Sunday, March 27, 2011

20110327: Of Food, Taste & Paying Respect to the Dead

5AM prep the food and stuffs for praying.
7:15 car pool with relative.
7:45 left for the cemetery.

This time we went earlier to avoid the crowding, traffic jam, smoke, etc... The weather was sunny though not as hot as today.

Cheng Meng is the time to pay respect to our ancestors and also a chance to meet up with relatives. Pray, cold food, hot weather, smell of joss stick, melting candles, colour papers, burning of hell notes, paper 7-series (as in BMW), LV accesories cloths and other stuffs. I have to applaude the creativity & skill of the people who hand made all the car, house for this occasion. Wonder if they have a blue print for making stuff like this? Or the skill is pass down from generation to generation?

About the food (whole chicken, the fish, some huat kueh cake, ang koo kueh, etc), since the time I was little, it's always have this strange taste after praying. The old saying goes that our ancestors had "blessed" the food.

1) The hot weather & UV rays from the sun might have add to the "mutation" of the taste.
2) The joss stick could have intercepted & blunted our sense of smell for the rest of the day.
3) The food might have been "aged" during the journey in the vehicle (instead of the usual 8 hours).
4) The reheating-up the food for eating later may have caused the taste to change, especially if cook with soya sauce and other stuffs.
5) Some say the taste was taken away. :-)

I'm not sure whether it's a torture or enjoyment to hear family gossips, & seeing some of my aunties, you do tend to realize that people do not change much, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree & it's not a Culture Re-Shock event. Some same generation relatives you haven't seen for a long time, even if you meet on the street also couldn't recognise them. Some mentioned of dream they had report?broadcast? from our ancestors.

In this fast-paced modern age, Cheng Meng festival provides a rare opportunity for that sweet and bitter walk down memory lane for all of us. Hopefully the fond memory will last longer than the viral ones. After all, remembering that catchy song tune: "We Are Family !" & the Blessed Food of course.