Chinese New Year 2010
Chinese New Years
Like it or not Chinese New Year is upon us. February 14th is the first day of Chinese New Year for 2010 and marks the beginning of yet another Lunar year, this one represented by the Tiger. To see a great explanation of Chinese New Year and it’s influence and importance see Wikipedia.
What does it mean today?
Asian culture is amazing how over the centuries it’s traditions have endured through so much war and genocide. Even today watching friends of Asian descent born in the states or raised in the states, they carry on the traditions as the dutiful descendants they are. Some of them the children of families that fled Mainland China, Vietnam, or Cambodia’s communist regime carrying with them this tradition of Chinese New Year and passing it on to the next generations.
For some it is the commercial, family get together that Christmas has become to the world. It is hard to change this notion when the media and businesses have so much to gain from promoting it as a “reason to spend money for gifts”. Ironically money is the number 1 gift at this holiday in those famous little red envelopes.
The most important thing
If you take anything away from this in regards to Chinese New Year remember this, it’s about family. It’s about honoring our ancestors for paving the way. It’s about honoring our living relatives for supporting us now. Lastly it’s about giving to the children to be here to support us in the years to come. In the homes I have been fortunate enough to celebrate Chinese New Year in around the world this is what I always saw.
Food and Chinese New years
The feast of the first day of Chinese New Year is the really big event that I have always enjoyed every time I’ve been included. In one home the meal was prepared and then presented to the door step and incense burned to offer to the ancestors first. Then a place was set for those not present and the rest of us devoured a glorious meal of roasted chicken, steamed fish, noodles, soup and always an assortment of many more foods.
One home I was fortunate to be at in California one year was blessed to have a HUGE family of 15 children to the matriarch and patriarch that had fled Vietnam in the early 70’s. The food of all those families coming together. I remember tasting every kind of flavor and feeling so full afterwards that I shamefully undid the button to my pants as we rested. Needless to say that turned to be quite a compliment to all of the cooks that one that towered almost a full foot over them could feast to the point where his clothes could not contain them. Truly the Prince’s clothing — Sihk Duhk a FOOK, Jeuhk Duhk a Luhk.
How I observe it today
Today my wife and I observe Chinese New Year every year by taking time to go to Dim Sum at one of the local restaurants with friends. This year we’ve added two new friends to the mix and we’re going to Imperial Garden here in Columbus. While being run by a couple that immigrated here from Taiwan, the Chef is from Szechuan in Mainland China and his cooking is some of the best I’ve had in the world. No exaggeration there. I look forward to unbuttoning my pants to make breathing easier on the drive home. Sunday when the day finally comes my boys and I will sit down and talk about our ancestors and what they mean to us. Then when we can we’ll talk about our family today and what we mean to each other.
What does it mean to me today
Chinese New Year is a part of who I am. A quarter of my life I spoke, ate, thought, and breathed in Chinese more than I did in English. Many friends have invited me into their homes to share with them by all accounts the most important 5 days of the year. It signals the coming Spring and coming hope. It is a time to remember the past and look forward to the future. In my own English/American/Chinese way I will be passing this onto my children hoping that it will make an impression on them and they will learn a little of who I am, who their ancestors were, and who they can become.
GUNG HEI FAAT CHOI! — GUNG TSI FA TSAI!
Website Review of Localharvest.org — WORTH EVERY PAGE
I love to find cool informative sites on food, bbq, books, writing.… you get the idea. I especially like the sites that I don’t have to follow every day to stay on top of but are more an information hub around a particular topic. I have found just such a site. A site I find myself checking second to google in some cases.
What is this amazing site? Why Local Harvest of course. What does this site have that other sites don’t have? It is a hub of information on organic local agriculture and the businesses that support them. From their map it has what appears to be hundreds and maybe even thousands of these types of enterprises.
Want to find a local resource for yarn production? They have it. What about a restaurant or market that uses locally grown produce or raised meat? They have that too.
What if you wanted to get involved in a CSA to augment your own garden production or as an opportunity to get really fresh vegetables. They got that.
Then there’s the forums where people talk about questions, concerns, events, rates, etc. Next tab over and it will show you events. For us it helped us find a local farm that we are considering participating in a csa with this year. Now we can do something with them to get to know them.
It’s a veritable cornucopia of locally grown and supported food. So go to the link, bookmark it, and use it. Who knows it might just change your life. At the very least the way you eat.
Turning A Rainy Day Into a Thing of Beauty
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the New York City/New Jersey Area for work related activities. It was during my stay in this fine area of the country that the weather went from sunny and 70 to sleet, snow, ice, and cold — 32 degrees.
