Foodways
Porfiria Mijangos explains the elements of a traditional ofrenda for Day of the Dead in her region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Interview and footage are from the Day of the Dead celebration at Orleans YMCA, Medina, New York, November 1 2019. Members of her extended family built the large ofrenda seen here for the annual community-wide event.
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Elida Sanabria Aranda demonstrates how to make two Paraguayan staples, chipa guazu and sopa paraguaya, in her kitchen in Bedford Hills, NY.
Foodways
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Elida Sanabria Aranda prepares chipa, a traditional Paraguayan snack, in preparation for a visit from the Virgen of Caacupé and the reciting of the rosary, conducted by the Comisión Virgen de Caacupé Westchester, NY.
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Folklorist Maria Kennedy interviews Marty Morris and Diane Richards about their Cider Pressing in the Finger Lakes National Forest
This is a photograph of Suzanne Hesselson, posing with freshly baked crumb buns.
Foodways
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The St. Joseph's Day Table is a primarily Italian American tradition that honors the saint on his feast day, March 19. It recalls the answer to prayers for rain from drought-stricken faithful in Sicily in the Middle Ages, and their subsequent offering of a meal for travelers, strangers, the poor and the entire community in thanksgiving. This slideshow gives a sampling of the food traditions associated with the holiday, their symbolism and current practice in western New York.
Tour the Staten Island neighborhood of Port Richmond with young traditional dancer Jesus Almedo
Chief Tom Porter of Akwesasne, Iroquois Mohawk community in northern NY, tells (an abbreviated version of) the traditional longhouse story of "The Three Sisters." The story is about the importance of corn, beans, and squash as staple foods and includes the origin story of these "three sister" foods themselves and how they were determined to be the most prominent of all foods. Porter also talks about traditional preparations of corn and related foods.