A New Kind of Buffet (Final Draft) by Casey Covell
There are many types of meals in Western culture such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper. There is also another type of meal. This one is unique among all others. I grew up with this tradition as one of many family traditions. This particular tradition was having something called a Smorgasbord every Friday. I grew up with two older brothers, my father and a mom who really likes to cook. Most of the time throughout the week we would have a different dish almost every night and coupled with the size of our family this required a lot of food and in return gave us a lot of extra food. Eve
ry night we would collect the leftovers and put them in our fridge for later. However “later” was usually a Friday night meal which we called smorgasbord. This tradition had started as far back as I could remember. We would put all of the week’s leftovers on the table and dig in. It was definitely one of my favorite meals of the week.
Smorgasbord is something that started in Scandinavia. The smorgasbord started gaining popularity in the mid 1600’s and became a regular meal for many Scandinavians. A true Scandinavian smorgasbord would have a variety of bread, butter and cheese. This is because one of the Scandinavians favorite dishes was the open faced sandwich. Americans started to adopt the smorgasbord after it was introduced by Sweden’s delegation as part of a traditional buffet in the 1939 World's Fair in New York. This was the first time the smorgasbord was seen in America. It has since been adopted in more of an American fashion to include more than just sandwiches.
Americans have certainly adopted the smorgasbord to fit into a more American style of eating. The original Scandinavian smorgasbords were rarely a way to refer to their buffets, however Americans have adopted this word to describe something that has a variety of cold and warm dishes. Even the roots of the word show that Americans are misusing the word. Smorgas means sandwich and bord means table, and certainly Americans, including my family, have changed it from just a sandwich table.
The reason that smorgasbord Friday was one of my favorite days was because I could eat almost anything we had had previously in the week. It was like I could get the best of the week and that really appealed to a hungry ten year old. I remember eating spaghetti with mashed potatoes and ribs, it was really quite fantastic and I didn’t even have to wait until it was Thanksgiving! This tradition has since died out in my family since my brothers have moved out and there really isn’t any need for such a huge meal every Friday night.
Smorgasbords have been around for a very long time. Coming from Scandinavia they have quickly been adapted into American culture today. This meal came to America from a fair in New York City all the way to my home on Friday nights. This tradition was certainly one of my favorite traditions that I can remember. All those meals and talks around these meals were something that I will probably keep with me forever. This meal tradition will certainly be an interesting tradition to watch develop in today’s American society and it will definitely I hope to continue if I start my own family.
Sources: Source 1, Source 2
There are many types of meals in Western culture such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper. There is also another type of meal. This one is unique among all others. I grew up with this tradition as one of many family traditions. This particular tradition was having something called a Smorgasbord every Friday. I grew up with two older brothers, my father and a mom who really likes to cook. Most of the time throughout the week we would have a different dish almost every night and coupled with the size of our family this required a lot of food and in return gave us a lot of extra food. Eve
ry night we would collect the leftovers and put them in our fridge for later. However “later” was usually a Friday night meal which we called smorgasbord. This tradition had started as far back as I could remember. We would put all of the week’s leftovers on the table and dig in. It was definitely one of my favorite meals of the week.Smorgasbord is something that started in Scandinavia. The smorgasbord started gaining popularity in the mid 1600’s and became a regular meal for many Scandinavians. A true Scandinavian smorgasbord would have a variety of bread, butter and cheese. This is because one of the Scandinavians favorite dishes was the open faced sandwich. Americans started to adopt the smorgasbord after it was introduced by Sweden’s delegation as part of a traditional buffet in the 1939 World's Fair in New York. This was the first time the smorgasbord was seen in America. It has since been adopted in more of an American fashion to include more than just sandwiches.
Americans have certainly adopted the smorgasbord to fit into a more American style of eating. The original Scandinavian smorgasbords were rarely a way to refer to their buffets, however Americans have adopted this word to describe something that has a variety of cold and warm dishes. Even the roots of the word show that Americans are misusing the word. Smorgas means sandwich and bord means table, and certainly Americans, including my family, have changed it from just a sandwich table.
The reason that smorgasbord Friday was one of my favorite days was because I could eat almost anything we had had previously in the week. It was like I could get the best of the week and that really appealed to a hungry ten year old. I remember eating spaghetti with mashed potatoes and ribs, it was really quite fantastic and I didn’t even have to wait until it was Thanksgiving! This tradition has since died out in my family since my brothers have moved out and there really isn’t any need for such a huge meal every Friday night.
Smorgasbords have been around for a very long time. Coming from Scandinavia they have quickly been adapted into American culture today. This meal came to America from a fair in New York City all the way to my home on Friday nights. This tradition was certainly one of my favorite traditions that I can remember. All those meals and talks around these meals were something that I will probably keep with me forever. This meal tradition will certainly be an interesting tradition to watch develop in today’s American society and it will definitely I hope to continue if I start my own family.
Sources: Source 1, Source 2
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