I was 54 years old before I realized that potatoes are an ethnic food.

[hedgehog]

Really, for me, it's not really dinner unless there are potatoes on the table. I thought everyone ate that way. All joking aside, it's an aspect of my Irish heritage that I never really realized was different.

Anyoen else find out that something you took for granted was really an ethnic custom?

[Bucky]

1. Actually, it's a Peruvian food. Which the Aztecs stole from them.

So obviously the potato is really a German dish.

[Left Is Write]

2. I've always taken lefse for granted, but I also knew it was ethnic.

[Critters2]

7. I had never even heard of lefse or kringla until I lived in

central Iowa. And this from someone who grew up in Eastern Iowa...the German part.

[Odin2005]

16. LOL, ditto for this Minnesotan!

[TZ]

3. I thought everyone had

gefilte fish all the time...NOT! :rofl:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gefilte_fish
I actually learned fairly quickly that the stuff I ate frequently is quite diferent from what most people eat..the :wtf: look when I mentioned something like gefilte fish helped...

[Jokerman]

4. My Irish mother was a "potato pusher"

I never cared for them and it bugged the hell out her.

She tried for years to convince me that being part Irish, I had to love potatoes, but it never worked.

[hedgehog]

5. I'm not a fan of scalloped potatoes, but I love just about any other kind.

My son-in-law doesn't care for potatoes. That leaves me wondering why he doesn't starve!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. I love potatoes in all their glorious forms

[Karenina]

6. Das heisst

Kartoffeln.

[Iggo]

8. In related news...

...I was blissfully ignorant until my late 30's that white folks were their own ethnic group. (Several, in fact.)

I guess if I'd ever really thought about it, it would've been obvious. I just never really thought about it.

[hedgehog]

9. You mean in terms of point of view, that up to that time you thought

white folks were the norm and everyone else was an ethnic?

[Iggo]

10. Yes, exactly.

I was trying to figure out how to say it.

Thanks...

[hedgehog]

11. That's a little bit of where I was. I just assumed that everyone ate potatoes the way

we did except for groups that had their own special foods like rice or pasta. It was an easy mistake to make, because a lot of other people do eat potatoes occasionally.


Should I mention that I thought everyone drank milk the way we did?

[Iggo]

20. The thing is, I'm not as white as I look.

It's just, growing up, white was default.

[applegrove]

12. My parents had/have potaoes every night. They just are not happy unless

they have some form of the potato on their plate.

[elleng]

13. No, but my father's like that,

and not a BIT Irish! More like Polish/Russian/Jewish.

[Catshrink]

14. My aunt used to call me "Spud."

I'd eat potatoes fixed any way she made them. I mean I'd finish up what was in the serving dish if it wasn't too rude. But not if she put hard boiled eggs in the potato salad. I despise hard boiled eggs and even my love of potatoes couldn't overcome my hatred of hard boiled eggs.

:puke: meets :loveya:

[DeepBlueC]

15. potatoes are a Lithuanian staple too

[Eyerish]

17. My 4 yr old Niece told my Mother she didn't like potatoes...

and my Mother responds, "What kind of Irish girl doesn't like potatoes?!" My niece shrugged and walked away. I think my mother was actually quite upset...:rofl:

I didn't realize that potatoes were such a Norwegian staple till I moved to MN. Potato sausage, lefse, potato klub. They are some tuber-lovin people up here!

[trof]

18. Rice is the Cajuns' starch.

My mother-in-law served it at every meal.
Even fried at breakfast.
Leftover rice fried in a little bacon fat is really quite good.
They grew rice, among other things.

[Wapsie B]

19. Rinderwurst is something I had a lot growing up.

Some people would have pancakes and sausage or bacon in the morning. We had rinderwurst. The Scandahoovian side of the family didn't reveal itself until much later so no lefse or kringla growing up.

[Drunken Irishman]

22. We have potatoes with everything,

Chicken? Add some potatoes.
Roast? Side of potatoes.
Chicken wings? Gotta have a baked potatoes.
Ham? And Potatoes.
Hamburger? Fries.
Tacos? Let's have some taters.

[LiberalEsto]

23. Estonians are extremely fond of potatoes too

My father refused to eat exotic stuff like rice and pasta. He wanted potatoes every night.

When I was a teenager, my mom decided to experiment with spaghetti a few times. To keep from having to wash an extra pot, she boiled the spaghetti with the peeled potatoes. It was pretty gross picking pieces of boiled potato out of the pasta.

[sarge43]

24. We of German heritage have to have potato something at least once of day.

The Irish don't have the corner on potato mania.

(I think I'll finish off the German potato salad.)

[Nikia]

25. Not sure if this is an ethnic custom: no alcohol

At family functions or in front of children in general. My sister and I have been shocked at the number of aquaintances who grew up in families where alcohol use at family functions is normal.

[dugaresa]

26. we always had to have bread with dinner

and potatoes was a common staple in most eastern european cooking, potato pancakes,kugel, boiled, etc..