Festival Foods through the Four Seasons

Food is an important element in the celebration of festivals…with Easter just around the corner, we thought we describe some typical dishes enjoyed at festivals during the four seasons.

 

Spring

China - Lantern Festival 花灯节/元宵节

 

Paper lanterns being released into the night sky...
Photo by Harry Huang licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 This traditional festival has been celebrated for more than 2000 years in China. Celebrated on the 15^th day of the Chinese in New Year, it marks the end of New Year celebrations. At this time lots of beautiful lanterns are released into the sky, symbolising the old ‘you’ being left in the past, for it to be replaced with a new 'you'.  In the north of the country people enjoy eating 元宵(Yuanxiao) – these are sweet rice flour balls with different fillings, such as sesame or peanut-butter.  In south China 汤圆(Tangyuan) are eaten – these are similar to Yuanxiao but are prepared differently.   

Yuanxiao balls - Photo by Alison licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

UK - Easter

Simnel Cake
Photo by cormac70 licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0c

Easter day is traditionally celebrated with the sharing of chocolate eggs and rabbits. It is like Christmas because the best bit is in the morning when children wake up to find an Easter egg or small pile of chocolate waiting for them! One of the most popular (and fun!) activities for children is an Easter egg hunt. This is where the parents hide lots of tiny chocolate eggs in a garden or outdoor space and the children have to try and find them.

There are also foods with a religious reference to the Christian origins of the festival. For example, Hot Cross Buns (the cross an obvious symbol to Jesus). Simnel cake is another dish popular in spring time. There is a myth that the eleven balls of marzipan on top of the cake represent Jesus’ twelve disciples, although this is in fact untrue.

Another fun activity for children is making chocolate nests. This requires a wheat cereal, coated in chocolate and shaped to form small ‘nests’. Small chocolate eggs are added to complete the nest.

Hot Cross Buns
Photo by IZATRINI licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

 

Summer  

China - Duanwu Festival端午节, translated as the Dragon Boat Festival.

As with many Chinese festivals, it is traditional to eat a type of dumplings called Zongzi粽子. These sticky rice dumplings are prepared by the whole family.  Apart from eating dumplings, as you expect a popular activity during this festival is racing dragon boats which were common in southern China. 

Dragon Boat Festival in China

Photo by Ricky Chan licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Zongzi: Photo by Alpha licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

UK - May Day 

Dancing around the maypole.
Photo by Elf Sternberg licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Delicious Trifle....
Photo by Chris Schultz
licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The first of May is recognised as the first day of summer but unfortunately there is no traditional dish for this occasion. British summer dishes typically include fruit that is in season at this time of year, such as strawberries and raspberries. One of the most famous puddings is called Trifle, and consists of a mixture of fruit, cream, cake, custard and alcohol. It’s very indulgent but also very delicious.

One of the highlights of British summer time is watching the grass tennis tournament, Wimbledon when it is customary to enjoy a bowl of strawberries and cream. Other events in the south of England where traditional summer food is enjoyed include the Henley rowing regatta and ‘Ladies Day’ at Ascot racecourse. Glasses of champagne and Pimm’s are drunk to wash it all down.

 

 

Autumn

China - Mid Autumn Festival 中秋节

Like many other Chinese festivals, this occasion has been celebrated for around 3,000 years. Through the different dynasties, the moon on the 15^th night of the eighth month of the year has been worshipped by all members of Chinese society. Sometime this was done in the belief that this would bring good a good harvest but also just to appreciate the beauty of the moon. Not surprisingly the cakes enjoyed during the festival are called Mooncakes. For more information on this curious festival have a look here.

Mooncakes - will they bring you luck?
Photo by boo lee licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

UK - Halloween

Pumpkin lanterns.
Photo by AJ Schuster licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The most famous food symbol of this festival is the pumpkin, which is carved out to make a lantern.

Unfortunately, the contents are often wasted because few people know how to cook pumpkin - except in the American tradition of making pumpkin pie.

