jZepp

The Gossips

How long can the last month of winter last?

The Chopstick Chronicles: Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner

by eating china

This is our modest New Year's Eve dinner for three people. From left, clockwise: Steamed Fish, Guangdong-style Preserved Sausages with Leeks, Ginseng Chicken, Boiled Dumplings, Stir Fried Mustard Cabbage. The New Year dishes are imbued with great meaning. Here is what I found out:

Whole Steamed Fish
Fish is a metaphor for abundance. Half the fish is eaten on New Year's Eve, the other half is eaten the next day – symbolizing that there is a surplus to carry through from the old year to the new year.

Guangdong-style Sausages with Leeks
In past times, the most commonly eaten meat was preserved. Eating preserved meat such as these sausages relates to self-sufficiency.

Ginseng Chicken
A whole chicken including head and feet, symbolizes prosperity, particularly at work, and family unity.

Boiled Dumplings
Jiaozi supposedly reminds people of ancient coins. On New Year's Eve these dumplings must be eaten whole, in one bite, lest your future good fortune be left in tatters.

Stir Fried Mustard Cabbage
Mustard cabbage is one of the great vegetable staples in Taiwan. Another name for it is longevity vegetable.

The Chopstick Chronicles: On the Eve of the Dog, a Fish

by Eating China

The Chopstick Chronicles: Chinese New Year (Year of the Dog)

According to the Chinese calendar, Sunday January 29 is the first day of year number 4,704 – the Year of the Dog.

Hospital, 11:43am

You were frail
in the hallway
in a wheelchair
skin, bone, sadness
in the hallway
i didn't want eye contact
i saw pain, felt fear
yours; perhaps mine
cancer, somewhere within
destroying, killing, ravaging
you were frail
in the hallway
in a wheelchair
i walked by
will it return?
will you die?
shut the door
will i die?
keep walking
when? how?
shut it tightly

Wine & Art I

Many compare wine to art.  Some of us maintain that wine is art. I'm not yet to the point in my life where I can be a serious collector of either; although I do enjoy both.  Allow me to present works by two local artists that I would collect if I could.  To this artwork, I pair wines that I have yet to try, yet plan to sample some day soon.

Gregory Abbott (artist's statement)

The Albrecht Exquisite Corpse

Chablis Grand Cru 1999, La Moutonne, Domaine Long Depaquit

Jose

Amity Vineyards 2003 Estate Riesling

Vanitas with Caterpillar

Graham's Malvedos Port, 1995, Portugal

Tagged with: wine + wine & art + art

The Chopstick Chronicles: Tea Bush

"Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one."
– Chinese proverb

by Stephen, Taiwan

The Chopstick Chronicles: TV Dinners

Sometimes I think of Taiwan as one big convenience store. It is just so easy to buy all kinds of things, day or night. Food especially. Just about everywhere you look there are small, rustic restaurants. I am talking about your proper, walls-and-a-roof-sit-down place, rather than roadside stands, though there are plenty of these too. Typically they sell tasty traditional food that is cheap and quick – if you order at the counter on your way in, the food might be on the table even before you settle into your seat. However, if you are looking for a nice, quiet eatery where you can chew and chat, then you'll need to find one without a blaring television set, and that is not an easy thing to do. 

The Tasting Mosaic

Tasting notes are so yesterday.  Introducing the tasting mosaic (click to enlarge)..

Etienne Sauzet Saint-Romain AOC 2003

(Originally posted at Basic Juice)

Pomegranate Image

Following the excellent image of a seed-packed pomegranate by Digital Eyes I thought a recent photo by me would provide an alternative view of the fruit. So here it is! Not half as luxuriant as the digital eyes interpretation...

[Photo by Andrew Barrow]