Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 486

ft ft ft ft I I XOiV wwv r1 r-o i i nt i 4 i ViVV MMHXWWW VW 4 I 1 i 4 V' bMUoMl Mock PbolaMlctMMl Wtlibrat Following ethnic tradition bride and groom are lifted on chain and danced around room at a Jewish wedding A Mixing of Ethnic Flavors By Jeny Morgan The 1 jhv i Svj i 4 -'s 1 fc iijjt 4 I 1 i 8 to a who often caters for the black community said there are differences there not perceived fay the white community "Basically Mack American eat everything that other Americans eat including what is considered traditional southern American But Finney said at a West Indian wedding ha may serve curried goat and meat patties and peas and rice though in a different style than the dish prepared (or American blacks "I try to discourage the curried Finney said "because many of the West Indian parties are mixed with half American blacks or whoever and it is not to taste I offer curried turkey Finney and Richard Coleridge who also caters for the black community said the traditional dishes at weddings of American Macks are fried chicken ribs ham turkey potato salad rice candied yams greens "Some people will say they don't want fried chicken because they always see it at Mack Finney said "But it is one of my staples and if it doesn't show up in the buffet it will be an hors Many black weddings he said are not held at large catering establishments but at private homes or in American Legion halls and similiar community halls The Hispanic community is also divided among many ethnic groups said Ray Lopes director of the Nassau Coordinating Agency for Spaniah-Americans "It depends on which Spanishspeaking group the people belong to he said but some of the staples would include a roasted pig chicken and rice maybe tamales If the people are from the Caribbean there would be a kit of seafood oyoters dams shrimp If they are from South America there might be tootados or empanadas (meat pies) In the Polish community said Irena Pendzich the Riverhead Town clerk some of the old ways have changed The old pnpnwiny isn't done any more she said "That is a three-day celebration in which the relatives and friends come from all around and stay with the family sleeping on couches floors wherever The wedding celebration would go on for three days The bride and groom would leave but the party would continue We don't do that any more It has become too But they still play the polka though at many weddings even the music has become homogenized "It may be an Italian wedding" Ocera said "but they will Mien play the horn or a Hispanics may want their Latin rhythms Macks their soul music or Caribbean beats but they no longer have them exclusively The music like the food will no longer tell you where you are You can munch an egg roll or an empanada do a mambo drink ouxuo and still say to the bride and groom music at a wedding may be the tarantella the horn the polka or the hasapiko the hors may be matahingly ethnic but the chancel are that the main course will be American Weddings with traditional old-country touches abound but more and more caterers say those touches are around the edges more a taste than a meal "Today people want a more' traditional dinner menu American Continental said Thomas Ocera of Manor East Caterers Massapequa Apparently the smaller more homey the wedding the better the chances of it having a richer ethnic flavor For $35 to $85 a person at a large catering hall caterers said the customers want prime ribs of filet mingon chicken ffh- is difficult to price a said Demetrios Kafchitas a manager of the Oyster Bay and Crystal Place in Astoria "It varies so much with what people want what they can afford how many people they are having whether it is a buffet or sit-down dinner It is hard to Just have a price written Years of dining out seeking new tastes have raised the level of expectation for those looking for something different What was exotic in the past is commonplace now caterers said In addition file influence of caterers on future affairs is subtle but continuous Going to weddings as guests influences prospective buyers of catered affairs What they eat what they see served and what they hear about create impressions about what their wedding should be like If all caterers serve prime ribs or' filet mignon a dish like chicken Wellington may stand out or people may ask for the higher- price beef which is perceived by some as a status symbol Beef however is losing some ground in the hierarchy of main courses simply because many people are trying to eat lighter foods But ethnic cultures abound on Long Island Italian Jewish Greek Polish Hispanic black and all have their fovorite home-style dishes and those foods in some form will usually show up at a wedding Foods like taramoealata (Greek fish roe salad) or dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) ravioli and other pastas kielbata gefilte fish stuffed derma pepper steak cannelloni are no suprises to the adventerous and generally sophisticated diners on Long Island fact they are often expected as part of the cocktail hour before the more Americanised dinner Cross-cultural meals are also accepted i hr Slefcard Lm Among finds served at the wedding of Rich-ard and Andrea Lobrano in Manor East Catering Hall Massapequa were veal marsala Hawaiian chicken duck Normandy chicken chow meui rice pilaf Swedish meatballs and glased suckling grig Kafchitas said And it is not unusual at a Greek wedding to serve eggplant parmigiana lasagne or ravioli Nor is it unusual to find something like fettudne or tpanakopiia (small Greek spinach pies in a light flaky pastry dough) at a Jewish wedding Meatballs in their several dozen incarnations are found everywhere The homogenization of foods is nowhere more evident and disguised than in those major catering halls on Long Island that are kosher but do not advertise it The Jewish community knows the food is kosher and meets the standards of the Jewish ritual for cleanliness while avoiding the use of pork and shellfish and the mixing of milk-based products and meat The owner of one such establishment who did not want to be named said "If we advertised we were kosher people would think we only do Jewish affairs and that isn't so We need more business than that to stay open We can do Italian Irish Jewish anything A corned -beef is a corned beef and I will match my cannelloni against Which is not to say that there aren't strictly ethnic meals still being served James Finney i 0 MT I PI IIP ill sw ro'tsvrCJ C501 H-insrifffrffrrrrrm'mimrwmvyw i rvwirtv immogerw J-f jp iigpn.