With Halloween your imagination is the limit when it comes to baking! For example, amazing things have been done to transform any creepy ghoul into an edible monster! Personally, I really like these little ghost cupcakes.

Check out this page for a slideshow of creepy creations.

You can also be creative with your drinks by making halloween punch!

 

Winter

China – Dongzhi Festival 冬至

This festival is celebrated at the winter solstice and looks forward to longer days with sunlight. In the north of China people enjoy eating 饺子(Jiaozi). These are a type of dumplings - it is said they are eaten to protect your ears from falling off because of the cold!

Making jiaozi the whole family gets involved.
Photo by John licensed under CC BY 2.0.

UK - Bonfire Night

Hot sticky toffee apples.
Photo by Claire Sutton licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

This is a historical festival on November 5th, also known as Bonfire Night. It commemorates the failed attempt of a group of men to blow-up the King in the House of Parliament in 1605, an event known as the Gunpowder Plot. A dummy of the most famous plotter, Guy Fawkes, is burnt on a bonfire and fireworks are set-off. As the festival is celebrated at the start of winter, the foods enjoyed tend to be warm and comforting. For example, hot toffee apples and any foods that can be prepared over an open fire, such as baked potatoes and melted marshmallows. A cup of hot mulled wine (red wine seasoned with star anise, cinnamon and oranges), similar to Glühwein in Germany, is usually enjoyed outside, standing around the bonfire.

 

Fireworks!
Photo by Chris Jobling licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Indian Inspired British Dishes

Curry houses on Brick Lane, the curry capital of London.
Photo by Tony Hisgett licensed under CC BY 2.0

Walk down any British high street on a Friday night and you will encounter one or more Indian restaurants full of people enjoying a Friday-night curry. Indian-inspired dishes, such as the ubiquitous chicken-tikka massala curry, top the list of most popular dishes in the UK. However, it is not fair to say this is real Indian food, rather that the ingredients and flavours are inspired by cooking found in the Indian sub-continent. 'Indian food' is a label applied as an umbrella term for diverse cuisine of different origins, but which are perceived by the wider public as 'Indian'. Chefs working in Britain's curry houses are just as often Nepalese, Bangladeshi and Pakistani as Indian. Dishes considered typically Indian, such as onion bhajis, were in fact created to cater for the British market. To find authentic Indian food you have to go a bit further. This does not diminish the popularity of what is known as Indian food and the love of Asian flavours has a long history in Britain that has its origins in the spice trade. Here are two lesser-known Anglo-Indian dishes:

Mulligatawny 
 

Mulligatawny Soup: Photo by Michelle Peters-Jones
licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

This distinctively-named soup has its translation in two Tamil words "Milagu Tanni" meaning 'pepper-water'. This isn't really a popular soup in England. Most people have heard of it but I hadn't actually tasted it until last year when I bought a packet of the Covent Garden Soup Co. version. This was so delicious that I soon made my own version at home. Again, this didn't last long in my fridge. There are about as many variations on the recipe as there are ingredients in most kitchens so it can be adapted in any way you like. Personally, I really like the taste of recipes that include coconut or apple. It is quite common in Indian cuisine to use fruit in savoury dishes. You can find a recipe for the Covent Garden Soup version here and a vegetarian version here.

Almost anything can be added to mulligatawny....
Photo by Anjuli Aayer licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Kedgeree 

Normally enjoyed as the first meal of the day...
Photo by arsheffield licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

This is actually a breakfast dish. Like Mulligatawny it has many variations but it always contains white fish, such as haddock, and basmati rice. For the health conscious, white basmati rice is in fact a low GI food so it keeps your sugar levels stable, unlike other white carbohydrates.

Some of the typical ingredients for kedgeree, such as white fish, rice, eggs and spices.
Photo by Alan Connor licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Kedgeree is also suitable as a lunch or dinner.
Photo by Blue moon in her eyes licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Hopefully this brief introduction to Anglo-Indian dishes inspired you to stock your spice cupboard with some Eastern flavour. Good luck with your experimentation!

