Monday 6 June 2011

Comizaina Macau


A song about food  You can tell a lot about what a culture is by what they eat. This is a song in Macanese dialect, originally from Macau but spread to Hong Kong from the 1840's. Now almost no-one under age 80 speaks it. But it's so rich ! It's a mix of medieval Portuguese, Malay and Chinese. Likewise the cuisine  and the social networking that goes around communal feeds. While the language is disappearing, the cooking thrives.  They sing about traditional Macanese specialities like minchee and tacho (a kind of stew), but also lots about Cantonese food, one of the finest cusines in the world. Siu Yook! Dau Fu Fa! (Roast meats, tofu jelly). And croquettes called Lorcha, named after lorchas, a ship invented by the Macanese in the 18th century, which were faster and fleeter than traditional Chinese junks. Lorchas enabled the Macanese to trade all round the China coast. Read lots more about Macau, Hong Kong, and  even Macanese food recipes on this site - follow labels.

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