Missing out on well cooked love during Spring Festival

In every day life, I find it more than justified to eat only vegetarian food. Better for my health, for my ecologic footprint, for animal welfare, for my yoga practice, just about everything. Right? Vegetarianism is never easy to maintain in China where eating meat is a human right for some and the highlight of the day for others, and I have often bent my own rules to not go hungry. But I still try, and it has become an integral part of how people describe me here.

Buddhist cuisine

Last week I visited my friends home in a smaller town, and we spend much time at his parents house celebrating the Chinese New Year. For ten days, parents have a chance to spoil their children to death. Nainai and Yeye (grandma and grandpa) were busy from morning til evening in the kitchen, preparing all the dishes for our lunches and dinners. Because how better to show your love than through food? And how better to show your love than through slow cooked mutton, or Yeye's home salted and wind dried pork, or his carefully chopped and fried beef? The finest, most expensive, most complicated dishes lovingly all prepared for the guests at this special time.

Word had traveled that I wouldn't eat meat or fish and my habit was taken more than seriously. Dishes were always arranged so that I was surrounded with veggie food. Lovely, refined, delicious vegetables and tofu. But the frown on Yeye's forehead showed his disappointment. He knew I missed the best part of the festival.

of women and chicken

So we went into the last phase with our women group. Windows had asked us to make a manual that could guide them in any project that they want to undertake. Our idea was to make worksheets that help think of preparation, network and money.

After introducing the first sheet we soon found out that the women wanted to work on individual projects. A little anxious as to how that would contribute to 'community building' we introduced more personal sheets and worked on them in small groups. One for chicken, one for a greenhouse and one for goats.

The last session we looked back at the whole month and did a tip top on our way of working from which we got only compliments. Nobody here would ever be critical in your face.

On the side we have been developing a recipe book for Palestinian food. Many women have written their recipes down for us and we were invited for lunch so that we could take pictures of lovely grape leave wraps with chicken.

We will be back in June for a follow up. For now am half satisfied with our work. Still a long way to go to be an effective 'community builder'.