What's a celebration without food? Food brings people together and forges our cultural identities. Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the lunar year. Families gather and share a reunion dinner with foods that hold symbolic meaning.
沒有食物的慶典算什麼?食物讓人們聚在一起,並建立我們的文化認同。中國新年標記著農曆年的開始。家家戶戶團聚在一起,並分享一頓滿是含有象徵意義食物的團圓晚餐。
Chinese New Year...it's a time for renewal, it's about rejuvenation. We have a reunion dinner and usually my father cooks. My father is actually...he's not a chef by trade, but he's an amazing cook. He'll prepare several dishes and some of them are very symbolic.
中國新年...是個除舊布新的時間,是有關回春的。我們有團圓晚餐,通常我父親掌廚。我父親其實...他不是個專業訓練的大廚,但他是個很棒的廚師。他會準備幾道菜,它們之中有些是非常具象徵性的。
It's important to have a whole fish at the dinner table. The Cantonese word for fish is "yu." Yu in Chinese—it sounds similar to the word for "surplus" or "extra."
很重要的是在晚餐桌上要有一整條魚。魚的廣東話是「魚」。魚在中文--它聽起來像「盈餘」或是「剩餘」的字。
My father will make "longevity noodles" because they're uncut and they are supposed to symbolize long life. Like, they're a given that we are gonna have them during Chinese New Year dinner.
我的父親會煮「長壽麵」,因為它們未經剪切,且它們應該象徵長壽。像是,它們是理所當然的食物,我們在中國新年晚餐的時候要吃它們。
The tangerines are called "gum" in Chinese, which sounds like "gold" and that was to symbolize prosperity. And we would eat them, but they would also be part of the decoration in the house.
橘子在中文叫做「柑」,聽起來很像「金」,那是要象徵繁榮。我們會吃它們,但它們也是屋中裝飾的一部分。
I lived in Confucius Plaza, which is right in the heart of Chinatown. So walking out and smelling the gunpowder from the firecrackers, it's the one time that I would get to see all of my relatives and I would get together with my cousins. And we could probably not get together for Christmas, but we had to be home for Chinese New Year.
我住在孔子廣場,就在中國城的正中心。所以走出去聞聞鞭炮的火藥味,那是我可以看到所有親戚,並與我的表親們聚一聚的時候。我們也許聖誕節無法相聚,但我們必須為了中國新年回家。
Food is a huge part of our identity and it's probably one of the things that continues to tie me to my culture.
食物是我們認同的很大一部分,它也許是持續將我與我的文化連結起來的東西之一。
- 「(職業)經過訓練、有經驗的」- By Trade
My father is actually...he's not a chef by trade, but he's an amazing cook.
我父親其實...他不是個專業訓練的大廚,但他是個很棒的廚師。