Russian Mennonite zwieback[1]

Mennonite cuisine is food that is unique to and/or commonly associated with Mennonites, a Christian denomination that came out of sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation in Switzerland and the Netherlands. Because of persecution, they lived in community and fled to Prussia, Russia, North America, and Latin America. Groups like the Russian Mennonites developed a sense of ethnicity, which included cuisine adapted from the countries where they lived; thus, the term "Mennonite cuisine" does not apply to all, or even most Mennonites today, especially those outside of the traditional ethnic Mennonite groups.[2] Nor is the food necessarily unique to Mennonites, most of the dishes being variations on recipes common to the countries (Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Latin America) where they reside or resided in the past.[3]

Mennonites do not have any dietary restrictions as exist in some other religious groups. Some conservative Mennonites abstain from alcohol, but other Mennonites do not, with Mennonite distilleries existing as early as the late 16th century.[4]

Types of Russian Mennonite foods

Mennonite farmer sausages in a smoke shack

Russian Mennonite cuisine combines features of various countries due to the history of migrations and most dishes would generally fall under the umbrella of Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian cuisine. Mennonites in Latin America also adopted local dishes to their cuisine. The result of all these influences is a particular cuisine unique to Russian Mennonites and not synonymous to cuisines of any of their host countries. Common ingredients in Russian Mennonite dishes include cabbage, potatoes, sausage, and a range of dairy products.

Common Dishes

Common dishes for Russian Mennonites include:

  • bubbat, a raisin quick bread that is either baked inside a chicken while the chicken is being roasted or baked alone as a side dish
  • chicken soup made with star anise
  • dill pickles
  • disco/discada, a dish cooked in plow disk similar to a wok, used in Latin American Mennonite colonies, particularly Mexico
  • fleisch perishki/perisky/perishky, a meat bun
  • formavorscht, a smoked pork sausage, commonly called Mennonite farmer sausage[5]
  • green bean soup
  • jreewe, pork cracklings
  • kjiekle/kielke, pronounced cheel-chya, noodles
  • knackzoat, sunflower seeds
  • komst borscht (cabbage soup)
  • perishki/perisky/perishky, a fruit hand pie
  • plumemoos, a cold plum soup
  • rice pudding
  • roll kuchen, a sweet fried pastry often eaten with watermelon and syrup
  • schmaundt fat, a white cream gravy
  • summa borscht (summer borscht) a light cream and potato soup flavoured with formvorscht and dill
  • vereniki, a cottage cheese pierogi
  • waffles with a sweet white vanilla sauce
  • yerba mate, brought by Mennonites from Paraguay to Canada.[6]
  • zwieback, a two-layered white bun, traditionally roasted and dried, which can be stored for several months and was the main food eaten during Mennonite migrations.[7]

Seasonal Specialties

Dishes typically served once per year are:

  • paska, a sweet Easter bread
  • porzelke/portzelky or New Year's Cookies, a deep-fried sweet dumpling similar to oliebol

Cheese

Mennonite-style cheese is also famous worldwide. Queso Chihuahua or queso Chester are produced by Mennonites in northern Mexico and Bothwell Cheese is created by Mennonites in Manitoba, Canada.

Faspa

Russian Mennonites also commonly participate in a late-afternoon lunch called faspa, which usually consists of zwieback, deli meat, raisin buns, pickles, and cheese (especially cheese curds). This meal is easy to prepare and intended to give farmers a mid-afternoon lunch and Mennonite women a rest on Sunday.[8]

Types of Swiss Mennonite foods

Pfeffernüsse, small spice cookies popular among ethnic Mennonites[9]

Because they immigrated to North America much sooner than the Russian Mennonites, there are fewer identifiable dishes associated with the Swiss Mennonites or Pennsylvania Dutch. German beer sausage, schoofly pie, apple fritters, and Amish glazed donuts are a few notable dishes.[10]

Cookbooks

A variety of cookbooks have recorded and preserved Swiss and Russian Mennonite recipes. First published in 1960 by Steinbach, Manitoba's Derksen Printers, The Mennonite Treasury of Recipes (commonly called The Mennonite Treasury) popularized Russian Mennonite cuisine and is the third-best-selling Mennonite book of all time, surpassed only recently by the writings of best-selling novelist Miriam Toews.[11] The "Mennonite Girls Can Cook" series also popularized Russian Mennonite dishes,[12] and the More-with-Less Cookbook is found in many Mennonite kitchens. The Mennonite Community Cookbook by Mary Emma Showalter was originally published in 1950 and features Swiss-German Mennonite recipes.

References

  1. ↑ Voth, Norma Jost, "Mennonite Foods & Folkways from South Russia, Volumes I", pp. 35-55. Good Books, 1990. ISBN 0-934672-89-X
  2. ↑ "A celebration of food and faith". Canadian Mennonite. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  3. ↑ Andrew J. Bergman. "The Mennonite Obsession with Yerba Mate". MateOver Matter. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Ontario Mennonites and the Production and Use of Alcohol". Ontario Mennonite History. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  5. ↑ Gareth Brandt. "Mennonite food". Mennonite World Review. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  6. ↑ Andrew J. Bergman (6 November 2017). "The Mennonite Obsession with Yerba Mate". MateOverMatter. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  7. ↑ Norma Jost Voth. "Fragrant, golden zwieback comes from Russian Mennonite kitchens". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  8. ↑ "What is Faspa?". Goessel Museum. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Pfeffernuesse (Peppernuts)". Mennonitegirlscancook.ca. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  10. ↑ "Types of Food". New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ "How a meeting of Mennonites resulted in an all-time bestselling book". Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Mennonite Girls Can Cook becomes a live comedy". The Mennonite. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
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