Foods

Unit 1 - Community Diversity

Contributions of Cultures in our Community

Pfeffernuesse (German Peppernuts) - spicy molasses cookies for Christmas

Sauerkraut (German) - finely sliced fermented cabbage.

Frankfurter (German) - the original Frankfurter is prepared with broth and smoked and ripened in wooden boxes, hence their squarish form. They are typically boiled, not grilled, and eaten with bread, mustard and horseradish.

Colcannon (Irish) - mashed potatoes with cabbage and onions

Baklava (Greek) - greek pastry made with filo dough, walnuts and honey.

Gyros (Greek) - Gyros are a pita sandwich. The most common fillings are tomato, onion, lamb meat and tzatziki (cucumber yogurt) sauce.

Moussaka (Greek) - traditionally consists of layers of ground (minced) lamb or red meat, sliced eggplant and tomato, topped with a white sauce and baked.

A 1906 newspaper reports that about 100 Greek laborers for the Union Pacific had come to live in the area. Their families joined them. Many of them were also employed at local bakeries. Soon the Greeks opened several restaurants in Grand Island. Places like the Candy Kitchen, Vlassy's, and Jamison's Cafe served typical Greek dishes such as gyros sandwiches, moussaka, and baklava. One Greek family started a barbershop business that thrived for 70 years. Jim Johnson's shop was also a gathering place where men could play pool, cards, or have an ice cream or soda. Today Jim's Gyros serves Greek Food.

Chinese restaurants came to Grand Island in 1908. The Bon Ton restaurant was in business until the 1930's and the Mandarin Cafe advertised in the German newspaper.

Photo Courtesy of Stuhr Museum

Today there is Hunan's Chinese Restaurant.

There is an Oriental Market run by a Laotian family. It carries a wide variety of Asian foods, as well as Mexican foods. They have food from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, the Philippines, China and Mexico. Some of the foods that they carry are sauces, noodles, rice, fresh fruits, coffee, tea and shrimp, fish, beef and pork products.There is also a restaurant that serves Lao-Thai food.