Friday, December 09, 2005
Signs of Autumn 秋 風 起, 臘 味 香
Each year, when fall or autumn arrives, there are two things that really remind me of the season. The first one is 臘 味 (laap6 mei6) Chinese dried meat and sausage. During the year that I lived in Taiwan, I used to go to a place called 馬 來 亞 餐 廳, a Cantonese restaurant located in 西 門 町, the center of 台 北 (toi4 bak1) Taipei. In the fall, after the temperature cooled off, they sold special 臘 腸 (laap6 cheung2) and 膶 腸 (yeun5 cheung2) Chinese sausages made by a skilled 師 傅 (si1 fu2) chef from Hong Kong. The sausages looked so beautiful and tasty, especially to a poor, hungry student like me. I remember learning the saying 秋 風 起, 臘 味 香 (chau1 fung1 hei2 laap6 mei6 heung1) "when the autumn wind rises, the dried meat is fragrant." That's because the autumn wind is dry--ideal for drying meat and sausage. I love 臘 味 and think of that saying every time I feel the autumn wind or see Chinese sausage hanging in shops.
The other thing that reminds me of fall is 腍 柿 (lam4 chi5) persimmons. This year, the tree in my backyard has a fabulous crop of persimmons (see photo). The tree leaves have fallen, leaving the colorful persimmons silhouetted against the autumn sky. This is a scene that I look forward to every autumn. It tells me that winter is just around the corner. I have heard that Chinese like persimmons and that one can buy 柿 餅 (chi5 beng2) dried persimmons in HK markets. That sounds like a good, nutritious snack--one more thing to look for when I go to HK in May. In the meantime, I could use a hand in picking my persimmons. Anyone want to help?
Speaking of Taiwan, when I attended the 史 丹 福 大 學 主 辦 的 華 語 中 心 Inter-University Program on the 台 大 (toi4 daai6) National Taiwan University campus in Taipei, I used to frequent 鳳 城 (fung6 sing4), a hole-in-the-wall Cantonese restaurant located on 羅 絲 福 路 Roosevelt Road, directly across from the main entrance to 台 大. All my HK friends hung out there. The food was cheap and tasty. When a customer finished eating and was ready to leave, the waiters screamed out the table number to the 老 闆 娘 (lou5 baan2 leung4) the proprietress, who collected the money. The proprietress was a real character. When she went shopping to the marketplace at 公 館, she would yell Cantonese to the shopkeepers, who mostly spoke 台 灣 話 (toi4 waan1 wa2) the local Taiwanese dialect. Cantonese and Taiwanese are not very similar. It was amazing that the proprietress and the shopkeepers could somehow communicate.
Reading through my Nov. 30 post, I felt that it didn't capture my real sadness about losing M as my fitness instructor. So I went back and revised it. ¶ 9:44 PM
Each year, when fall or autumn arrives, there are two things that really remind me of the season. The first one is 臘 味 (laap6 mei6) Chinese dried meat and sausage. During the year that I lived in Taiwan, I used to go to a place called 馬 來 亞 餐 廳, a Cantonese restaurant located in 西 門 町, the center of 台 北 (toi4 bak1) Taipei. In the fall, after the temperature cooled off, they sold special 臘 腸 (laap6 cheung2) and 膶 腸 (yeun5 cheung2) Chinese sausages made by a skilled 師 傅 (si1 fu2) chef from Hong Kong. The sausages looked so beautiful and tasty, especially to a poor, hungry student like me. I remember learning the saying 秋 風 起, 臘 味 香 (chau1 fung1 hei2 laap6 mei6 heung1) "when the autumn wind rises, the dried meat is fragrant." That's because the autumn wind is dry--ideal for drying meat and sausage. I love 臘 味 and think of that saying every time I feel the autumn wind or see Chinese sausage hanging in shops.
The other thing that reminds me of fall is 腍 柿 (lam4 chi5) persimmons. This year, the tree in my backyard has a fabulous crop of persimmons (see photo). The tree leaves have fallen, leaving the colorful persimmons silhouetted against the autumn sky. This is a scene that I look forward to every autumn. It tells me that winter is just around the corner. I have heard that Chinese like persimmons and that one can buy 柿 餅 (chi5 beng2) dried persimmons in HK markets. That sounds like a good, nutritious snack--one more thing to look for when I go to HK in May. In the meantime, I could use a hand in picking my persimmons. Anyone want to help?
Speaking of Taiwan, when I attended the 史 丹 福 大 學 主 辦 的 華 語 中 心 Inter-University Program on the 台 大 (toi4 daai6) National Taiwan University campus in Taipei, I used to frequent 鳳 城 (fung6 sing4), a hole-in-the-wall Cantonese restaurant located on 羅 絲 福 路 Roosevelt Road, directly across from the main entrance to 台 大. All my HK friends hung out there. The food was cheap and tasty. When a customer finished eating and was ready to leave, the waiters screamed out the table number to the 老 闆 娘 (lou5 baan2 leung4) the proprietress, who collected the money. The proprietress was a real character. When she went shopping to the marketplace at 公 館, she would yell Cantonese to the shopkeepers, who mostly spoke 台 灣 話 (toi4 waan1 wa2) the local Taiwanese dialect. Cantonese and Taiwanese are not very similar. It was amazing that the proprietress and the shopkeepers could somehow communicate.
Reading through my Nov. 30 post, I felt that it didn't capture my real sadness about losing M as my fitness instructor. So I went back and revised it. ¶ 9:44 PM