Top ingredients for a real Chinese flavour

As a Chinese student living outside China, I've never had one day that I don't miss Chinese food! Things are cooked in a quite different way than what I was used to back home, let alone the taste: in the Netherlands, everything taste rather plain for me. According to the experience of my friends and myself at the Chinese restaurant here - some of them are good and taste just like at home, while others cater more for the local preference so can't be called real Chinese taste.

I was born and rasied in North-China, where the ingredients used for cooking might be different from those in South-China. But generally, we share some basic ingredients as follows (The corresponding Chinese names are give in parenthesis):

• Spring onion, ginger and garlic

          These are the true "must-haves" - I use them in almost every dish I cook, whether it's vegeteables, rice or meat!

• Star anise and Sichuan pepper

          They are ususally used when cooking meat. A few weeks ago I was invited for a dinner at a friend's house and I learned that these are only used in North-China because a friend who is from Shanghai had no idea what these are! :)

• Chicken Power Seasoning

           Used for soep and vegetables for a better flavour.

         

    

• Shaoxing Cooking Wine (Liao Jiu)

           It's a kind of wine made of rice and is also used very often.

• Soy sauce:

           There are 2 kinds of soy sauce we use:
           - Light soy sauce (Sheng Chou) used for a stronger taste
           - Dark soy sauce (Lao Chou / Jiang You) used for a darker color

• Oyster sauce 

           Mostly used in South-China (Cantonese style).

• Chilli

          A lot of Chinese people love spicy food, very spicy food! Among the many Chillis in China, the Chilli produced in Sichuan (a province in southwest China) is the most well-known one and has the best taste too.

Fancy a cuppa?

A nice cup of tea

If you are ever in the UK you will undoubtedly hear this informal invitation for a cup of tea at some point. The Irish and British both count among the top 3 tea drinking nations in the world. It's no surprise then that we have put a lot of thought and energy into creating the perfect 'brew' and the science behind it. It's not uncommon to hear people arguing over minutiae of tea preparation. For example, whether a drop of cold water should be added to herbal teas or not. Or whether tea drunk out of fine bone china tastes better than tea drunk out of ordinary ceramic cups (it does). You get the picture.

Most tea drunk in the UK is black tea and this is almost always with milk. One popular debate is whether the milk should be put into the cup before or after the tea and many inches of newspaper columns have been dedicated to answering that question. Search the words 'perfect cup of tea' or 'milk or tea first' in Google UK and you will find literally dozens of web pages discussing tea etiquette. In 2003 the Royal Society of Chemists sought to put the debate to rest by releasing a news release, declaring that in fact the milk should go first.

As mentioned black tea is the preferred variety in England, although green tea has become more popular in recent years. Tea is traditionally sourced from the Indian subcontinent, specifically Sri Lanka and India. This can be explained by the colonial history of the two countries, as it was the British East India Company who first began commercial tea cultivation in the region, which now counts among the highest producers of tea in the world. Almost all of the favourite varieties of black tea are named after the regions from which they originate, such as Darjeeling, Assam and Ceylon (the colonial name for Sri Lanka). Some teas are also sourced from Africa; however, these tend to be the cheaper blended teas rather than the single leaf varieties. In the past, tea was normally loose tea and made in a pot. Today, however, almost everyone uses tea bags for convenience and a pot is only used if tea is being made for a group of people.

Sri Lanka - tea plantations surrounding Nuwara Eliya
Photo by Muhunthan Sivam licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

For us Brits, tea means a great deal more than a mere thirst quencher. Perhaps some of benefits of a cup of tea are best summed up in the words of William Gladstone:

If you are cold, tea will warm you.  If you are too heated, it will cool you.  If you are depressed, it will cheer you.  If you are excited, it will calm you.  
 
The passion with which people love tea is reflected in the number of phrases used in the English language referring to tea. For example, when people say that something is not their cup of tea, they mean that it is not their kind of thing or to their liking and vice-versa. In the typical understated British manner, tea is held up as a solution for every problem. In times of crisis people can stoically put the kettle on and make a good old-fashioned cuppa. In my family if we are watching an argument or fight on TV, someone usually asks the question, 'Why don't they just go home and have a cup of tea?', implying that this would be far better use of their time.

