I thought this reading was very interesting, the reason for this is because of the way that the food was described when she was at school and how the food would smell bad and the other kids would move away. However I did like the fact that she says that you get someone like this in every crowd of people. Which is very true, I thought it was funny in away because every child has that when they are growing up something in there lunch that there parents packed on the odd day would smell really bad. Even when I was working you get that person that eats before you and turns you off of your food. I know for a fact that I have experienced this. The way that Janzen described the food though as a child it made you not want to ever try the food, it was written in as a turn off from these foods well that is what I thought anyway. I did like at the end how she learned to appreciate who she was and the cultural food that she had been brought on and making these dishes for others and changing them. It was nice to see that she didn’t just forget about the cultural foods even thought she did have a very bad experience with them growing up. The food that she did make for others they really enjoyed.
Considering I really did not know anything about Mennonites before reading this, I thought it was interesting the types of lives they lived. I honestly thought that everyone in the same close culture as that would have the same beliefs and only be able to eat the same foods; however, the writer’s parents brought different lunches to their school. While I was reading that part, I imagined how almost every child goes through the agonizing embarrassment of not having a “cool” lunch; Mennonites just have it slightly worse since they could not even have coolers. However, I did find it interesting how her father was able to keep milk chilled by putting it down the well. I learned how they would be thrifty in the foods that they bought and how to make the most of them. Also, since they were not allowed to have store bought treats, they would try to make their own replicas or replacements of them; such as the Damp Persimmon Cookies with a Raisin-Walnut Motif. Honestly though, all the things that they made the food out of though, seemed rather nasty and I do not think I would really enjoy them.
In my opinion, I thought that the Borscht had the most in depth description and practically made my stomach upset just reading about it. Not only did she describe how her mother made it, but also how she made it as well. However, her originally distaste for Borscht just made me hate it. The way she described the smell as “a noxious blast of savage fart” and the vinegar and cream also make it smell like “milk gone bad.” All of the ingredients used, plus the negative way she describes it, just makes it an instant turn off.
The Cotletten-and-ketchup sandwich left a bad taste in my mouth when I was reading the description. All of the ingredients in this "Shame-Based Food" are things that I have had before, but never rolled together into this treat. Imagining biting into this sandwich almost made me sick thinking about it...honestly I had the flu and the thought of these foods rolled into one mass of nastiness was almost too much to bear.
I actually know some Mennonite people from my hometown. They have a store out in the middle of nowhere. I've gone to that store many times before and had some really tasty foods that they make (the donuts being the best). I wasn't really surprised all that much that this is a food that they eat, but from my past experiences with Mennonite home cooking I can understand why they don't serve this entree in their store.
Before reading this piece, I did not realize that Mennonites would have a food culture so different from that of the traditional midwestern or southern home. I've eaten at so-called Amish restaurants before, and with the addition of dumplings, it's pretty much the same food my mom makes. (Obviously the association between Amish and Mennonite was my own uncultured assumption, but that's a little beside the point.) Because I knew very little about Mennonites, I basically assumed that they ate anything they could grow or raise, still using ovens and the like, and sharing crops rather than visiting the grocery store. I expected biscuits, meat, potatoes and vegetables. The sort of cooking one would see at a Cracker Barrel, and all things I had eaten before. Obviously I was wrong, and in reading Janzen's piece, I learned a lot about new types of foods and — what I actually thought to be the most interesting part — how to store and prepare them without much use of plastic, refrigerators or microwaves.
The food which I thought had the most graphic description was the hot potato salad, or Warmer Kartoffelsalat, due much in part to the song the girls' mother used to sing, associating the mixture with a soldier soiling himself, and all the graphic descriptions Janzen and her sister invented to explain the song.
James Roller One of the places were I grew up in Missouri. had a very large Mennonite population. My mother hired them to do yard work at our house, and I noticed they pulled up in a truck. At first I thought they were Amish because they looked and dressed like Amish. I soon learned that Mennonites were much more liberal than the Amish.
I didn't think they would be using things like plastic wrap in their home. I thought things would be much more of a throwback to old times.
