Sunday, June 20, 2004

To Eat What No White Man has Eaten Before!

(NOTE: The title, and this article, is in no way racist, nor was it meant to be. It just hit me and struck me as funny, so if I offend anyone: sorry, sorry, sorry.... )

Been a while since I blogged hasn't it?? :)

Well the truth is I ususally try to blog at least once on weekends, but last weekend I was in Ottawa attending a cousin's wedding.

Now, before you ask me how it went, as everyone inevitably does...
The cousin was lumious, the dresses are lovely, the ceremony- at the National Art Gallery no less - was moving. The day was perfect, none of us bridemaids tripped in the aisle and we all had a really good time on our little mini-vacation to our nation's capital. Even the location of the hotel was perfect: right in the heart of Byward Market, which comes alive on weekends with produce and arts vendors, less then 5 mintes walk from everything a tourist should see. This weekend showed off the best that Ottawa had to offer, my cousin included.

I should mention now the great guy my cousin married is of English/Irish decent. The ceremony is "western", but the reception is distinctly chinese, right down to the braised sea cucumbers with baby bak choy and abalone to Shark-Fin soup.

For those uninitiated to a chinese banquet, it goes somthing like this: a cold cut platter of somthing sort, usually invloving various roasted meats and poltury, then a veggie dish, then the Shark Fin Soup (always served third- don't ask me why), then the various dishes of hot entrees, including noodles and rice. Usually there's meat of some sort, a chicken of some sort, steamed fish of some sort, vegetables of some sort. Then it's dessert, ususally a sweet soup, some chinese pasteries maybe, or fruit. This was a modest, 9 course meal. I've had much bigger, and I've had smaller.

Keep in mind, all this comes naturally to me. As Kim Wong Keltner so correctly pointed out in "The Dim Sum of All Things":

"The food at these banquets was always the same. Objectively speaking, the food was a delectable twelve-course meal that was expertly prepared; any gourmand would be impressed by the delicate flavors of the various dishes. However...to (me) and my cousins, who had all eaten countless feasts like these, the meal was simply as they expected. They had been spoilt for years by the routine of flawlessly cooked delicacies."

(Off topic for a moment: "Dim Sum" is a fun read, and is highly recommended- especially to "Banana Girls" like myself , although I think of myself as more of a "Twinky"...)

I can only imagine what it was like for my cousin's husband's family and friends, for whom (I would assume) this is their first full fledge Chinese banquet. The Jellyfish, the sea cucumber(which I personally will not touch with a five-foot pole), the shark fin soup, the heads of the chicken and the fish on the table. To them, I say bravo for eating with gusto.

All of us danced and drank into the wee hours of the night, and some of us had an after-party, to celebrate a job well well done, until even MORE wee hours of the morning.

So here's to the bride and groom - if you can survive a banquet such as this, with 150 guests, 9 courses of traditional chinese cooking, a line of uncles insisting on shots of chinese rice whiskey and a dancing waiter, you can survive anything.