Category: Literature

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Apples and oranges

Late October is a wonderful time to visit the fruit stands. Several varieties of apples are still being harvested. All kinds of citrus are arriving at the market.

I love apples but eat them almost exclusively during the harvest season. Of course, I understand that freshly harvested produces are more nutritious. But, I must confess that I only eat apples while they are in season because I am a picky eater.

There was no cultivation of apples in Taiwan when I was little. The imported Red Delicious were the best kind on the market. Occasionally, we would get them as special treats. Sometimes when we were sick, mom would use a spoon to scrape up the pulp in small servings for us.  Gradually, crops from central mountain region became popular.  The fruits were small and slightly tart but very flavorful. Their crisp texture won me over.

While living in the Midwest, I always wanted to join friends when they went apple picking but never did make it.  The freshly picked fruits that they brought home, however, taught me the lesson of eating local and eating in season.  There was no turning back for me.

One autumn day, I came home to find a basket of apples on the table.  Mom took a walk around the neighborhood when I was at work and noticed the apple tree at the edge of the country club across the road from us.  She thought it was a wasteful thing that people just left the apples on the ground.  So, she went back and collected them.  We made an apple pie!  But, I had to tell mom not to collect anything from other people’s property again.

Stayman-winesap

I first tasted Honeycrisp around 2005.  I not only fell in love with the variety but also became very interested in the genetic origins of apples.  Every time I saw a variety that I hadn’t tasted before, I would try it and search its origin—just to see if it might be related to any popular varieties.  My latest find was Lady Alice, an old breed but new to my palate.  It was a “chance seedling,” a creation of nature—opposite of Honeycrisp, an invention of mankind.  Lovely to imagine how it happened long, long ago.

I love baking with apples.  And, when possible, I would mix a few varieties for more complex flavors.  Knowing the quality of each variety would become part of my preparation: a game of balance.  The possibilities will never end.

The forbidden fruit of Eden, apples are symbols of peace and in Chinese culture (蘋=平).  They are often paired with oranges, symbols of luck, as celebratory fruits for New Years and other happy occasions.  So, my childhood memories of orange are always linked with cold winter days and the sounds of firecrackers.

草山橘 (Tsao-shan citrus) was a variety grown on the hills of Yangmingshan (陽明山), right outside of Taipei city.  Their size was very child-friendly.  And, they are very juicy.  However, they are very hard to peel.  I would always ask an adult to help me removing part of the peel first.  Peeling and eating orange was one of my procrastinating tricks—especially, to delay my piano practice.  I would peel the fruits slowly and separate each segment.  I would, then, peel of the membrane and the white stringy stuff one little bit at a time.  It could take me a LONG time to finish one orange.  This strategy drove mom crazy.  Sometimes, she would have to take the fruit away from me, so I would move on to the next thing.

Oranges remain high on my list of favorite fruits.  But, I didn’t really know the flavor of orange until the first time I cut open an “Arancia Rossa di Sicilia.”  The ruby red flesh surprised me.  The intense citrusy taste woke up my taste buds instantly.  At the moment, I was able to relate to Mignon, the character in Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship.  Having been abducted by Gypsies, she sang about her native land, Italy:

Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn,
Im dunkeln Laub die Gold-Orangen glühn,
Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht,
Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht?
Kennst du es wohl?
Dahin! dahin
Möcht’ ich mit dir, o mein Geliebter, ziehn.

(Do you know the land, where the citruses bloom,
Among dark leaves, the golden oranges glow,
A soft wind wafts from the blue sky,
The myrtle stands silently, and the laurel tree grows tall?
Do you know it well?
To there, with you, my beloved, I want to travel.)

Although I didn’t completely abandon other types of citrus fruits, from that moment on, I was always drawn to blood oranges.  Before it became commonly available, some of my friends and students would be surprised to see me eating bloody looking fruits.  Most of them appreciated my choice after one taste.

Apples and oranges bring colors and flavors into my kitchen and my life.

