China News Network September 10 title: In Taiwan's Mid-Autumn Festival, this food status is higher than the moon cake!
Reporter Zhu Yanjing
"Eat barbecue or mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"Grilled meat!"
Recently, in an interview with China News Network, several young people in Taiwan have said that the most anticipated food in the Mid-Autumn Festival is in addition to mooncakes and Wendan grapefruit, which is grilled meat!
Before the new crown epidemic, in Taiwan, in the Mid-Autumn Festival, barbecue grills can be seen everywhere in the streets, alleys, parks and rivers, walking on the road, smoke is swirling, and the smell of meat is pouring in. However, the mid-autumn festival trend of eating barbecue meat in Taiwan did not start at the beginning...
Data map: Taoyuan City Hutou Mountain Park barbecue area. Image source: Photo by Lai Youxiong, Taiwan's "Zhongshi News Network"
Was there a grilled meat trend first or a barbecue commercial first?
Many people ask where Taiwan's Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue customs come from? According to Taiwan media reports, most people can't say it clearly, but vaguely feel that in the 80s and 90s of the last century, the Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue more and more people, by the 90s has become a well-known Mid-Autumn Festival custom.
However, some Taiwanese media pointed out that in recent years, the Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue atmosphere has not been as prosperous as 20 years ago, on the one hand, it is affected by the protection of environmental ecology and carbon reduction requirements, too many people at the same time barbecue caused air pollution, followed by the impact of the epidemic in recent years, the Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue activities have decreased.
In the research of folklorists, the Mid-Autumn Festival customs include moon worship, moon viewing, guessing lantern riddles, Bo cakes, eating moon cakes, eating sleeves, etc., there has never been an account of Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue, and the accounts and reports on Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue have only appeared in Taiwan for nearly 30 years.
A Taiwanese columnist mentioned in the article that in 1986, Taiwan Wanjiaxiang Soy Sauce launched a TV advertisement of "One Grilled Meat Wanjiaxiang", and later another Jinlan Soy Sauce also launched a "Jinlan Barbecue Sauce" advertisement, which is related to the popularity of barbecue meat, but has nothing to do with the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Later, large-scale stores such as Dinghao, Carrefour, and Wankelong opened in Taiwan around 1987 to 1989, and these stores held special sales meetings with barbecue-related supplies and ingredients on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it was obvious that mid-autumn barbecue had become the norm before that.
Some netizens also sorted out the past news and found that it was the Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue habit that appeared before the barbecue sauce advertisement appeared.
A 1982 report in Taiwan's "Minsheng Bao" mentioned, "Hsinchu is the base camp for Taiwanese manufacturing ovens, this year's oven exports are sluggish, and a large number of manufacturers have switched to domestic sales, making the Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue atmosphere become popular." In 1983, the newspaper also reported that "the number of people who throw garbage is less than the increase in the number of grilled meats", mentioning that "many people in Youth Park, Fuhe Bridge and other places have made fires to grill meat, leaving many potholes, which looks unsightly." "Obviously, at that time, mid-autumn barbecue had gradually become the norm. By 1993, there were more people grilling meat in the Mid-Autumn Festival, and many reports of the Mid-Autumn Festival were related to barbecue activities, showing that in the past 10 years, mid-autumn barbecue meat in Taiwan has spread from a single point spread to a national activity.
Since 2000, various parts of Taiwan have successively held large-scale barbecue activities in open spaces during the Mid-Autumn Festival, taking 2005 as an example, there are similar activities in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, with tens of thousands of people participating.
According to recent Taiwan media reports, this year is approaching the Mid-Autumn Festival, Taiwanese people frantically buy barbecue ingredients, the most popular clams and pork followed the shouting, oysters a pack of 2 pounds from 120 yuan (NT$, the same below) to 130 yuan to 150 to 160 yuan, clams a pound from 110 yuan to 130 yuan. Pork vendors also said that the demand for the Mid-Autumn Festival is now large, and one pound has risen from 220 yuan to 240 yuan.
It can be seen that eating barbecue meat during the Mid-Autumn Festival has now become a "big thing" that every household in Taiwan must prepare.
Data map: Taipei City youth barbecue during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Image source: Taiwan's "Zhongshi News Network"
Mid-Autumn Festival Barbecue: Taiwan's new generation of social ways
"Did you grill meat?" It has become a greeting for Taiwan's new generation to meet in the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On social media, some Taiwanese netizens curiously asked, "Invited to a barbecue party to bring ingredients, which foods are the mines in everyone's heart?" "Cause netizens to discuss. Many people have named 5 very common ingredients in grilled meat, including boned chicken, green peppers, toast, corn and mushrooms.
An orthopedic surgeon in Taiwan teaches the public a trilogy of grilled meat and bone protection. Image source: Taiwan's Lianhe Pao
There are also orthopedic doctors on the island to remind that when the barbecue party, some people because of the heavy weight handling when buying, the bad posture of the barbecue bent forward, the improper cleaning of the stove after the party, etc., and the discomfort and even pain of the lumbar spine, wrists, etc., he pointed out the essentials of the action before and after the barbecue, calling on the public not to let the barbecue for 3 consecutive days torture their own muscles and bones to "real Barbie Q".
However, this year, due to the epidemic situation, the counties and cities on the island have made different degrees of restrictions on the gathering of barbecue. For example, Taipei City and New Taipei City both stipulate that during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday from September 9 to 11, barbecues in Riverside Park are prohibited, and Taichung City only opens 2 locations for people to grill meat. Wang Bisheng, commander of the epidemic command center in Taiwan, also said a few days ago that barbecue meat is not banned, but also reminded the public to pay attention to epidemic prevention.
Data chart: Taiwanese people grill meat during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Image source: Taiwan Zhongshi News Network
Whether it is eating barbecue or eating mooncakes, it reflects the concept of "festive reunion" in Chinese culture. Li Weiguo, a young Taiwanese who spent the Mid-Autumn Festival on the mainland, also invited friends to barbecue meat together, and for everyone who wondered why they wanted to grill meat during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he said: "This is a culture in Taiwan, but we all spend the same Mid-Autumn Festival together." ”
As Chen Yuting, a young man from Taiwan interviewed, said, whether it is in the mainland or in Taiwan to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is all Chinese culture, and there is a strong festive atmosphere, "as long as everyone can get together, it is the best festival." (End)