Normally under such an unlucky turn of events you might be a little pessimistic about the outlook of this kind of weather, being far from home. I was not of this mindset. I saw an opportunity, however twisted, that only comes along once in a great great while — an extended stay in one of the great cities of the world by myself over St. Patrick’s day weekend.
Why was this such a great opportunity? Because I am undaunted by rain, snow, ice, freezing temperatures or any other possible obstacle when it comes to the possibility of enjoying great food! Just the night before my co-workers were telling me about this great classic steak house called Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn. Intrigued, I had called but there were no open reservations for at least 2 weeks. Now suddenly I had the chance to cash in on native New Yorker’s distaste for such foul weather.
My adventure started out by taking advice from a non-New York citizen on how to get to Brooklyn. He put me on a train that took me into the heart of Brooklyn but many many blocks away from my intended restaurant. After realizing I was way off the beaten path I got off the subway and started my way back up to the other end. But not without walking in almost 8 blocks in the onslaught of bad weather first. Surprisingly enough taxi and limo services were not running either.
I made my way back into the bowls of Brooklyn’s subway and then proceeded to chart my slow path back to Peter Luger’s. After 4 transfers I was within 9 blocks of this mecca of meat and though the weather had taken a turn for the worse I was not deterred in my drive to eat.
As a side note, when I arrived in the greater Tristate area it was moderately warm and I had only brought a golf pull over and mostly warm weather clothes. That day at lunch after learning my stay was going to be extended I went to the adjoining mall and purchased hiking boots and a change of clothes. So at this point, though the rest of me was soaked my feet were warm and dry.
I trudged through 4 inches of ice, snow and sludge. Pelting sleet in the face. At several points I was uncertain whether there was any hope of me reaching this dream of good food and a warm drink. Finally I saw a sign. Literally it was a sign that said “Peter Luger’s Parking”.
I knew I was close. My pace quickened. I saw the entrance. Oh No. There were people lined up by the windows! Would my trip have been in vain? Was my expectation of the native’s dislike for bad weather misplaced? Alas I redoubled my resolve and crossed the threshold to the desk where the owner’s wife was waiting.
In my best puppy dog eyes and pitiful, yet hopeful voice I could muster I begged to be put on the list for the food. The Maitre’d came over and the two of them took pity on my state and assured me that within the hour I would be enjoying a porterhouse steak aged to ripeness, broiled to perfection, and served right on time. My heart leapt at this news. My dreams would be realized! I wanted to cry at the top of my lungs! I WOULD EAT STEAK TONIGHT!
The thought alone warmed me and my now frozen cap of hair but to ensure I was properly thawed I headed to the bar to order nothing less than my 12 year oldGlenlivet and await my turn. As luck would have it while I was waiting 2 gentlemen walked in and got in line behind me. Without a second thought I struck up a conversation with them and within minutes you would think we had known each other for years.
By the time they called my name I had switched to joining the two gentlemen and we sat down together to enjoy the steak for 3. Now this restaurant is known for many things but one of them is not courteous serving staff. If there was any hesitation at all you would go to the bottom of the route for getting your order in. As Michael and John(?) were old pros at eating there they knew exactly what to get the first time they came around. We got the tomatoes and onions for an appetizer, Creamed Spinach, and home fries/hash browns with of course a Medium Rare Steak for Three Porterhouse.
They bring this steak sauce (why they call it steak sauce I don’t know. It should be illegal throughout the world to add sauce to a steak like that.) that we added to the tomatoes and onions. Amazing. Then the Creamed Spinach came to the table. HOLY FREAKING COW! That was truly the BEST creamed spinach I have ever eaten. Hence the capitals for the dish. The home fries were good but the main piece was still to come.
The steak arrived and they set it up so the juices flowed to the end of the plate. That’s important because that was the true steak sauce. Not the other stuff. The juice of the steak that you spooned onto the succulent pieces of pre-cut meat from a glorious, almost devine cut of Porterhouse steak that had been broiled in an 1800 degree oven long enoug to pinkify the center and slightly blacken the outside. It comes pre-cut so you just take a few pieces as you can. It’s so good that some of the cuts could be done with your spoon, because they don’t give you a knife for it.
My new found friends were slowly eating. They had not accounted for the eating speed or capacity of The Chinesebob. I easily enjoyed 30 of the 50oz steak in front of us. Not to mention most of the Creamed Spinach. At the end I insisted on picking up half the check as with them I ate more and paid less than if I had been by myself so it was only fair. And they were extremely gracious in dropping me off at the subway station that would take me back to New Jersey.
As I rode the train back to my hotel I could only think. I have done something I only dreamed about doing. I took what should have been a terrible weekend and instead turned it into one of those rare life moments where you fight through opposition to finish. I slept so well that night. Little did I know that the rest of the weekend would be more of these amazing adventures.