After reading Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, I learned many things about a culture that is drastically different from my own. I never realized that Mennonites are of Ukranian descent. I had always thought that these people just showed up in America and decided to make their own belief system. Mennonites are very simple people. Through the excerpt from the book, it easy to see that they don’t need fancy things to get through life. They are perfectly content with what they have. After reading about Janzen’s different childhood, it makes sense why she would feel somewhat embarressed by her culture. She was attending an elementary school that was not the perfect fit for a Mennonite child. Children growing up in what we consider normal households would think she was odd from the food she would bring to school, to the way she dressed.
The one food that stood out to me was the lard. It just seems disgusting to put it on a sandwich. I realize it is a main cooking ingredient, but to just but it on a slice of bread with some salt. That just does not make any sense to me at all. Also another thing that stood out to me was Borscht. This special soup made the author embrace who she really is. She now views the Mennonite ways of cooking as a great thing , and it can easily be combined with any other food to male a wonderful meal.
Rhoda Janzen used vivid language to depict Mennonite food as something that was shameful. Janzen used food as a way to explain the Mennonite culture. I felt that this culture was a poor one, but despite the lack of money the community viewed being able to provide for the family as something to be valued. I enjoyed the brief description of Mennonite history when Janzen explained Borscht by saying, “Our people borrowed it from the Russians during the long Mennonite occupation of Ukraine.” Borscht also seemed to have the most graphic description with a ruby color that will “stain to anything it touches” and a distinctive smell, a “noxious blast of savage fart.” Janzen also continues to describe the Borscht as a dish that “looks and smells like milk gone bad.” Janzen had an elegant way of describing her parent’s views of Mennonite food as a child and how these views and memories impacted Janzen’s personal food experience. Feeling shameful in the lunchroom because of a lack of food or processed sweets that the other children had is unfortunate. The use of integrating the five most “shameful” foods into the piece gave it an interesting outline. When Janzen discussed the time spent cooking in Europe, it was enlightening to see how food traditions that once brought shame, actually ended up being a useful tools. The techniques that the professionals were teaching, Janzen had a head start on. Of all the things in this piece, my favorite was the story of the college student. Janzen had a history of being ashamed of her culture's food, but is slowly incorporating these dishes into her every day life. The student got seconds of her Hollapse dish and said, "Dude, I don't know what these are, but they're amazing!" The way Janzen described the event was vivid and lighthearted, but something a college student could relate to. A story of something shameful becoming a trademark is something worth sharing.
While reading this post I learned a few things about the Mennonite family and the context they lived in. Such as their desperation and resourcefulness. I thought that the Hot Potato Salad (Warmer Kartoffelsalat) by far had the most disgusting, most graphic description even though it was the rated the "least embarrassing" food listed by the author. Even before reading the description she gave I immediately pictured a large bowl of potato salad at a fourth of July party that had been sitting in the sun all day and could imagine how embarrassing it would be to have that stinky, slimy mess in your lunch as a middle schooler. Another thing about this warm potato salad description that I found to be especially memorable was the "merry little ditty" that the authors mother sang about it. Not only are the words of this song graphic, but when reading them, I pictured my mother jokingly reciting it, which allowed me to share some of the authors feelings of shame and disgust associated with this food.
I agree, the Cotletten-and-ketchup did sound a bit too much, although I actually put ketchup on just about anything anyway. I'm not quite sure what "Cotletten" is but it doesn't sound like something I would request to actually eat. It sounds more like something I could find a Home Depot.
After reading the Janzen piece I have come to the conclusion that Mennonites are really strange people. Not to be offensive, but judging by the food they eat, and what they do as far as maintaining their Mennonite practice spins my head around. For example, when Janzen recalled a conversation she had with her mother at breakfast. The conversation is about the time Janzen’s mother had a dead rat in her well, and drank the water anyway. She described, “It stank of something awful-that sickish-sweet smell of decaying flesh”. Now why would anyone drink water that had a dead rat floating in it? As far as the food with the most graphic description, the Cottletten-and- ketchup sandwich was unforgettable. Mennonite meatballs, sardines, onions, condensed milk, ground beef, crushed saltine crackers, with ketchup soaked bread. It kind of reminds me of a Mennonite style hamburger. Not an average American meal at all, but if it works for the Mennonites, more power to them.
