Traditional Family Cooking: Women at the Forefront

Mostly the food is prepared in a traditional way with family. There is a tradition that all families’ women prepare the food and they along with their whole family sit and enjoys the food at one large dinning table. They are of the opinion that it gives them opportunity to enjoy food with family as well as to discuss each other matters and help in solving them. MOROCCO: The dinning pattern of Moroccan is very simple. They start up their day with a breakfast.

Many Moroccans eat bread with olive oil and tea along with different varieties of Moroccan crepes. Lunch is a big and main meal of the day.

Members of the family come home from school and work. They all sit around a table which is low in the salon. Traditionally, female members prepare foods and serve it. The female member comes before the meal time with a kettle of water, soap and a basin made of aluminum and a dishtowel which she carries over her forearm.

Get quality help now

WriterBelle

Verified writer

Proficient in: Cooking

4.7 (657)

“ Really polite, and a great writer! Task done as described and better, responded to all my questions promptly too! ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

She comes near to every family member of the family and pours a little water on their hands to wash with the soap and rinse. Everyone gathered around one big plate placed in the center of the table. When the family head says “Bismillah” (in the name of God), then the meal starts.

Usually the Moroccan eat with their right hand. The take a piece of bread in their hand to scoop up with the food and the feast begins. The lunch meal comprises of a selection of salads with a tagine and couscous.

After lunch, the host clears up the table and serves the tea with a plate of fruits. Since the lunch is the main meal time and big, the dinner is usually low and simple. Sometimes people eat leftovers from lunch or prepare soup. In the wedding the feast is enormous. The meal starts with pastilla, then tagine and after that couscous is served.

Then a variety of fruits and at last a mint tea is served with almond filled pastries. PAKISTAN: Normally, Pakistani takes three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. During evening times, many families take tea with local bakery products. However during Ramadan, the eating patterns changes to Sehri & Iftar. In this country, people usually eat with right hand and consider it as their Islamic tradition. Traditionally, Pakistani families serve food on a table cloth known as Dastarkhaun.. It is placed on floor and all the family members sit and eat over there.

A typical Pakistani breakfast consists of eggs, Paratha, lacha, kolcha with tea or Lasse. Qeema, fresh seasonal fruits, milk, honey, butter, jam, and nuts are taken during breakfast. On weekdays or holidays halwa puri with channay is highly popular and in demand. Pakistani breakfast tends to be very heavy. During lunch time, usually meat dishes are prepared with chapattis or rice. A typical Pakistani lunch consists of meat curries, or lentils with some traditionally made vegetables. Other than meat curries, rice are cooked with meat known as Briyani or Pulao is highly popular in the country.

Other than that, nihari and fried fish is also regarded highly during lunch time. Dinner is considered to be main meal when whole family gathers for a occasion. Lentils are never prepared during dinner time, and food prepared which is more savory like kofte, kebabs, Pulao, are prepared. These are served with mint sauce, pickle and salad. And later the traditional desserts are served like kheer, gulab jamun, and kulfi or ras malai and shahi tukaray. AUSTRALIA: The dinning patterns in Australia are very different then usually we observe in other countries eating habits.

Dinner is the main meal of the day when families gather and spend the whole evening together. Sometimes families sit at a dining table and ensure their children to use cutlery proper and obey table manners. Traditionally the food is cooked by the mother with or without help of any other family members. As social changes incurred, fathers also cook. In summers barbecues are very common especially on social events. It is a tradition that man cooks the meat, and women of that family do the other things. In Australia, eating out culture developed strongly. It is common for most of the people to go to cafes regularly for lunch or breakfast.

In general, visits to restaurants are considered as treat and are regarded as a special occasions. Fast food culture is highly popular in Australia nowadays. Local variants of fast food as well as international brands like Mc Donald’s, KFC, and Pizza Hut are very popular in the country. Local producer like Burger Fuel & Hell Pizza are highly rewarded. Georgia Pie is another highly rewarded company in the fast food industry. JAPAN: Japanese’s dinning patterns are very simple and highly sophisticated. Japanese food is served in bowls and the chopsticks are used along with bowls for dinning purpose.

Use of spoons is very rare in Japanese dinning. The Japanese often sit on western style table with chairs. They have cushions on tatami mats with a low dinning table. They usually sit on floor. Japanese food is freshly prepared and has a special aroma in their food. Sea food is must in their meal at dinner. Salmon, tuna, scallops, prawn and other types of sea food are eaten with a thick, spicy wasabe sauce. A part from it, the food is served elegantly in bite site portions. During lunch time, chicken grilled with quail eggs and pork are highly popular in Japan.

Mushrooms with other vegetables are an essential part of dinning at any time. Sushi is also very popular and is considered to be quiet expensive and special dish. It is usually prepared for special occasions. The Breakfast of the Japanese is very simple with mint or green tea with some biscuits or fruits. Japanese food is not only healthy but has low calories which is the key of their healthy living style.

REFERENCES:

Ashkenazi, Michael & Jacob, Jeanne 2000. “The essence of Japanese cuisines” Published by Pennsylvania press.  Casado, Matt A. 1997. “The Spanish cuisine. ” The gourmet’s companion. Published by: Wiley & Sons.