Mennonite cuisine
Mennonite cuisine
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Mennonite cuisine

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Mennonite cuisine

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. 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.

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.

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 for Russian Mennonites include:

Dishes typically served once per year are:

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.

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.

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.

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