Mennonites appear to be a small cultural group who identify strongly with each other. Their food culture has the appearance of being poor and shameful, not only to outsiders but some Mennonites as well. While some keep proud of their culture, eating these unorthodox foods around others causes embarrassment. One particular food that stuck with me was the pink lard sandwich. Not only have i never eaten lard, its not something i would exclusively put on bread, especially if it was pink. These seemingly unappetizing food are being reworked however, into more desirable and new recipes.
After reading chapter 6 of Rhonda Janzen’s piece, I was very intrigued to learn a bit about the Mennonite culture, as I had no prior knowledge going into this reading. As we discussed in class, it is clear that the Mennonites draw resemblance to the Amish people, in the regard that both peoples have stuck to the ways and practices that their people have known for years, rather than embracing technology or society’s trends. This is evident, in the beginning of the chapter, when Janzen mentions that in 1942, the idea of a hot beverage was “otherworldly” and that the Mennonites were unaware of the concept of a thermos, even some 45 years after in invention in 1892. I believe it had to be hard for the author to grow up a Mennonite, due to the fact that she was teased by other children and did not seem to fit in, as evidenced by her mention of her classmates reactions to each food that she describes in her text. However, the Mennonites do have a few strange delicacies, such as lard sandwiches, sardines, and a common occurrence of cabbage in the foods. On the contrary, each culture is unique in their own regard, and it is only natural that a cultural group outside of my own is accustomed to different things that I. I think that the Borscht had the most graphic description. Janzen certainly spent the most time discussing it and she was very descriptive when it came to others opinions on the dish, especially when she was younger. Her description of the smell of the food is my favorite part of the text. She says that the Borscht smells like a “noxious blast of savage fart,” which I though was pretty funny. In addition, she talks of the vinegar curdling the milk, which sounds very unpleasant.
Entering this reading with really no knowledge of what a Mennonite is, my initial thoughts of Mennonites was that they were simply a different kind of Amish. Through the reading I began to understand the life of Mennonites and gathered that the life of a Mennonite includes many aspects including being resourceful and possessing the ability to find happiness in the simple, non-materialistic things in life. In the short story Mennonite in a little black dress, Rhoda Janzen describes her life as a Mennonite through her interactions with food. After Janzen describes the embarrassment she felt because of her culture throughout her childhood, I learned that this young Mennonite girl didn’t feel different just because of the obvious difference in her clothing from other students, but she was also embarrassed because of the different food she ate compared to other children. Being different in grade school is never easy for a child, whether because of clothes or school supplies, but Janzen declared herself different because of the foods she ate/liked. I think that the food that had the most graphic description was Janzen’s description of the ‘Borscht’. With the repulsive description of the distinctive smell of ‘farts’ that came from the dish and the nauseating appearance and consistency of ‘milk gone bad’, Janzen had my full attention with this description, although I was very disgusted the entire time. Janzen possessed the ability to put the meal in front of me, whether I wanted it to be there or not, so I could smell, taste and see what she had eaten.
I learned a few things about the Mennonite lifestyle from this memoir by Jansen. The thing that stuck out to me the most was that Jansen made the conversations between her and her family sound like a more normal or modern family. What I mean by that is they seem to be joking around a little bit and that kind of took me by surprise. From my prior knowledge of the Mennonite lifestyle I would have assumed that they would be more serious than most. Also, I was surprised that “embarrassment” was an issue. It wasn’t just an issue for Jansen, but also seemed to be on the minds of her parents as well. It seems to me that if they live the Mennonite lifestyle because they believe it is right, then they should not even think about what others think of them.
The Borscht received the most detail and most time spent, largely because according to Jansen it was the number one most embarrassing lunch food by a long-shot. Her description covers the taste, the color, the aroma (or stench), how it is made and the ingredients. I thought it was interesting that even though she loved the food and made it all the time for any guests she had she thought it was embarrassing for lunch. Her description turned me off to Borscht even though she continuously swore up and down that it was good and everyone else who she has made it for thinks it is good. I am very much concerned about how a meal looks and how a meal smells and she made it clear with her description that Borscht does not look or smell appetizing. Especially the part where she talked about taking it to work and heating it up in the lunch room made me feel a little uneasy.
