Food essay

The traditional food in my hometown

Nina Yang

W&C III

Ms. Guarino

01/06/2015

  Here is riddle for you: White and plumpy baby on the table, delicious and yummy inside his stomach. Guess what is it? The answer is dumplings! I've been eating dumplings since when I was in my mom's stomach, and I would love to eat it every meal in my life.  Hope that most of you know what dumplings is. Dumplings is a Chinese traditional food especially in the north part of China, and people eat it as a symbol of good luck during family reunion and traditional holidays such as spring festival.
      Like me, many people love dumplings, and I miss dumplings so much when I study in the United States. Dumplings looks white and plumpy outside since it’s made by flour. The shape of the dumplings is like a gold ingot, which was the money used in the old China. Inside the white flour are different kinds of vegetables and meat fillings. The popular flavors are cabbage and pork, chives and pork, and fennel and pork. People usually put the uncooked dumplings in the boiling water and eat it with vinegar. When you smell it, you can smell the fresh smell of the flour and the appetizing smell of the meat and vegetables. When you bite on it, you would feel the savory smell of the vegetables and meat is filled in your whole mouth. It’s soft and kind of sour since you eat it with vinegar, but it makes the taste of the dumplings more delicate. The typical type of dumplings is boiled dumplings, but people in different place would also eat it differently. There are also steamed and fried dumplings, which are also extremely palatable.

  My hometown is in Beijing, where locates in the North part of China. In addition, my family is a very traditional family so that every time when I come back home from the United States, my grand parents will make the most authentic dumplings for me. My grand father said the dumplings is like the symbol of good luck and wealth because the shape of the dumpling is like a gold ingot. During the spring festival, my family will eat dumplings. This time, my grand parents will put a coin inside a random dumplings. The person who eats the coin when they eat the dumplings will get money. It’s also the symbol of good luck, and means that person will be wealthy in the New Year. This winter break, when I went back to China during the winter break, my grand parents made the dumplings again, and I missed the taste of it so much when I was in America. My grand father told me that if you eat dumplings at the beginning of the winter, your ear wouldn’t drop when the wind blows. It’s like a custom for all the Chinese people to eat dumplings.

  There is an old saying for Chinese people that no food is better than dumplings. Do you know how did the dumplings were invented? Here is a story for you. About hundreds years ago, there was a men called ZhongJing. He was a procurator in Han dynasty. When he walked around his city during the spring festival, he saw many people were dying because of the disease, and many people’s ear were injured because of the cold weather. He felt so upset and sorry for them. Then, he decided to help those people, and he made the dumplings soup for everybody in the city. After they eat that, people were dying soon got much better than before. From then on, it became a custom that people would eat dumplings during winter, and it becomes a symbol of good luck since it saved many people’s lives. 
  The dumplings is almost like a culture for Chinese people. Many foreigners recognize China when they eat dumplings. We eat it not only because it’s delicious and tasty, but also because it’s the symbol of wealth and good luck. We put our wish for the New Year into the dumplings when we eat them. Nevertheless, I would love to eat it, and recommend it to other friends from different countries.