Customs and Traditions : Holidays and Festivals : Chinese Mooncake Festival

The Mooncake Festival or Mid Autumn Festival is celebrated by the Chinese on the Sept 15th (or around that time; it's based on the lunar calendar).  It's also called Moon Festival or Harvest Moon Festival.  It takes the name Mooncake Festival because mooncakes are a delightful pastry that people eat and/or give to friends.  This festival is also celebrated by the Vietnamese and other Asian countries or countries which have a citizenry that includes those of Asian heritage. 

"Fillings in contemporary style mooncakes has diversified to include just about anything which can be made into a paste. Mooncakes containing taro paste and pineapple, which were considered novelty items at their time of invention have in recent years become commonplace items. In addition, filling with ingredients such as coffee, chocolate, nuts (walnuts, mixed nuts, etc.), fruits (prunes, pineapples, melons, lychees, etc.), vegetables (sweet potatoes, etc.), and even ham have been added to give a modern twist to the traditional recipes. It is also increasingly popular to change the base of the paste to a custard-style."  (Source:  Wikipedia)

Though I am not Asian, I do enjoy Asian food (and any other kind of food.).☺

I would love to try mooncakes with fillings but so far I've only tasted them plain. They were still tasty! ☺

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Kee Wah Bakery Signature Mixed Nuts & Ham Moon Cakes

Mixed nut mooncakes are a light and sweet option for the Lunar Festival. These cakes have ham, for a fantastic flavor combination. 

This is the story of the Chinese Folklore - The Tale of Chang'e. The story of Chang E is the most widely accepted tale regarding the moon and the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Chinese Folklore in Comics - The Tale of Chang'e (Bilingual in English and Chinese)

en: Vietnamese children celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival 
in a traditional lantern procession. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) 

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What We Know About the Origins of Pizza

How can one have a blog-magazine titled Joie De Vivre and not publish a post about pizza? One of the greatest joys of life ever!! LOL. Here goes!
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We know that pizza is an extremely popular food all around the world.  In fact, according to TripSavvy, a well-known travel site, serving up pizza is a $32 billion industry.  

We know that the invention of the modern pizza is credited to a chef in Naples, Raffaele Esposito, who prepared a dish fit for a visiting queen, by taking a meal commonly eaten by the poor folks and jazzing it up a little bit with the colors of Italy, red, white, and green.

But do we know who really got the ball started, or should I say started rolling the dough, and who should be given thanks for making this food of joy possible?

DID YOU KNOW:

"The Delicious History of Pizza
History of Pizza - as part of the news and politics series by GeoBeats. Believe it or not, pizza has been around since the 6th century BC. Historians recorded that Persian soldiers used to bake flat breads on their shields and cover them with cheese. In Pompeii, amidst the ashes, there is evidence of the popularity of the flat pizza pie. Even Virgil in The Aeneid wrote about these “cakes of flour.” If you ask me, Italy has had a long time to perfect the recipe."

• The word pizza was first documented in AD 997 in Gaeta.
• The precursor of pizza was probably the focaccia, a flatbread known to the Romans as panis focacius.
• Flatbreads were common in the ancient Mediterranean world.
• Ancient Greeks also made a flatbread called plakous, flavored with toppings like herbs, onion, cheese, and garlic.
• In the 6th century BC, the soldiers in Persian King Darius I armies baked flatbreads with cheese and dates on top of their battle shields.
• Roman Jews ate pizzarelle, which were kosher for Passover cookies.
• Foods similar to flatbreads in the non-Mediterranean world include bing (China); paratha (India), naan (leavened) and roti (unleavened) (Central and South Asia), carasau (Sardinia), and rieska (Finland).
• The modern pizza, which originated in Naples, Italy, made its way to the New World and is now a popular food in two North American countries.  Canada was introduced to pizza in the late 1950s, and the United States was introduced to this tasty dish with the arrival of Italian immigrants in the late 19th century.

So!  Who takes full credit for inventing pizza?  Flawless logic dictates ... whoever invented flatbreads!  And who invented flatbreads?  Nobody knows!  Yep yep.  This is yet another of life's greatest pleasures the world enjoys and we don't know who to thank!
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NOTE: Apologies.  The original source link for this quote was an AOL video which is no longer available (aol.com/video/view/the-delicious-history-of-pizza/517324588?on=1 ) is no longer available.

Replacement Links:
* The Secret History of Pizza | Epicurious (video) 
* A Slice of History: Pizza Through the Ages – HISTORY.com 
* Who Invented Pizza? | Wonderopolis.org 
* An Illustrated History of Pizza in America | First We Feast 
* History of Pizza - Wikipedia 

Follow Flipboard - Pizza Craving!  

Naan Pizza Recipes: 9 Easy Ways to Make Pizza at Home https://t.co/k43ewLgO9J via @flipboard @EverydaySpices #pizzalovers #funfood #foodfun #easyrecipes

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