Curious about apple varieties, their characters, textures, and tastes?
Directory of apple varieties

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Little readers

This entry is part 22 of 28 in the series Goldfish

Right around the time when I started elementary school, Taiwanese comic books reached the height of its popularity.  The drawings were similar to Japanese manga.  The contents varied widely.  However, one would not be mistaken to think of them as Marvel comics in lieu of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  There were many book rental stores—think Blockbuster for books.  After school, children would crowd around the store front, sitting on wooden stools and reading comic books.  This phenomenon accumulated into children missing school and, in a few cases, running away from home to seek martial arts masters in the mountains.

Always keeping us on a tight leash, mom would not let us get near the book rentals.  Instead, she would check out books which she approved of and bring them home.  Instead of comic books, we got Western children’s literature.  Mom read us Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes and the like.  Somehow, I remember the story of La Dame aux Camélias was also in the selections.  I remember thinking the name of the author 小仲馬 (Little/junior Dumas) was funny-sounding.  (It was not very close to the French pronunciation.)  I remember wondering if there might be a Big Dumas.  I vaguely understood that the lady with camellias sacrificed herself for something important.  Every time I worked on Traviata, I just couldn’t help wondering how such an intense drama could have possibly been whitewashed for children.

In addition to Mandarin Daily, mom also subscribed 兒童樂園 (Children’s Paradise), a children’s bi-weekly for us.  The magazines were published in Hongkong and shipped to Taiwan.  There were historical stories, Western fairy tales, comics and games.  I looked up the publication history of the magazine recently.  It was discontinued in 1995.  Amazingly, the original publisher, with the help of an anonymous contributor, digitalized all 1006 issues in 2013 and released them online.

Mandarin Daily had a series of contemporary Western children’s books in Chinese translation.  We read Mary Poppins, Make way for Ducklings, Madeline and books by Dr. Seuss. . . . My favorite one was THE MAN WHO DIDN’T WASH HIS DISHES!  Perhaps, I secretly dreamt of NOT doing ANYTHING.  Phyllis Krasilovsky’s simple storyline and spirited narrations fit my desires perfectly.  Barbara Cooney’s creative illustrations made the book come alive.  I would look the stack of flower pots wondering if the poor man’s food might taste like dirt.  I was curious of all the different types of pans the man had.  And, what could be better than having nature take care of your problems: Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain.  I never confessed my love of the book to mom. . . Don’t believe that she will approve of it even now.

I also loved a book designed to teach children descriptive writing.  I don’t remember the title or the author.  It followed the daily routine of a boy, from waking up, getting dressed, to brushing teeth.  Underneath each drawing, there were two lines of descriptions.  The first one was matter-of-fact; the second; with details and emotions.  For example: The boy walks—The boy walks with a smile on his face.  I loved that simple daily activities could turned into stories.  Unknowingly, I learned from the book.

My “fun” reading stopped when dad gave me two Chinese classics 三國演義 and 西遊記as summer reading before I became a fourth-grader.  The first book Romance of the Three Kingdoms tells the epic story of the tumultuous time at the end of Han dynasty.  It is full of Shakespearean characters and sensational dramatic developments.  The second one Journey to the West is a fantasy based on the pilgrimage of a Buddhist monk 玄奘法師.  His entourage includes a monkey Sun Wukong 孫悟空, a pig Zhu Bajie 豬八戒 and a friar Sha Wujing 沙悟淨, all with magical powers.

Wouldn’t it have been fun to read these fabulous books?  Yes, but no.  Instead of offering me an introduction to these literary wonders, dad gave me the full dosage: the original versions in Classical Chinese, a written language first derived from literature around 400 BC and continued to be used in all formal writings.  It coexisted but never mingled with the vernacular until it fell out of use in the twentieth century.  So, it was like reading The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn written in the language of Beowulf.

Stubborn and proud, I actually made all the effort to read and understand these books.  It was a long and unforgettable summer.  I am not sure if I can fully grasp all the intricacies reading these books again today.