I remember when growing up with my grandma in 1990 Germany that after funerals of people that died of "old age", you would always have a get-together afterward to celebrate the person that passed, either at someone's house or at a simple local restaurant. I hope people get together and celebrate when I die.
Both my grandparents died a year ago and with one Catholic and the other Lutheran the food looked similar but tasted oh so different. The Catholic food was decent. The Lutheran food, the turkey sandwiches, the buns/rolls, the gingersnap and whole-date-filled cookies were, forgive me: to die for. Everything seemed to be made from scratch and it made me feel love for the elder women, for how special they treated their job that day. I want my friends and family to remember me by the good food they had at my funeral.
My Dad died in the south, and I had to write his obituary and publish it in the local paper. The paper wanted me to publish the address of where I was staying so that people would know where to bring food, but I left that bit out. I did not turn down the pastor's offer to ask the "church ladies" to bring food for the little gathering we had in the church basement after the graveside service -- that was some good food.
The article doesn't mention specifics (even the link to 'other cultures' is fairly thin gruel) but it made me think of a common in a number Eastern Orthodox traditions: boiled and typically sweetened wheat:
This is fascinating. I was born and raised in Uruguay and I don't think food was ever a thing in funerals. You just hang out in a room and are generally sad, but food is nowhere to be seen. I've only seen food in funerals in the movies! I wonder whether this is by country, by religion (and variant of that religion), or what.
I have fond memories of those social events.