons used seasonal harvests, foraged food, and their New England and European backgrounds to make food. [1] Mormon pioneers (hereafter referred to as "pioneers") used spices and tried to breed varieties of fruit, especially apples and peaches, that were well-suited to the surrounding climate. Pioneers learned what to forage from indigenous tribes, and relied on foraging in years of famine. They made their own sweeteners. Pioneers preserved fruit by drying it or canning it. They ate bread frequently, and communally butchered meat, which was preserved through smoking. Many pioneers immigrated from Europe, and brought food traditions from there, including making cheese and sauerkraut.
In the 21st century, Mormons share recipes to rotate their food storage, which often include processed foods. Food in the Mormon regional area (Idaho, Utah, and Arizona) is similar to Midwest comfort food, with Utah scones and funeral potatoes being unique to Utah. As the faith tradition becomes international, there is no longer a cuisine common to all members, but food remains an important feature of ward functions.
The term Mormon foodways is preferred over Mormon cuisine, even though the latter is in common use. Also, there have never been large differences between the foods eaten by American Mormons and those eaten by other Americans at the same time and place, and those smaller differences which have existed are not considered sufficient to constitute an independent cuisine. The term foodways is used in the social sciences to refer to overall food production, distribution, storage and consumption in a given society, culture, or subculture, which is the focus of this article. Cuisine has a narrower definition focused only on dishes, their ingredients and preparation methods. [2]
Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, commonly known as the "Word of Wisdom" gives members dietary guidelines. It says to consume fruit seasonally, eat meat sparingly, and to eat grain, especially wheat, which is referred to as "the staff of life". The scripture prohibits consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and "hot drinks" (coffee and tea). [3] The dietary restrictions in the Word of Wisdom were not consistently enforced until the 1900s, and in 1921 they became required for temple attendance. This increased enforcement in the 1920s coincided with the temperance movement, and perhaps grew from members of church leadership desiring approval from Protestants, who were generally for prohibition. [4] Pioneers in the late 1800s drank coffee, tea, and distilled spirits like whiskey. Pioneers also grew herbs for tisanes, including peppermint, rose hip, jasmine, hops, and lemon balm. [5] Christie Davies postulated that since coffee and tea are not obviously bad for health, avoiding them helps Mormons solidify a collective identity that in turn provides mental and physical health benefits. Abstaining from coffee and tea makes it more difficult to socialize with non-Mormons, further strengthening group identity. [6]
The first Sunday of each month is designated for fasting, or refraining from eating or drinking, for two meals. Members often donate the money saved from not eating as a fast offering to help feed the poor in their area. Local lay leaders called bishops help distribute these funds in the form of food to local poor people through their bishop's storehouse. Young children and people with health issues do not usually fast. [3]
Women baked bread for the sacrament in Kirtland, Ohio, and later in Utah in the 1890s. One woman would cut the crusts off the sacrament bread and transport it on a special crystal platter, creating her own ritual from domestic work. [7] Pioneers ate bread for meals, sometimes softened with molasses, and made soup with dried bread. [8]
Mormon foodways in Illinois were similar to other frontier cuisines. Most settlers in Nauvoo could not afford cookstoves and used "spiders", also called bake ovens, which are similar to modern Dutch ovens. [9] As many pioneers came from the Yankee Northeast, they called them bake ovens rather than Dutch ovens. Bake ovens allowed settlers to make bread without an oven. Some switched to stove cooking, while others continued cooking with bake ovens. [10] The settlers in Nauvoo had access to food crops including apples, cucumbers, Indian corn, gooseberries, grapes, melons, oats, peaches, potatoes, pumpkins, rice, squash, tomatoes, and wheat. Women made maple syrup when the snow thawed and enjoyed fresh vegetables in the summer. Women made pickles and dried fruit for future use. Vegetables were expensive to buy, while meat was comparatively inexpensive. If a household had a cow, it was the duty of the woman of the house or a child to milk the cow. [11]
Pioneers used heirloom breeds of crops and livestock. The first crop planted in Salt Lake Valley in 1847 was potatoes, followed by buckwheat, corn, oats, turnips, beans, and others. Peach pits and apple seeds were planted soon thereafter. [12] Some pioneers brought seeds from other places, including club-head wheat, the California pea, and the now-extinct Garnet Chili potato. [13] Onions were widely grown, but not garlic. Nutmeg was very popular, and cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper were also used. Farmers, including Wilford Woodruff, strove to breed varieties of apples, peaches, and pears suited for Utah's climate. Livestock had multiple uses, with Shorthorn cattle lugging wagons and plows as well as providing milk and beef. The popular Spanish Churro sheep was used for both wool and mutton. By the turn of the century, more specialized breeds had replaced these. [14] Lard was difficult to produce, but highly valued. [15]
