Every culture has its own way of celebrating life through
food.
I remember the first year I came to the US; I was invited to
a Congregational church in Storrs, Connecticut as an international student to
have the traditional Thanksgiving meal. I
learned that turkey and potatoes are the food to eat for Thanksgiving. A couple of years later on the 4th
of July, I was invited to a backyard barbecue in New London CT and then to
watch the fireworks. I learned that
grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, and watermelons are the food to eat
for Independence Day celebrations. After
I had my own family in the US, I adopted many of these American food
traditions. We have roast turkey for
Thanksgiving, honey-glazed ham for Christmas, colored eggs for Easter, hamburgers
and hotdogs for the 4th of July, chocolate cake for birthdays, champagne
for the New Year, chocolate for Valentine’s Day, etc. As a bicultural family we have some of my Chinese
food traditions as well. I make Chinese
dumplings (jiao zi) for Chinese New Year, tea eggs for Qing Ming (the tomb-sweeping
holiday in spring), noodles for birthdays, and moon cakes for the Autumn Moon Festival.
For the Chinese, food is an important part of our life. To celebrate holidays and special occasions,
families and friends get together to enjoy big meals. Food also embodies our good wishes. For example, dumplings symbolize prosperity;
apples are for peace and safety, oranges for good luck, peaches for longevity, fish
for abundance. This year the Chinese New
Year is on February 10th; to celebrate the Year of the Snake, I will
make Chinese dumplings next Saturday.
Enclosed are links to four episodes of the BBC show Exploring China: a Culinary Adventure, which has interesting stories on how Chinese
people celebrate their life and culture through their food. I hope you enjoy watching them.
Happy Year of the Snake!