I thought this reading was very interesting, the reason for this is because of the way that the food was described when she was at school and how the food would smell bad and the other kids would move away. However I did like the fact that she says that you get someone like this in every crowd of people. Which is very true, I thought it was funny in away because every child has that when they are growing up something in there lunch that there parents packed on the odd day would smell really bad. Even when I was working you get that person that eats before you and turns you off of your food. I know for a fact that I have experienced this. The way that Janzen described the food though as a child it made you not want to ever try the food, it was written in as a turn off from these foods well that is what I thought anyway. I did like at the end how she learned to appreciate who she was and the cultural food that she had been brought on and making these dishes for others and changing them. It was nice to see that she didn’t just forget about the cultural foods even thought she did have a very bad experience with them growing up. The food that she did make for others they really enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteConsidering I really did not know anything about Mennonites before reading this, I thought it was interesting the types of lives they lived. I honestly thought that everyone in the same close culture as that would have the same beliefs and only be able to eat the same foods; however, the writer’s parents brought different lunches to their school. While I was reading that part, I imagined how almost every child goes through the agonizing embarrassment of not having a “cool” lunch; Mennonites just have it slightly worse since they could not even have coolers. However, I did find it interesting how her father was able to keep milk chilled by putting it down the well. I learned how they would be thrifty in the foods that they bought and how to make the most of them. Also, since they were not allowed to have store bought treats, they would try to make their own replicas or replacements of them; such as the Damp Persimmon Cookies with a Raisin-Walnut Motif. Honestly though, all the things that they made the food out of though, seemed rather nasty and I do not think I would really enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I thought that the Borscht had the most in depth description and practically made my stomach upset just reading about it. Not only did she describe how her mother made it, but also how she made it as well. However, her originally distaste for Borscht just made me hate it. The way she described the smell as “a noxious blast of savage fart” and the vinegar and cream also make it smell like “milk gone bad.” All of the ingredients used, plus the negative way she describes it, just makes it an instant turn off.
The Cotletten-and-ketchup sandwich left a bad taste in my mouth when I was reading the description. All of the ingredients in this "Shame-Based Food" are things that I have had before, but never rolled together into this treat. Imagining biting into this sandwich almost made me sick thinking about it...honestly I had the flu and the thought of these foods rolled into one mass of nastiness was almost too much to bear.
ReplyDeleteI actually know some Mennonite people from my hometown. They have a store out in the middle of nowhere. I've gone to that store many times before and had some really tasty foods that they make (the donuts being the best). I wasn't really surprised all that much that this is a food that they eat, but from my past experiences with Mennonite home cooking I can understand why they don't serve this entree in their store.
Before reading this piece, I did not realize that Mennonites would have a food culture so different from that of the traditional midwestern or southern home. I've eaten at so-called Amish restaurants before, and with the addition of dumplings, it's pretty much the same food my mom makes. (Obviously the association between Amish and Mennonite was my own uncultured assumption, but that's a little beside the point.) Because I knew very little about Mennonites, I basically assumed that they ate anything they could grow or raise, still using ovens and the like, and sharing crops rather than visiting the grocery store. I expected biscuits, meat, potatoes and vegetables. The sort of cooking one would see at a Cracker Barrel, and all things I had eaten before. Obviously I was wrong, and in reading Janzen's piece, I learned a lot about new types of foods and — what I actually thought to be the most interesting part — how to store and prepare them without much use of plastic, refrigerators or microwaves.
ReplyDeleteThe food which I thought had the most graphic description was the hot potato salad, or Warmer Kartoffelsalat, due much in part to the song the girls' mother used to sing, associating the mixture with a soldier soiling himself, and all the graphic descriptions Janzen and her sister invented to explain the song.
James Roller
ReplyDeleteOne of the places were I grew up in Missouri. had a very large Mennonite population. My mother hired them to do yard work at our house, and I noticed they pulled up in a truck. At first I thought they were Amish because they looked and dressed like Amish. I soon learned that Mennonites were much more liberal than the Amish.
I didn't think they would be using things like plastic wrap in their home. I thought things would be much more of a throwback to old times.
