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And So Begins The Year Of The Dragon

23rd January 2012 By Urvashi Roe Leave a Comment

The Chinese New Year begins today.  It’s a time for dusting away the cobwebs of the old year, buying new clothes, paying your debts (and collecting what’s owed!) and for new beginnings. Sounds much like the Indian New Year.

2012 is the year of the Dragon – The Black Water Dragon to be precise. The dragon is a symbol of power, strength and good luck.  It represents good negotiations and as water calms the Black Water Dragon’s fire, it becomes more perceptive of others’ needs.  It is more likely to be diplomatic, act wisely and intelligently and make some smart decisions.  I like this dragon already.

Oriental traditions are some of my favourite.  When I lived in Japan, I loved learning about all the different rituals and especially the foods eaten at specific festivals.  The Chinese have many, many foods served specifically at New Year – each with their own representations.

    • Rice dumplings and oysters mean good fortune
    • Clams are for profit and good business omens
    • Shrimps and cabbage for wealth and abundance
    • Cakes represent peace and harmony
    • Candied melon symbolises wealth, virtue, growth and good health
I’ll be sure to have lots of these foods during as I am inspired by this dragon and all he symbolises.   My most favourite of all though are the sweets and cookies as they are for the Kitchen God, Tsun Kuan. Brilliant.  I hope he likes my Fortune Cookies.  They were really fiddly to make but we’ve had great fun writing the fortunes and words of wisdom to go inside.  
Here’s one from Confucius for those of you on the path to fulfilling your dreams.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop”.

Happy Chinese New Year!

fortune cookies

Related

Filed Under: Random Thoughts, Sweet Tagged With: chinese food, Chinese New Year, Confucius, Fortune cookie

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Comments

  1. I Want to Bake Free says

    23rd January 2012 at 8:52 am

    Happy New Year!

    No housework today, dust is your luck today so relax and definitely do not do any chores.

    This dragon is a good sign for us all. Some positivity and strength at last. Fab post.

    Xx

    Reply
    • Urvashi @ The Botanical Baker says

      24th January 2012 at 7:55 pm

      Thank you David. A great Black Water Dragon and your own Welsh Dragon – I am expecting great things from you x

      Reply
  2. Jaime says

    23rd January 2012 at 8:00 pm

    Brilliant post Urvashi – I did not know that about the clams! Thanks for the info. Happy New Year!! x

    Reply
    • Urvashi @ The Botanical Baker says

      24th January 2012 at 7:53 pm

      It’s amazing what the children’s reference library throws at you isn’t it. My daughter was looking for books on electricity and we came across one that explains all about Chinese customs. Brilliant!

      Reply
  3. Glamorous Glutton says

    23rd January 2012 at 10:20 pm

    I like the sound of this dragon too. Great fortune cookies, it’d be fun to give them a go. GG

    Reply
    • Urvashi @ The Botanical Baker says

      24th January 2012 at 7:52 pm

      Now I have your lovely blog to follow too. Thanks for visiting x

      Reply
  4. cakeboule says

    24th January 2012 at 6:56 pm

    I have always wondered how they make fortune cookies. I like the secret messages although I can always work out what they mean. It sounds like great fun to write your own. I like that cake represents peace and harmony which I think is apt.

    Reply
    • Urvashi @ The Botanical Baker says

      24th January 2012 at 7:51 pm

      I loved that part too. Baking is my everyday peace and harmony so it makes perfect sense to me!

      Reply
  5. princeproductions says

    24th January 2012 at 7:37 pm

    Happy New Year! I love fortune cookies, so clever! I’m hoping to bake mooncakes soon! X

    Reply
    • Urvashi @ The Botanical Baker says

      24th January 2012 at 7:51 pm

      Ooooh keep me posted. They sound amazing!

      Reply
  6. Nics Cahill says

    29th January 2012 at 10:18 am

    Really interesting post. I enjoyed it very much. Chinese food fascinates me because of the layers of meaning involved.

    Reply
    • Urvashi @ The Botanical Baker says

      30th January 2012 at 10:00 am

      me too. we eat a lot of symbolic foods in India so for me it’s interesting to see the familiarities and differences.

      Reply

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Hi I'm Urvashi!

I love food. This blog is a little glimpse into my foodie world which is an escape from two teenage girls, a busy job and my little cafe.

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