15 février 2008
Guangzhou: the art of drying things (2)
Soon, I will post here my report of the OFF3 - Omnivore Food Festival in Deauville, but before I can do that, a few things are still hanging up to dry.
Did you by any chance believe we were done with the Cantonese art of drying? Far from it. All the following pictures were taken in December 2007 and January 2008.
Creatively-hung laundry is a Chinese specialty, and some laundry lines are hung up with a peculiar sense of order and beauty, even poetry, that never fails to amaze me. Hairdressing salons, beauty and massage parlors, having washing machines but no driers, cause the streets to bloom with graceful, orderly sets of pink, white or pale blue draperies.
A family, expressed through their clothes, is floating in the breeze on a small courtyard near the Chen Academy, between the shiny ficus trees and a Qing dynasty tiled roof.
Another set of laundry is sitting for posterity in Xiaozhou, a Yuan dynasty village that will be further described in another post.
Xiaozhou. A rare, Ming-dynasty sneaker drying rack in a perfect state of preservation and still in use. Probably one of the most beautiful example of the Chinese art of drying things.
Here is one of the great secrets of Chinese daily life: a deep, profound spirituality built into every moment and into the most humble chores. There always comes a time in the life of a street mop when you must, like everybody else, hang up your head and meditate.
Without departing from the dried stuff topic, let us talk about edible things, so that this blog deserves to be called a food blog and I get invited to food events and festivals. At the market, near Jiang Nan Xi Lu: dried egg noodles and preserved duck eggs.
Cantonese balconies are perfect places to hang anything you'd want to dry at home (if you were Cantonese): clothes, fish, char siu (marinated lacquered pork belly).
Back to the market with a delectable Cantonese specialty: dried duck.
Going a little further, an assortment of Cantonese sausages: short, black (a sort of black pudding), finely ground, coarsely ground. And a dried duck impersonating Ramses II.
The province of Guangdong is famous for its sausages and, in Guangdong, two cities compete for the title of Sausage Capital: Dongguan and Foshan. This cured meats shop was photographed in Foshan. The dark sausages from the top row are truly delicious.
Pretty, colorful and shiny like tapestry silk yarn, these dried and cured bacon strips — some unflavored, some sweetened, some smoked — were seen on a Guangzhou market. Sliced finely and served on top of freshly steamed vegetables, they are quite tasty.
No, I haven't taken you to a puppet show — these dolls are stuffed pig's feet, another Foshan specialty.
Cantonese-style squabs in a shop window near the Chen Academy.
Swallows' nests at Qingpin market.
Not cigars, but steamed and dried ginseng roots.
We finish this anthology of Chinese dried things with soft, dawn-colored dried persimmons.
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