October Holiday + Moon Cakes!
I have been meaning to give and explanation about having a week off .. so here it is. October 1st is my birthday .. but it is also National day in China. Pretty convenient if you ask me! October 6th is the moon festival. I'm still not exactly sure what that means but I think its similar to our Thanksgiving .. its a fall celebration of sorts.
Everyone buys these things called moon cakes. They are small round cakes and can be filled with just about anything .. most traditionally black bean paste, date and bean, dried pork, seaweed or green tea flavouring. My favourite were a lightish colour .. so I am guessing a white bean of sorts. The ones I was lucky enough to get a free voucher for (courtesy of a very nice chinese teacher at my school .. Melody) were more modern and were Hagen Dazs ice cream moon cakes:
The moon cakes came in a very pretty box and on top of the box was dry ice ... ?? I thought that was weird and didn't really know how to dispose of it .. so I poured it in the sink and let it steam away.
A few interesting facts about moon cakes:
-- The government put into place a by-law that the packaging could not account for more than 25% of the moon cake package total value. This was because it was becoming a status thing to buy crystal and gold moon cake boxes and it was getting ridiculous.
-- Every year top chefs try to create the most unique and new moon cake they can think of!
-- If you get a moon cake voucher .. so a gift certificate you can sell it to someone on the street for 1/2 the value if you don't want the moon cakes ... the Chinese are serious about their moon cakes and are always looking for a way to get a deal!
Everyone buys these things called moon cakes. They are small round cakes and can be filled with just about anything .. most traditionally black bean paste, date and bean, dried pork, seaweed or green tea flavouring. My favourite were a lightish colour .. so I am guessing a white bean of sorts. The ones I was lucky enough to get a free voucher for (courtesy of a very nice chinese teacher at my school .. Melody) were more modern and were Hagen Dazs ice cream moon cakes:
The moon cakes came in a very pretty box and on top of the box was dry ice ... ?? I thought that was weird and didn't really know how to dispose of it .. so I poured it in the sink and let it steam away.
A few interesting facts about moon cakes:
-- The government put into place a by-law that the packaging could not account for more than 25% of the moon cake package total value. This was because it was becoming a status thing to buy crystal and gold moon cake boxes and it was getting ridiculous.
-- Every year top chefs try to create the most unique and new moon cake they can think of!
-- If you get a moon cake voucher .. so a gift certificate you can sell it to someone on the street for 1/2 the value if you don't want the moon cakes ... the Chinese are serious about their moon cakes and are always looking for a way to get a deal!