by eating china
On the day of Chinese New Year's Eve, just as I was leaving our local produce market, a car swerved towards the curb. I noticed the car because it pulled up with a jerk just a couple of feet from a family trying to cross the road. The driver bolted from the car to a stall in front of the market. The back seat of her car was already packed with groceries. Clearly, it seemed, the banquet that evening for her large extended family, was her responsibility. She had stopped at the market for a last minute purchase. When I say, 'a car swerved towards the curb', towards is all I mean, as there remained between the curb and the side of her car, enough space for a skilled driver to manoeuvre another very compact car, such as a Mini. A couple of minutes later she rushed back carrying a potted kumquat bush bearing dozens of tiny orange fruit. She placed it on the passenger seat beside her and drove off, ether oblivious or unconcerned at the line of cars she had been blocking on the narrow street behind. I was glad I didn't feel as harried as she looked, but I was only cooking for three while she might be cooking for thirteen, including a domineering mother-in-law.
Continue reading "The Chopstick Chronicles: Kumquat: The Dwarf Orange of China" »
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