After reading Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, I learned many things about a culture that is drastically different from my own. I never realized that Mennonites are of Ukranian descent. I had always thought that these people just showed up in America and decided to make their own belief system. Mennonites are very simple people. Through the excerpt from the book, it easy to see that they don’t need fancy things to get through life. They are perfectly content with what they have. After reading about Janzen’s different childhood, it makes sense why she would feel somewhat embarressed by her culture. She was attending an elementary school that was not the perfect fit for a Mennonite child. Children growing up in what we consider normal households would think she was odd from the food she would bring to school, to the way she dressed.
ReplyDeleteThe one food that stood out to me was the lard. It just seems disgusting to put it on a sandwich. I realize it is a main cooking ingredient, but to just but it on a slice of bread with some salt. That just does not make any sense to me at all. Also another thing that stood out to me was Borscht. This special soup made the author embrace who she really is. She now views the Mennonite ways of cooking as a great thing , and it can easily be combined with any other food to male a wonderful meal.
Rhoda Janzen used vivid language to depict Mennonite food as something that was shameful. Janzen used food as a way to explain the Mennonite culture. I felt that this culture was a poor one, but despite the lack of money the community viewed being able to provide for the family as something to be valued. I enjoyed the brief description of Mennonite history when Janzen explained Borscht by saying, “Our people borrowed it from the Russians during the long Mennonite occupation of Ukraine.”
ReplyDeleteBorscht also seemed to have the most graphic description with a ruby color that will “stain to anything it touches” and a distinctive smell, a “noxious blast of savage fart.” Janzen also continues to describe the Borscht as a dish that “looks and smells like milk gone bad.”
Janzen had an elegant way of describing her parent’s views of Mennonite food as a child and how these views and memories impacted Janzen’s personal food experience. Feeling shameful in the lunchroom because of a lack of food or processed sweets that the other children had is unfortunate. The use of integrating the five most “shameful” foods into the piece gave it an interesting outline.
When Janzen discussed the time spent cooking in Europe, it was enlightening to see how food traditions that once brought shame, actually ended up being a useful tools. The techniques that the professionals were teaching, Janzen had a head start on.
Of all the things in this piece, my favorite was the story of the college student. Janzen had a history of being ashamed of her culture's food, but is slowly incorporating these dishes into her every day life. The student got seconds of her Hollapse dish and said, "Dude, I don't know what these are, but they're amazing!" The way Janzen described the event was vivid and lighthearted, but something a college student could relate to.
A story of something shameful becoming a trademark is something worth sharing.
While reading this post I learned a few things about the Mennonite family and the context they lived in. Such as their desperation and resourcefulness.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the Hot Potato Salad (Warmer Kartoffelsalat) by far had the most disgusting, most graphic description even though it was the rated the "least embarrassing" food listed by the author. Even before reading the description she gave I immediately pictured a large bowl of potato salad at a fourth of July party that had been sitting in the sun all day and could imagine how embarrassing it would be to have that stinky, slimy mess in your lunch as a middle schooler. Another thing about this warm potato salad description that I found to be especially memorable was the "merry little ditty" that the authors mother sang about it. Not only are the words of this song graphic, but when reading them, I pictured my mother jokingly reciting it, which allowed me to share some of the authors feelings of shame and disgust associated with this food.
I agree, the Cotletten-and-ketchup did sound a bit too much, although I actually put ketchup on just about anything anyway. I'm not quite sure what "Cotletten" is but it doesn't sound like something I would request to actually eat. It sounds more like something I could find a Home Depot.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the Janzen piece I have come to the conclusion that Mennonites are really strange people. Not to be offensive, but judging by the food they eat, and what they do as far as maintaining their Mennonite practice spins my head around. For example, when Janzen recalled a conversation she had with her mother at breakfast. The conversation is about the time Janzen’s mother had a dead rat in her well, and drank the water anyway. She described, “It stank of something awful-that sickish-sweet smell of decaying flesh”. Now why would anyone drink water that had a dead rat floating in it?
ReplyDeleteAs far as the food with the most graphic description, the Cottletten-and- ketchup sandwich was unforgettable. Mennonite meatballs, sardines, onions, condensed milk, ground beef, crushed saltine crackers, with ketchup soaked bread. It kind of reminds me of a Mennonite style hamburger. Not an average American meal at all, but if it works for the Mennonites, more power to them.
