Cooking Slovak in America: An Interview With Lubos Brieda

Following up on my review of SlovakCooking.com, I asked Ľuboš Brieda who runs that site a few questions about his experience as a Slovak transplant. *** American Robotnik: You started SlovakCooking.com after beginning to miss the tasty Slovak home cooking in the U.S. and wanting to learn a few recipes. There’s a huge gap between learning to cook Slovak dishes and sharing the recipes on a website. What compelled you to take your craving for Slovak food  public? Ľuboš Brieda: You make it sound as if one day I [...] Continue reading >

 
Heritage Festivals Distort National Cultures

Reading about and attending ethnic/national heritage festivals here in Portland, Oregon, has enabled me to draw some tentative conclusions about their purpose, effects, and shortcomings. While heritage festivals fulfill an important role in preserving ethnic/national cultures, they also distort them by presenting their antiquated versions. What Heritage Festivals Have in Common The only difference between the recent Serbian, Polish, and Greek festivals was the heritage they celebrated and the resulting substance; each festival wrapped the same prescription in a different flag and flavor. The festivals had a lot in common:* [...] Continue reading >

 
Fall Is Heritage Festival Season

Fall seems to be the season for heritage festivals. Over the past three weekends here in Portland, Oregon, Serbian, Polish, and Greek festivals took place. I had a chance to attend the Polish and Greek one. Today’s first of two posts looks at the festival experiences (Part Two next week will tackle heritage festivals in general). 5th Annual Serbian Fest I learned about Serbian Fest 2011 the week after it took place from Vickie Kavanagh’s preview article on OregonLive.com. Excerpt: Traditional music, entertainment, activities and food will be featured at [...] Continue reading >

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