EDITOR'S NOTE: Writer Amy Wu has left her New York home for the Hong Kong home of her relatives. Here, she conjures up thoughts of Thanksgiving here in the U.S. with a delicious account of the Moon Festival -- an autumn celebration complete with food, family and fun.
By AMY WU
Moon festival came and went with the ferocity of a thunderstorm. For a few weeks I've been watching the locals here snap up boxes and tins of moon cakes in almost every texture and flavor available. There's the ice-cream sort, the cotton-candy colored ones, the funky ones with exotic stuffings of turkey or lobster, the white moon cakes with Mochi-like skin, and then there's the good old-fashioned sort as dense as a hockey puck and the classic artery clogger. So far I've liked the ones from the posh Peninsula Hotel the best, half the hockey puck and their insides stuffed with light creamy egg custard.
Mostly the overarching theme of these holidays -- no matter its history - -comes down to family gatherings: the excuse to press the pause button, leave work early, and once again get together and eat, drink and engage in gluttony. It’s a time for the kids to be cute and for the seniors to enjoy the perks of getting pampered by their offspring and their offsprings’ offspring. Instead of Monday night football there are the string of popular Korean TV dramas and TVB variety shows.
There is order and tradition in these gatherings. The grandparents or seniors sit down at the head of the table and start the meal first, and then their children and finally the under 10 crowd.
The aunt and uncle, both in their senior sunset years, tell me stories about a time when food was scarce, and when meat was considered gold. Noticeably the food eaten during the Chinese’s major holidays all resemble gold – deep fried spring rolls (gold bars), moon cakes and egg dumplings in soup, Well you get my message.
As an ABC who grew up on canned and bagged veggies, zappable meals, and vending machine cuisine, the eating fests and the gatherings are all a bit overwhelming. It’s kind of like having Thanksgiving and Christmas once a quarter. Make the greetings, eat more, drink, bottoms up, and then collapse on the couch and fall asleep and wait for the calories to settle in. Hey this is a family gathering after all, and yes I could get used to it.
No I’m not complaining about the multitude of Hong Kong holidays or frequent get-togethers. I’m just making observations that in my new home away from home, holidays and family gatherings are the heart and soul of life – a stronger and more regular beat than that of many big cities in America today.
The Hong Kongers work like dogs, but they play hard too, and they can be voracious eaters. In the U.S. family gatherings have dimmed to rare and more often bi-annual events, once at Thanksgiving and Christmas and perhaps the pseudo-family BBQ over the summer. Maybe it’s time for the Americans to consider adding the moon festival to the mix today, after all an excuse to press the pause button and get together with friends and loved ones is important if not necessary in today’s society.