Just Folks. Happy Chinese New Year!
Today February 12th, also known as Chinese New Year, marks the beginning of a two-week long celebration of the Lunar New Year for East Asian cultures. The holiday starts on the evening of the first new moon after the Winter Solstice and continues until the night of the first full moon of the lunisolar calendar. On this night, the holiday ends with a red lantern display that symbolizes hope and love.
As we welcome the Metal Ox year, the Chinese Zodiac organization reports that "This year is going to be lucky and also perfect to focus on relationships, whether we are talking about friendships or love... This year, no explosive or catastrophic events will occur, so it is a favorable year for economic recovery or consolidation, a year of long-term investments." Very good to know!
Like our American Thanksgiving, Lunar New Year celebrations are centered around food and family. Of course, this year celebrations will be different as most families will be celebrating virtually and isolated instead of celebrating together.
But I was curious about the menu. Along with lots of noodle dishes, whole fish and whole duck symbolizes the reunion of the whole family. Dumplings are the ultimate comfort food and are always included. I didn’t realize how many variations and recipes for dumplings there are until I came across the Dumpling School in Cambridge, MA. Who knew? Steamed, water boiled, pan-fried, deep fried, dim sum, and wonton dumplings. A lot of us are familiar with these deliciously doughy pot sticker varietals.
In addition to their mouth-watering deliciousness, I was struck by their symbolism….and that comfort food is in fact a universal language.
Please click on the image to enlarge.
Dumpling School
View more of Tina's work on her website, Hummingbird Gallery or on instagram.
Prints of selected images are available for sale. For further information, please contact Tina Folks directly at Tina Folks or through Hummingbird by clicking here.
When users hyperlink to other websites from"Hummingbird," users acknowledge that these sites are governed by separate agreements.