 Tea-drinking culture in Britain has a very colourful history that is intertwined with the social life of the country. Researching this post I stumbled upon this fascinating article by the UK Tea Council, which I would recommend to anyone wanting more in-depth background on the topic.
 Finally, for a nice selection of tea-inspired quotes, take a look at this page.

Sunday Lunch down the Pub

The first dish that comes to the mind of most non-Brits when you mention British food is the infamous fried breakfast. People will give you an incredulous look and ask ‘do you really eat that for breakfast?’ When you answer 'yes' all their worst suspicions are confirmed – British food must really be bad.

The truth be told, a good fry-up can be a very tasty and healthy - no, really! However to get to the point, the fried breakfast distracts from what should be the top of peoples’ lists when it comes to the most famous British dish – the Sunday roast.

A traditional Sunday in the UK involves the family gathering together to share a roast dinner. Some people, more usually the women of the household, dedicate hours of their Sunday afternoon orchestrating the careful preparation of the roast in the kitchen. Everything is planned down to the minute to ensure that all of the dinner arrives on the table at the same time piping hot.

A typical roast dinner would include meat, carrots, broccoli, roast potatoes, parsnips, meat and the pièce de résistance, the Yorkshire pudding. My mum describes Yorkshire puddings as being made from choux pastry, which in my ignorance I always understood as shoe pastry, until I looked it up on Wikipedia! However, I don’t think many people actually know what choux pastry is so it is easier to describe them as soft and fluffy yummy round things, tasting like pancakes. All this is covered with gravy made from the meat juices.

Roast dinner with beef

Every meat has a matching sauce – spicy horseradish with beef, cranberry with chicken, apple with pork and mint with lamb.  

Chicken Pie

Whilst many people cook their roast at home, others take the easy option and head down to their local pub to have all the hard work done for them. This is what my parents and I did a short while ago, when we drove out to the Wheelwrights Arms one Sunday afternoon. Each of us ordered a different dish – one the roast, another the chicken pie and the third Yorkshire puddings, filled with sausages, onion and potato.  

Pies are certainly a quintessential British dish – and probably go a long way in explaining our expanding waistlines. The most renowned pie is Steak and Kidney but pretty much any filling can be used.
 
If you are ever in the Reading area try out Sweeney and Todd’s pie shop, where pretty much all the locals are obsessed with it.

Yorkshire Puddings filled with sausage, potato and onions

All this food is washed down with Real Ale – also known as ‘warm beer’ to anyone not familiar with English beverages, although for the pedantic room-temperature is a more accurate description. The movement for Real Ale has near cult-status among its followers – for many Real Ale is not just beer, it’s a way of life and must be protected at all costs from the threat posed by lager-lovers! There is even an organisation solely dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Real Ale, called Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). They organise Real Ale festivals all over England, a list of which can be found here.

A pint of beer                                                                           The British sense of humour

The most popular Chinese dish among all foreigners!

Hey everyone,

As this is the first post about Chinese dish, I'm gonna start by introducing you the most popular dish among all foreigners, Gong Bao Chicken(also known as Kung Pao Chicken)! It has been voted in almost every ranking as the most welcomed and loved Chinese dish by foreigners. Do you want to know how to make the real Gong Bao Chicken? Stay tuned! :)

Before I start, let me just tempt you with a beautiful picture of Gong Bao Chicken:

What you need as ingredients:

• Most importantly, you will need chicken, apprantly :) Well, it can be either chicken thigh or breast, 400g.
• 3 spring onion, 5 dried red chili peppers, 15 pepper (preferably Sichuan-pepper), a few peanuts and some ginger

The sauce:

Sauce A: 2 spoon dark soy sauce, 1.5 spoon rice vinegar, suger 30g

Sauce B: 1 spoon water, 1.5 spoon cooking wine, flour 15g.

Steps:

• Cut the chicken into small pieces, mix them with 7g flour, 1 spoon light soy sauce and 1/2 cooking wine, for 20 minutes.




