Moon cake plays a central role in the Mid Autumn Festival that this year falls tomorrow, National Day. During this time, one is supposed to pay homage to the moon, make sacrifice to the moon and eat moon cake, you guessed it, under the moon.
As such, moon cakes at this time appear all over China. From shop shelves to hotel lobbies; packed in their fancy little gift bags, the little treat never fails to capture the populace. Not only do we have a bit of stomach packing to look forward to, but with this year’s double festival, we are all also entitled to 8 days off!
Q: I’m on a diet. Should I eat moon cake?
A: Unequivocally, no. The average moon cake contains between 800 and 1,200 calories. That said, hawk-eyed shoppers may well be able to unearth high-fibre, low-sugar moon cakes, made specifically with you in mind.
Q: Does anyone actually eat moon cake?
A: At the end of the day, yes, but there is surprisingly little evidence to back this up. However, that’s not the primary intent. Mostly, moon cake is a means to curry favour. The life of a moon cake pretty much goes like this:- I buy a lovely expensive brand-name moon cake and give it to you; you being my number 1 potential customer. You say thanks, sigh and pass it on to someone a little further down in the overall scheme of things, say someone who you just want to keep happy. They, themselves happy to not spend any money on moon cake of their own, give it to a family relative who then fobs it off on ayi, who in turn gives it to her daughter. The rebellious little teenager hates moon cake and chucks it out on the street where it is eventually eaten by some degenerate dog.
Q: Where can I buy moon cake?
A: The question may be better termed, “Where can I not buy moon cake?” The stuff is everywhere. Commercialism of the cute little treat has meant everyone has jumped on the moon cake bandwagon. The Nanjinger even knows of someone who has produced moon cake pillows. Finding them delicious is one thing but taking them to bed with you is stretching it a bit.
Q: Does moon cake ever go off?
A: The scientific community is divided on this one, with a slight majority of the opinion, “no, never”. Such is the density of moon cake that even carbon-dating attempts have been fruitless.
Q: Can I make moon cake at home?
A: You could try but few people do. Not only is moon cake exceedingly labour intensive, one also has to put the Chinese character for “longevity” on the top. And you thought icing “Happy Birthday” on a cake was hard.
Q: What else can I use moon cake for?
A: Well, you could overthrow a Mongol empire, for one. Legend has it emperor Zhu Yuanzhang concocted a cunning plan that involved the distribution of moon cakes that contained secret messages coordinating the revolution to take place on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month; the “Mid Autumn Festival”.
So now you know. Enjoy your moon cakes, and Happy National Day!