Mennonites appear to be a small cultural group who identify strongly with each other. Their food culture has the appearance of being poor and shameful, not only to outsiders but some Mennonites as well. While some keep proud of their culture, eating these unorthodox foods around others causes embarrassment. One particular food that stuck with me was the pink lard sandwich. Not only have i never eaten lard, its not something i would exclusively put on bread, especially if it was pink. These seemingly unappetizing food are being reworked however, into more desirable and new recipes.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading chapter 6 of Rhonda Janzen’s piece, I was very intrigued to learn a bit about the Mennonite culture, as I had no prior knowledge going into this reading. As we discussed in class, it is clear that the Mennonites draw resemblance to the Amish people, in the regard that both peoples have stuck to the ways and practices that their people have known for years, rather than embracing technology or society’s trends. This is evident, in the beginning of the chapter, when Janzen mentions that in 1942, the idea of a hot beverage was “otherworldly” and that the Mennonites were unaware of the concept of a thermos, even some 45 years after in invention in 1892. I believe it had to be hard for the author to grow up a Mennonite, due to the fact that she was teased by other children and did not seem to fit in, as evidenced by her mention of her classmates reactions to each food that she describes in her text. However, the Mennonites do have a few strange delicacies, such as lard sandwiches, sardines, and a common occurrence of cabbage in the foods. On the contrary, each culture is unique in their own regard, and it is only natural that a cultural group outside of my own is accustomed to different things that I.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Borscht had the most graphic description. Janzen certainly spent the most time discussing it and she was very descriptive when it came to others opinions on the dish, especially when she was younger. Her description of the smell of the food is my favorite part of the text. She says that the Borscht smells like a “noxious blast of savage fart,” which I though was pretty funny. In addition, she talks of the vinegar curdling the milk, which sounds very unpleasant.
Entering this reading with really no knowledge of what a Mennonite is, my initial thoughts of Mennonites was that they were simply a different kind of Amish. Through the reading I began to understand the life of Mennonites and gathered that the life of a Mennonite includes many aspects including being resourceful and possessing the ability to find happiness in the simple, non-materialistic things in life.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story Mennonite in a little black dress, Rhoda Janzen describes her life as a Mennonite through her interactions with food. After Janzen describes the embarrassment she felt because of her culture throughout her childhood, I learned that this young Mennonite girl didn’t feel different just because of the obvious difference in her clothing from other students, but she was also embarrassed because of the different food she ate compared to other children. Being different in grade school is never easy for a child, whether because of clothes or school supplies, but Janzen declared herself different because of the foods she ate/liked.
I think that the food that had the most graphic description was Janzen’s description of the ‘Borscht’. With the repulsive description of the distinctive smell of ‘farts’ that came from the dish and the nauseating appearance and consistency of ‘milk gone bad’, Janzen had my full attention with this description, although I was very disgusted the entire time. Janzen possessed the ability to put the meal in front of me, whether I wanted it to be there or not, so I could smell, taste and see what she had eaten.
I learned a few things about the Mennonite lifestyle from this memoir by Jansen. The thing that stuck out to me the most was that Jansen made the conversations between her and her family sound like a more normal or modern family. What I mean by that is they seem to be joking around a little bit and that kind of took me by surprise. From my prior knowledge of the Mennonite lifestyle I would have assumed that they would be more serious than most. Also, I was surprised that “embarrassment” was an issue. It wasn’t just an issue for Jansen, but also seemed to be on the minds of her parents as well. It seems to me that if they live the Mennonite lifestyle because they believe it is right, then they should not even think about what others think of them.
ReplyDeleteThe Borscht received the most detail and most time spent, largely because according to Jansen it was the number one most embarrassing lunch food by a long-shot. Her description covers the taste, the color, the aroma (or stench), how it is made and the ingredients. I thought it was interesting that even though she loved the food and made it all the time for any guests she had she thought it was embarrassing for lunch. Her description turned me off to Borscht even though she continuously swore up and down that it was good and everyone else who she has made it for thinks it is good. I am very much concerned about how a meal looks and how a meal smells and she made it clear with her description that Borscht does not look or smell appetizing. Especially the part where she talked about taking it to work and heating it up in the lunch room made me feel a little uneasy.