Funeral food is the food and drink that features at a funeral or wake, which has been ascribed practical, spiritual, and symbolic attributes.
Funeral food is the food and drink that features at a funeral or wake, which has been ascribed practical, spiritual, and symbolic attributes.
Food has figured in observances around death since ancient times in cultures around the world. This has often taken the form of feasts accompanying funerals. These have served spiritual purposes, based in the idea that food at a funeral and wake could feed the dead on a long and arduous journey to the afterlife or underworld. In a practical sense, attendees would often have travelled far to be at the funeral, arriving at a destination where restaurants and eateries were often much more rare than they are today. Sometimes, they have also served symbolic purposes, appearing as a show of the high regard that mourners held the dead in.
Among areas observing Christianity, many of the death rites were dictated by the church. Despite this, people have always maintained their own, local rites, often featuring food and drink. In parts of England, Wales, and Scotland from at least the 17th through 19th centuries, one of these practices involved hiring a sin-eater. The sin-eater was a local figure who, for a small fee, would eat bread with either salt or beer that had been or was in proximity to the corpse. By doing this, it was understood that the sins of the dead would transfer into the food, and then into the sin-eater.
In Western funeral rites, a gathering often follows the formal funeral service or burial, with food featuring prominently. In the UK and Australasia, these gatherings typically occur in the home or an external venue such as a club or restaurant. In Australia and New Zealand, regardless of the venue, food is typically old-fashioned and nostalgic, based on the foods served at a morning or afternoon tea; the Australian author Romy Ash likens it to being "fed by grandmas". In contrast, in the US it is more common for mourners to meet after the funeral at church halls. In small towns, food is typically brought to the family, taking the form of covered dishes such as fried chicken or chocolate layer cake.
Food rituals around funerals have received significant attention within the field of food cultural studies.
Some of the foods served at funerals are chosen for an association with death. Broad beans are one example. In the Balkans, koliva is another. Koliva is a dish of boiled wheat, nuts, lemon juice and sugar. It is associated with death through the wheat, which is held to symbolise life, and has been integrated into Eastern Orthodox rituals around death. Some are only prepared around funerals, and making them outside of that context can be considered a breach of cultural norms, for instance, the funeral biscuits historically served to mourners in Yorkshire. Among the Pennsylvania Dutch, dried apple pie (schnitz pie in the local vernacular) is another example. Death could arrive at any time of the year. Pies made from dried fruit were accessible even during the winter, when fruits were not in abundance, and the association with death was furthered when dark, dried fruits, such as raisins, were employed.
While modern cookbooks often instruct in how to cook for special occasions, it is rare that food to be eaten at funerals appears. In Thailand, a cookbook composed by the deceased before death is distributed to attendees.
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