Food Cultures of Birthday Celebrations!

Kaci Daugherty

Section 4

Here in the United States, birthdays are somewhat of a big deal. In most places we celebrate with a cake topped with candles representing our age, ice cream and in certain situations other sides such as chips and dip or candy may be present. We all love birthday cake but why does it represent our birthday? Originated in Greece, the cake was baked round symbolizing a full moon. The candles used to top the cake were representative of the moons glow. The full moon represented new life just like a birthday.

Although there are many places that have rituals that differ from ours, many countries have some of the very same traditions.

In Egypt lots of people are invited to birthday parties. Since so many people will be present, two cakes are used to feed everyone. One with candles keeping in line with our customs and a second with no candles as it is just extra food and not the main event. The host also serves cookies, sesame sticks and small French bread sandwiches for all of the party goers.

In the Netherlands a cake is also served. Candles are used to represent the persons age as well. The person having the birthday is also served powdered sugar topped pancakes and taartjes, which are tarts with filling, along with lemonade or hot chocolate.

In Panama and Mexico they celebrate birthdays with a cake and ice cream, and parties there are most similar to the United States. In Israel, a cake representing the child’s interest is used in place of a regular cake. These shapes range anywhere from soccer balls, to ballerinas and more.

Uruguay and Sudan also celebrate with a birthday cake topped with candles! In Sudan they also have pizza and drink a red punch called Karkady which is made from hibiscus flowers!

In Canada they have homemade birthday cake (which is always the best) covered with colored sugar sprinkles. A coin is wrapped and place in between the layers and the person to find it will be first in all of the games played at the party!

Along the lines of customs we are used to, Norway is quite close. At a birthday celebration there is a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting served along with red gelatin and vanilla sauce!

My favorite place to think of when I think Birthday Food is Nigeria! They go all out for birthdays, but only if you are turning 1, 5, 10 or 15! A whole roasted cow or goat is most commonly served to the birthday guests along with a side of ‘jollof rice’ which is a simple mixture of rice, tomatoes, red peppers, onions and cassava (something like a sweet potato.) Yum!

India likes to do things big as well! The birthday party consists of a spicy vegetable stew of curry and chutney. Dudh Pakh is also served. This dessert is a rice pudding like dish mixed together with pistachios, almonds, raisins and a spice called Cardamom.

Going even further away from our well known tradition of the U.S., Korean children celebrate their first ‘birthday’ party only 100 days after birth! Since death at a young age is very common, these are the crucial days of a child’s life, so when they make it without being sick a huge celebration is held! Rice cakes are handed out to everyone because it is believe that if 100 people celebrate by eating them the child will live a long life. Wine, and red and black bean cakes coated with honey or sugar are also present. If the child makes it to their first birthday, this ritual is repeated!

Long life is also very important Hong Kong. A birthday celebration there consists of a meal simply made of extra long noodles for the birthday person to symbolize the hopes of having a long life!

In Ecuador an afternoon Tea party is most common! Hot chocolate, Tea cookies and raisin cakes are also served. In Ecuador they celebrate the Saints birthday in which a person is named after rather than the person’s real birthday! No Fun!

In England, instead of regular birthday cakes, the person celebrating receives a fortune telling cake instead! This is supposed to represent good fortune in the future!

Another interesting place is Ghana. On the morning of your birthday you would wake up to a breakfast of ‘oto.’ This is a patty mixture of sweet potatoes and eggs! Later in the day you would attend your party where you would have a main course of stew and rice and finish the day off with a dessert of Kelewele, which are fried plantain chunks (similar to a banana.)

In Australia they have Barbeques, which is also a common theme during the summer months here in the United States. At the event Fairy Bread is served which is buttered bread topped with sprinkles! Sounds pretty interesting to me!

China celebrates with simple fortune cookies.

Great Britain is also similar to the United States in its celebration tactics, but also possesses wild traditions like other places I have researched. In Great Britain a person having a birthday will celebrate with a cake and candles just like the United States! They also have chocolate biscuits, Jelly and Ice cream (which is Gelatin and Ice Cream covered in tiny balls of colored sugar) and Squash to drink, which is orange or lemon flavored Kool-aid made from syrup instead of powder! Talk about something unusual!

Although there are many other places I haven’t covered that celebrate birthdays the tradition lives on. Even places like Saudi Arabia and Serbia have their own traditions. Due to religious reasons NEITHER of these places recognizes a person’s birthday. I wouldn’t want to live there!
As you can see people all over the world celebrate, or don’t celebrate birthdays in their own way. Each way is different from another but they are all accepted and all very interesting!












Works Cited
http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/cel/birthday_celebrations.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/recipes.htm
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http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/australianbirthdays.htm
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http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/canadianbirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/chinesebirthdays.htm
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http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/indianbirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/israelibirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/koreanbirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/nigerianbirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/norwegianbirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/panamabirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/saudiarabianbirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/serbianbirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/sudanesebirthdays.htm
http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/usabirthdays.htm

http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/uruguayianbirthdays.htm