Wheat flour was scarce, and many pioneers used corn flour instead, since it was cheaper and easier to grow corn than wheat. [16] Early grist mills, powered by water, provided a spectrum from whole-wheat to white flour (including middle types like Graham flour). Corn was easier to grow on undeveloped land and all social classes ate Hominy. [17] Poor families gleaned wheat from fields. [18]
Pioneers in 1847 learned about local foraging from indigenous tribes like the Goshutes. Pioneers ate wild sego bulbs, rose hips, berries, onions, nettles, amaranth, dandelion greens, wild mushrooms, and artichokes. They hunted elk, rabbit, sage hen, duck, trout, and salmon. [19] [20] When grasshoppers decimated crops in 1855, pioneers fished and stored millet and trout for their winter food supply. [21] The types of wild berries they harvested were serviceberries, chokecherries, currants, raspberries, strawberries, elderberries, and gooseberries. [22] Harvests varied depending on local rainfall and grasshopper infestations. During years of bad harvests, pioneers survived on what they could forage. [23] Seasonal food included peas, radishes, and sego bulbs in the spring, lettuce, beans, and corn in the summer, and tomatoes, cabbages, carrots, and potatoes in the fall. [24]
Brigham Young discouraged pioneers from buying imported sugar in an attempt to keep more cash within the borders of the Utah Territory. Brigham Young encouraged pioneers to plant sorghum cane and sugar beets, which they processed into molasses. [25] [26] Molasses was the main source of sweetening until a beet sugar factory was built in Lehi in 1890. [27] Box elder tree sap was supposedly similar to sugar maple sap, and some pioneers washed sap off of cottonwood tree leaves and reduced it to a syrup. [27] [26] Pioneers used sweet ingredients like squash and berries to sweeten their cakes. [28] Pioneers commonly had watermelon feasts to celebrate occasions. [29]
Starting in 1853, pioneers could buy yeast from Salt Lake City's California Bakery. Sometimes one household would propagate yeast, giving it out in return for flour or sugar that could feed the yeast colony. Cider-making was a familiar practice to immigrants from New England, which also produced yeast as a byproduct. [30] Pioneers also used sourdough starters. [31] Pioneers made vinegar from pea shells or grapes. [32]
Pioneers canned and dried fruit, storing enough to last two years. [33] They stored preserved food in cellars and ate it during the winter. [34] They dried fruit in large quantities, with one pioneer writing of inviting all the "young folks" to a "cutting bee" to prepare the fruit for drying. They traded dried fruit for flour or other items. In the 1860s, the LDS Church coordinated the sale of dried fruit, buying it from member farmers or accepting it as tithing and selling it to miners. Miners in Montana bought 200,000 pounds of dried fruit in 1864. Utah's cash-poor economy benefited from this rare export. [35] Pioneers also dried squash, pumpkin, and melon. In the absence of apples, pioneers made squash butter, or a spreadable form of squash. Pioneers also preserved fruit in molasses syrup. [36] When Mason jars were mass-produced in the 1860s, Utah women used them to preserve fruit. [37]
Pioneer remains were found to have decayed teeth, which scholars attribute to their starchy diet. Most immigrant pioneers came from the United Kingdom and continued eating bread and potatoes as was popular there. Wheat flour made up the most weight in wagons travelling westward, where they leavened their bread with saleratus, a type of unrefined baking powder. [38] Recipes from the pioneer era assumed bakers already knew how to make bread. [39] Leaders of the church encouraged pioneers to save meat for the winter and eat fish and eggs in the summer, which was a common seasonal practice. Pigs were usually ready for slaughter in December. [40]
To preserve meats, pioneers salted and dried fish in bulk. One pioneer woman used the salt from the Great Salt Lake to preserve her beef. [41] Neighbors helped butcher a pig for winter consumption; ham, shoulders, bacon, and sausage were made from the carcass. In some places, neighbors were traditionally given a small amount of fresh meat. [42] Pioneers smoked their own meat in a smokehouse or chimney. [43] Pioneers also used alcohol in preservation but vinegar was more common. They used natural fermentation to make sauerkraut and cheese. [44] Dairy products were a common bartering commodity. [45] A Jersey cow could produce more milk than a family would use, so excess milk was made into cheese. Neighbors would take turns sharing fresh milk so that one family could make cheese in bulk to share. [44] Home curing and fermentation, while common among pioneers, is not popular among members today. [46]
