Here in China, there is a very
popular type of baked good called a moon cake. You can find them in literally
every convenience store you walk into, especially around the mid-autumn
festival. Moon cakes and this date are synonymous with each other because the
reasoning of this festival is to remember the story of Chang E, a mythical moon
goddess who is visited by her husband (sun god) on this particular day. It is a
very involved story that represents ying and yang, but due to many conflicting
versions, there is no definite story line. You can click on the link at the
bottom to find out more about the story.
Anyway,
these cakes are given as gifts and can be filled with different fillings. There
are the commercial types sold at convenience stores, or you can also get them
at special bakeries. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of the commercial version of
this cake. They can be hard as a rock and the filling is very bland. Although
prettier, I do not recommend them.
On the
other hand, the store bought moon cakes are delicious. I have never known there
to be such a difference in quality between store and handmade products as large
as this, so it is definitely worth the extra effort to get a bakery moon cake.
Like I said, they’re not as pretty, but they taste incredible.
I’ve gotten the chance of trying some with a red
bean paste and a rose filling. They were both very good, and I can’t recommend
one over the other. It depends on what you’re craving, since one filling is so
much more delicate than the other. I like how this dessert is representative of
such a unique and cultural story. It emphasizes my idea that the food of a
specific culture is enough to be able to describe it perfectly. You can learn
so much just by looking at the foods of a certain group of people, and this is
a perfect example of this in action.
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