• Heat the wok, pour some oil and fry the peanuts. Be careful not to over-fry them!

• Pour some oil again in the wok, slide the chicken, fry them until they turn white. Remove the chicken from the wok to a plate.

• Add some oil again and peppers in the wok, dry them until they turn black and give a strong smell. Remove the peppers.




• Add the oinion, ginger and chili peppers, fry until they smell good and then add chicken

• Add sauce A, mix them. Add one spoon dark soy sauce to give the dish a nice colour. Then add sauce B and the peanuts, give them a stir and we're done! Enjoy! 

                                                   (retrieved from beijing.food.fantong.com)

Do you have a nose for cheese?

Several years ago a German relation of mine mentioned that in Germany English people are known for their big noses. To be honest, from my observations it has never struck me that English people have bigger noses than other nationalities. If it is in fact true, then perhaps we are indeed well-equipped for the appreciation of cheese.

In the UK it is easy to find people who will argue in all seriousness that their cheese is the best in the world – a claim obviously disputed by our European neighbours. Of course, as a matter of personal taste it can always be debated whether a cheese is better or worse than others. Personal and national preferences will always be the deciding factor. Despite this, it is fair to say that British cheeses have as much to offer as those from France, Holland or Italy.

It is a shame that many people aren’t aware of the variety of cheese available beyond the range on their local supermarket shelf and also that it can be hard to find outlets that sell the more unusual varieties.

I asked an English cheese aficionado to sum up in a few words what is so great about British cheese and for his recommendation. Here is what he said:

"British cheese is nothing short of a national treasure. A tradition hewn and honed by generations of artisans and artists, practioners and purveyors, monks and mongers. From the earthy sharpness of a great cheddar, to the balanced tang of a Stilton, to the creaminess of a Cheshire, British Cheese sets the standards. Overall, if pushed, the greatest of all British Cheeses is the Cheddar - so versatile but never losing the capacity to enthral and surprise."

My cheese-making workshop was some three weeks ago now and I still have at least a week to wait before I can taste the fruit of my labours. In the meantime, here is some information on a few native English varieties …

Cheddar

Crumbly cheddar: Photo by Dana Moos licensed
under Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic

The most popular
cheese is Cheddar – it gets its name from Cheddar gorge in Somerset in the South West of England. It is a very egalitarian cheese – everyone enjoys it in one form or another, not just cheese aficionados. A packet of the stuff can be found in almost every fridge in the UK and ranges from a very mild to a strong mature taste.

It’s usually eaten with crackers or in a toasted sandwich with Branston pickle, a vinegary brown pickle sauce, which it goes together with wonderfully!

Cornish Yarg

Cornish Yarg: Photo by Matt Sephton licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Like Cheddar, it also comes from the West Country in England, more specifically the county of Cornwall. This hard cheese doesn’t have a strong taste but its novelty factor lies in the fact that it is coated with stinging nettle leaves. When fresh, nettle leaves are the last plant you would want to put in your mouth. However, when used to wrap cheese the leaves are frozen beforehand so that the ‘sting’ is removed and make the cheese look quite decorative.

Stinging nettles: Photo by Howard Walfish
licensed under
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

 If you bring a Yarg to a cheese party, people are immediately interested by the appearance of the cheese but the taste is much more subtle. I have it on good authority that Yarg is a good cheese so you should try it!

For more information on the Yarg, an interesting blog post all about it can be found here. 

The webpage for the dairy that produces the cheese, including an online shop, can be found here.

Barkham Blue  

Barkham Blue: Photo by Jessica Spengler licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

This is a soft creamy blue cheese and a speciality from Barkham in Berkshire, a town close to my home.  I chose to mention this cheese because it has been very successful, winning several national and international cheese awards. I have yet to taste it myself because it is unfortunately quite difficult to find; its distribution being limited to a few selected outlets in the UK. More information on the cheese and its outlets can be found here.

For more detailed information on all types of British cheese, not just those from England, the British Cheese Board has a fairly comprehensive website, which can be found here.