We can never borrow each other’s mouths. I will never know what it means to taste the way you do, nor you me. Then again, perhaps if we could try that, we would no longer be the sufficiently the same people we originally were to make the new observation meaningful... Anyway, that imperfect empathy is part of the tragedy of writing and reading about food and drink. I also often wonder if my speculations on taste may be even less meaningful to someone who has a Y chromosome. In Classical legend, there...

I need to cut back. We’ve overspent this month. When I look back, I don’t know whether it’s the newly-printed poster board on my wall which I’ll point to as “peak-splurge”. Maybe it will be the sailing sun-hat from the French sports shop in Shanghai. The family have teased me about the price tag on that one. I bought the poster despite the teasing. Profligacy. Maybe it will be the tea I’m drinking these days; comfortably the most expensive I’ve bought with real money in ages. It was ¥170 for a bag,...

I’ve spent more money than necessary, wasted too many grumpy gulps than necessary on a tea which usually fails to reward. I’ve thought altogether too much about it. And, as well as trying to understand my problem, there’s another reason to chase the mercurial charm of “biluochun” (碧螺).  Back in the winter of 2015, I drank a cup which stunned me. It came at the end of a long tour featuring some great teas. But it somehow capped the whole experience. Like fresh peas and gooseberries was the biluochun that day. https://www.thenanjinger.com/magazine/strainer/meat-is-murder-im-going-to-need-a-toothpick-with-that/ It’s...

Now, this may seem a little vulgar. But I beg your patience. I’m here to talk up the pleasures of burping. As the father of a new baby, it’s a proud moment when I bash a burp out of her, especially a good dry one; there are no marks for puking the baby. But I’m here to talk here about the pleasure of the adult burp. You see, food that “repeats” is my kind of food; garlic or jiucai (韭菜) may only be a one-dimensional reminder of a good meal well had, but...