Bombs Bursting in Air

I’m sitting in my kitchen waiting for my stew, made of practically every remnant of food that I had laying around. Actually not quite as spontaneous as it sounds. I had some hongshao duck (dug legs stewed in a aromatic soy sauce base), a potato, some duck wings, half of a small bright orange pumpkin, some threaded chicken and chicken stock… that combined with some salt pork I bought and some big white beans (and other odds and ends) is going to be my supper…. Hopefully it turns out… As it stands now it’s a bit too sweet…but full of flavor. But I guess that’s Shanghai style… My hope was for a rough Chinese-style cassoulet – the French would not be happy.

Last week was the Chinese new year – the year of the Ox (or cow as I’m more fond of cows and the word in Chinese could go either way). I spent the 24^th and 25^th at a friends house in Northern Shanghai. Her parents were kind enough to let me crash the family celebrations and the mother of the house let me hang out in the kitchen while she prepared the New Years eve meal. Reminded me of home. She continually commented on her particular technique - why she cut the fish the way she did, how to fry the shrimp etc. and also why she didn't use MSG. MSG came into use shortly after the 'Great Leap Forward', when Mao sent rural farmers into factories to make China an industrial superpower. Everyone was forced to eat at large cafeterias, where simple food with basic dietary requirements were dished out with robotic expediency. Unfortunately, because farm efficiency and production dropped China experienced a horrible several year famine where whole towns were decimated by starvation. I believe that i read somewhere MSG started in this era where it gave a meaty taste to an otherwise tasteless meal. So not only were lives lost during this period but also a cultural heritage of eating and cooking. Restaurants were seen as a luxary of the upper-class and were closed or forced to serve basic meals to the masses. Luckily not all of China has forgotten the culinary style of the past.

On the 26th I got to see an old roommate of mine Lily who is from Shanghai and was visiting during the holidays. Her father cooked us a meal with several dishes, but the highlight was stewed pork and tofu, that was slowly stewed throughout the whole day. I actually first met her family 3 years ago on my first trip to China and they nursed me through one of the worst bouts of food poisoning I've ever had - luckily her father is a doctor and gave me special privileges at the hospital he works at. Dont let that scare you about the food though, I haven't been sick in China ever since.

Fireworks have been going off for the last 2/3 weeks. A hallmark of the new year, they are becoming quite annoying but should be over soon. For some reason people think it's a good idea to shoot them off all day but especially at 6 or 7 in the morning! Doesn't make a whole lot of sense because they spend a decent amount of money on extravagant, professional grade fireworks and then shoot them off in the day when you can't see them....

New Years Eve was a most exciting display of the power of firworks but also of private over public funds. As it turned over to the new year at midnight the frequency and number of fireworks and fire-crackers reached a level that was almost unbearable. There are 20 million people in Shanghai and I would imagine there were very few who did not take part in the celebration. I lit a few fire-crackers with my friend and her dad, but quickly returned to the apartment in fear of being consumed in the colorful madness. Instead I stood on the 6th floor balcony watching the spectacle explode around me. Every alleyway and street is fair game to create your own fire-works display, and as I walked out the next morning, I fond the main street near their house completely covered in the read wrappers and colorful boxes that had been decimated in the display of fire-power wielded by every day citizens. I'd love to see how much money is spent on fireworks every year by the Chinese.

It's been a little warmer here, and I think today some of my colleagues will return fromt he holidays, which is good because I'm getting a bit bored. Then it will be time to do some work!