Holidays

“Lucky” Recipes for Chinese New Year

hollis — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:53:18 +0000

Ring in a healthy, happy 2012 with these Chinese New Year recipes filled with foods that symbolize fortune, prosperity, and good health

All elements of Chinese New Year, especially the cuisine, point to prosperity and luck. Celebrations were born out of a fear of the Nian, a mythical beast that would come to villages on the first day of the new year and eat livestock, crops, and even small children. To distract the beast, villagers would place food outside their doors and hang red lanterns and scrolls on windows and doors, as the bright color was believed to frighten the creature.

Thanksgiving Traditions: Indian Inspired

tess — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:44:18 +0000

For our Thanksgiving Traditions series, we talk with Soma of eCurry, an amazing blog about, among other things, Indian food.

For our Thanksgiving Traditions series, we talk with Soma of eCurry, an amazing blog about, among other things, Indian food.

Q: How do you typically celebrate Thanksgiving in your household? Are there certain rituals or traditions that you have in your family?

Thanksgiving Traditions: Thai Meets Chinese Meets American

tess — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:45:38 +0000

Several cultures (and cuisines!) collide in this family's Thanksgiving traditions

Thanksgiving may scream "turkey!" to you, but everyone celebrates it in their own way. Today we talk with AsianSupper's tum about how her multicultural Thanksgiving shapes up.

Q: How do you typically celebrate Thanksgiving?

A: My entire family and close friends come over … we usually have about 20 people altogether. We’re a multi-cultural group – Thai, American, Chinese, African-American so we have a lot of flavors going on!

The Foods of Mid-Autumn Festivals

tess — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:56:31 +0000

Many Asian countries, including China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea and Japan, celebrate a mid-autumn festival that accompanies food. Are you celebrating, and if so, what's cooking?

Many Asian cultures that follow a lunar calendar celebrate an Autumn festival on the 15th day of the 8th month in the lunar calendar, which on this day falls on September 12th. This is not coincidentally when the moon is at its fullest.

Since the holiday occurs when the harvest is bountiful, food -- like with pretty much all other holidays -- plays a major role. We've done a roundup of the different types of foods that mark each of the holidays. Please share your stories about how you celebrate by commenting below!