Every culture has its harvest festival to celebrate the bounty of the land. In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is steeped in rich culinary traditions stemming from ancient myths and lore. An agrarian society, old China’s villages followed the lunar cycles that dictated the planting and harvest times. With the arrival of the autumn moon, the earth enters its yin (feminine) period as the days grow cooler, darker and wetter. The autumn full moon appears at its fullest and brightest because it orbits closest to the earth at this time of year.
The Moon Festival is celebrated in the Chinese community with lanterns (to ward off the impending darkness), moon cakes and family feasts. The major symbols of the festival revolve around two ancient tales: the story of the ill-fated romance between the Moon Goddess Chang-Er and the divine archer Hou Yi and the story of Wu Kang, a woodcutter condemned for eternity to chop down the moon’s Tree of Immortality, the cassia.
This year, Moon Festival officially starts on October 3rd. Wild Rice proprietor Andrew Wong and his executive Chef Rob Erickson have cooked up a three-course menu inspired by the tales and symbols of this holiday. This special menu will only be available for the seven days of the Festival: October 3 – 9. Each dish and course ties directly to traditional symbolism resulting in a harmonious blend of flavours and ingredients meant to fill you (both literally and metaphorically) with good wishes.
The first course is a typical Wild Rice blending of east meets west – a smooth-as-silk Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Soup combining New World squash with Old China flavours. The orange of the squashes mimicking the golden/orange harvest moon. Floating in it like a cloud is a piece of Pomelo-marinated Sable Fish (fish symbolizing abundance and also an important element in one of the myths associated with Chang-Er). Pomelos are one of the Moon Festival’s traditional ingredients because the shape and colour of its sweet fruit brings to mind the full moon while at the same time believed to ward off evil and promote good health. In this case, the citrus acid in the pomelo’s juice ‘cooks’ the sable fish balancing its richness. The dish also includes Baby Shitake Mushrooms (which were believed to sprout only in moonlight), Roasted Black Garlic and a Charred Lime Finish.
The main course is a one drawn direct from history – Su Dong Po Braised Pork Belly. Considered one of the China’s greatest poets, Su Shi (known honourifically as Su Dong Po) was a district administrator famed not only for his poetry but also for his honesty and appreciation of good food. When he was about to be transferred to another district, the peasants got together and made him a gift of a fattened boar – a rare and generous honour. Legend has it that Su Dong Po, rather than keep the meat for himself, created this dish and served it to all the community in a gesture typical of his benevolence. Su Dong Po Braised Pork Belly celebrates generosity and wishes for a bountiful year. In 1076, Su Dong Po composed a poem in commemoration the Moon Festival (see attached). To accompany the pork, Chef Erickson has created a Three-rice Wor Ba. ‘Wor ba’ translates as ‘sizzling rice.’ In this instance the rice (fertility) will be a crispy cake providing a crunchy counter-balance to the richness of the pork. Completing the dish is Grilled Shanghai Bok Choy with a Mangosteen and Pomegranate Reduction. The mangosteen being another symbolic ‘moon food’ while the pomegranate symbolizes good luck and fertility.
Just when you can’t imagine eating any more, dessert arrives. A delicate Full-Moon Bun filled with lotus paste (fertility again) napped with golden almond syrup (wealth, sweet life and more fertility). Yin comes in the form of cooling coconut ice cream (vegan, made from coconut milk, no dairy) and a cassia anglais (in a nod to the hapless Wu Kang). The whiteness of the dish mirroring the luminescence of the autumn moon.
Three things mainly inspired classical Chinese poets such as Su Dong Po: the moon, wine and beautiful women. In true classical style, Wild Rice proprietor Andrew Wong has composed a thoughtful wine pairing to enhance the poetry of Chef Erickson’s menu. The optional wine pairing is $15 for 3 oz. pours and features Lake Breeze Pinot Gris, Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling and Bonterra Muscat.
Andrew has also created a special cocktail, the Lunar Sling ( priced at $5) – a heavenly concoction of passionfruit liqueur, gin, grated ginger, orange zest and ginger syrup and club soda. Who knows, like the ancient Chinese poets, it may inspire you to recite verses in honour of the moon and/or your dinner companion!
The three-course Moon Festival Dinner is priced at $35, the optional wine pairing is $15 and the Lunar Sling is $5.
Join us October 3 to 9 for a little Moon Festival celebration – at these prices you’d be a lunatic not to!
Moon Festival Menu
October 3 – 9, 2009
autumn pumpkin & butternut squash soup
baby shitakes, roasted black garlic
pomelo-marinated sablefish
charred lime finish
lake breeze pinot gris
su dong po braised pork belly
black, japonica and and bhutanese red rice wor ba
grilled shanghai bok choy, mangosteen pomegranate reduction
chateau ste. michelle riesling
full moon steamed bun
lotus seed paste and golden syrup
lychee coconut ice cream
golden almond syrup, cassia anglais
bonterra muscat
