Mid Autumn Festival

The Chinese festivals keep coming. After the Ghost Festical in August where people remember those who died, we now have the Mid Autumn Festival coming up. There's a dragon dance involved, some godess flying to the moon and a rabbit living in the moon (isn't it fun to be a cultural philistine?) but more importantly: there are mooncakes. Traditional mooncakes are pastries of about 10cm diameter, with a crusty pastry outside layer and a filling of lotus seed paste. In the middle is a lotus seed and a salty duck egg yolk. These traditional mooncakes are still available, but at the same time many modern versions are on the market, with fillings ranging from chocolate trufffle to caviar or foie gras.

I tried the traditional one - got to go for the real thing, I say - and it tastes disgusting. Really, really heavy, to start with. The lotus seed paste is sweet, but tastes strange, and the contrast with the salty yolk is just horrible. Tried it, didn't like it, won't have it again thankyouverymuch!