A large number of pioneers were born outside the United States. In 1860, 22% of Utah residents were born in Britain, and 30,000 residents came from Scandinavia. [47] By 1870, 37,000 European emigrants had settled in Utah. [48] Immigrants brought their own food traditions, including cheese making and holiday pastries. [47] Immigrants often continued the food traditions of their previous countries. Some Danish immigrants continued to drink coffee and English immigrants to drink tea, even though it was forbidden in the Word of Wisdom. [49] Rye did not grow well in Utah, so immigrants made do with wheat bread. However, they still made dishes like the English Yorkshire Pudding, Danish Ableskiver, and German Sauerkraut. [50]
Brigham Young used his wealth to provide himself and his family with exceptional food, both in type and quantity. He enjoyed donuts fried in lard, squab, and codfish gravy on a regular basis. [51]
Before 1950, it was common for church members to grow vegetables and fruit, can their own preserves, and make their own bread, pickles, and other food items. "From scratch" cooking is still traditional in some Mormon families, though after World War II, processed foods like canned soup, cake mixes, and gelatin became more common ingredients in cooking, and also a part of traditional food storage. Certain food storage staples spoil after several months or a year, and dedicated recipe books and blogs exist to help Mormon families rotate their food supply through everyday meals that make use of food storage ingredients. [52] Some members disdain foods made from other processed foods. [53] Leaders encourage members to store food for times of need, and baking is still popular among members today. [54] One 2012 survey found that 58% of members had at least three months of food storage in their house. Members in the 1800s experienced many deprivations, including food shortages, which may have influenced their food storage practices. [55]
Food common to the Mormon regional area is similar to Midwest comfort food, or "country home cooking". [56] Eric Eliason, a folklorist specializing in Mormon traditions, says that Utah scones, funeral potatoes, and green Jell-O are distinctive to Utah. [57] In the 1980s, Jell-O had a marketing campaign promoting the snack as fun for children and easy for parents, which played well among family-oriented Mormons. [58] In 2001, lawmakers named Jell-O as "a favorite snack food of Utah". [59] Dutch oven cooking is popular in the Rocky Mountain area, and food prepared in Dutch ovens isn't limited to stews but ranges from bread to roasts. [60] Utah is the second-largest market for Rhodes brand dinner rolls, and in 2004, Salt Lake City consumed the most soda of any city, which many Mormons drink instead of alcohol. Seasonal food festivals abound in Utah, including Bear Lake's raspberry festival and Payson's onion days. [61] Fry sauce "functions as a cultural identifier for Utahns", [62] and it is popular with both Mormons and non-Mormons in the state. [63]
Among Latter-day Saint families in Utah, families culturally privilege traditional gender roles where the father is the breadwinner and the mother is the main caretaker for the home and children. Parents are instructed to "help" one another, though the exact form of help is not defined. In one study, over half of Utah mothers worked outside the home. [64] Members value men who can sacrifice themselves for church and family, as opposed to traditional masculinity, which values individuality and aggression. [65] The same study found that women often managed the food work and assigned tasks to men. This gendered divide may help Mormons keep their cultural identity distinct from American culture. [66] Utah fathers enjoyed grocery shopping and taking their family out to eat as their way of helping with food needs. [67]
As church membership is increasingly international, there is no cuisine common to all members. Culturally, thriftiness and self-reliance are encouraged, which may make members worldwide more likely to cook at home. [54] Church events around the world include food, especially ward dinners and funerals. [56]
Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread, but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferred "from the surface of cakes, cookies, and pieces of bread to their center, typically conducted at elevated temperatures surpassing 300°F. Dry heat cooking imparts a distinctive richness to foods through the processes of caramelization and surface browning. As heat travels through, it transforms batters and doughs into baked goods and more with a firm dry crust and a softer center. Baking can be combined with grilling to produce a hybrid barbecue variant by using both methods simultaneously, or one after the other. Baking is related to barbecuing because the concept of the masonry oven is similar to that of a smoke pit.
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures. Corn flour has been important in Mesoamerican cuisine since ancient times and remains a staple in the Americas. Rye flour is a constituent of bread in both Central Europe and Northern Europe.
Cornbread is a quick bread made with cornmeal, associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States, with origins in Native American cuisine. It is an example of batter bread. Dumplings and pancakes made with finely ground cornmeal are staple foods of the Hopi people in Arizona. The Hidatsa people of the Upper Midwest call baked cornbread naktsi. Cherokee and Seneca tribes enrich the basic batter, adding chestnuts, sunflower seeds, apples, or berries, and sometimes combine it with beans or potatoes. Modern versions of cornbread are usually leavened by baking powder.
Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, and Southeast African countries.
Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of the people of Ukraine, one of the largest and most populous European countries. It is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil from which its ingredients come, and often involves many components. Traditional Ukrainian dishes often experience a complex heating process – "at first they are fried or boiled, and then stewed or baked. This is the most distinctive feature of Ukrainian cuisine".
Jewish cuisine refers to the worldwide cooking traditions of the Jewish people. During its evolution over the course of many centuries, it has been shaped by Jewish dietary laws (kashrut), Jewish festivals and holidays, and traditions centred around Shabbat. Jewish cuisine is influenced by the economics, agriculture, and culinary traditions of the many countries where Jewish communities have settled and varies widely throughout the entire world.
Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine is the typical and traditional fare of the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Latvian cuisine typically consists of agricultural products, with meat featuring in most main dishes. Fish is commonly consumed due to Latvia's location on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea.
Potato bread is a form of bread in which potato flour or potato replaces a portion of the regular wheat flour. It is cooked in a variety of ways, including baking it on a hot griddle or pan, or in an oven. It may be leavened or unleavened, and may have a variety of other ingredients baked into it. The ratio of potato to wheat flour varies significantly from recipe to recipe, with some recipes having a majority of potato, and others having a majority of wheat flour. Some recipes call for mashed potatoes, with others calling for dehydrated potato flakes. It is available as a commercial product in many countries, with similar variations in ingredients, cooking methods, and other variables.
Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is more meat-based than in previous periods; the current abundance of farmable meat has enriched its presence in regional cuisine. Traditionally, meat has been reserved for once-weekly consumption, typically on weekends.
Steamed bread is a kind of bread, typically made from wheat, that is prepared by steaming instead of baking. Steamed bread is produced and consumed all around the world. In Chinese cuisine, mantou is a staple food of northern China, where up to 70% of flour production in the region is used to make it. There are now many variations of mantou in China, for example wholemeal mantou, milk mantou, and sweet potato mantou. Wotou is another steamed bread found in northern China. In South African cuisine, a number of groups produce steamed bread, such as the Zulu ujeqe which can be eaten alone or with tomato soup. South African steamed breads are typically made at home for consumption on the same day, but research on commercial production continues to advance, aided by earlier developments in the mass production of Chinese steamed bread. In the cuisine of the United States, one example of steamed bread is Boston brown bread.
A teacake in England is generally a light yeast-based sweet bun containing dried fruit, typically served toasted and buttered. In the U.S. teacakes can be cookies or small cakes. In Sweden, they are soft, round, flat wheat breads made with milk and a little sugar, and used to make buttered ham or cheese sandwiches. In India and Australia, a teacake is more like a butter cake. Tea refers to the popular beverage to which these baked goods are an accompaniment.
Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant, in the sense of the rough area of former Ottoman Syria. The cuisine has similarities with Egyptian cuisine, North African cuisine and Ottoman cuisine. It is particularly known for its meze spreads of hot and cold dishes, most notably among them ful medames, hummus, tabbouleh and baba ghanoush, accompanied by bread.
Indian breads are a wide variety of flatbreads and crêpes which are an integral part of Indian cuisine. Their variation reflects the diversity of Indian culture and food habits.
Tatar cuisine is primarily the cuisine of the Volga Tatars, who live in Tatarstan, Russia, and surrounding areas.
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Podpłomyk, known in Old Polish as wychopień or wychopieniek, is the oldest known Slavic form of bread, in the form of a small flatbread baked on an open fire. It has been preserved to the modern day as a part of Polish cuisine.
Romani cuisine is the cuisine of the ethnic Romani people. There is no specific "Roma cuisine"; it varies and is culinarily influenced by the respective countries where they have often lived for centuries. Hence, it is influenced by European cuisine even though the Romani people originated from the Indian subcontinent. Their cookery incorporates Indian and South Asian influences, but is also very similar to Hungarian cuisine. The many cultures that the Roma contacted are reflected in their cooking, resulting in many different cuisines. Some of these cultures are Middle European, Germany, Great Britain, and Spain. The cuisine of Muslim Romani people is also influenced by Balkan cuisine and Turkish cuisine. Many Roma do not eat food prepared by a non-Roma.
Bread in American cuisine are a range of leavened and flatbreads made with various techniques that have been a staple of American cuisine since at least the time of the Thirteen Colonies.