The mid-autumn festival is one of my favorite Asian celebrations because it highlights family, togetherness, and there’s the spectacular moon – the brightest of the year. (Think of Dean Martin crooning, “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie . . .”) You’re supposed to take time out to hang out with your family and friends, walk in the romantic moonlit night and nibble on moon cake. Last week, Kathy sent an email about cooking Vietnamese food as a Vietnamese Jewish American and she got me thinking about the importance of observing Jewish Shabbat (day of rest) and taking time to maintain personal rituals. Then I realized that the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming up. It moves around as it follows the lunar calendar so I checked online. This year the festival, popularly known as the Moon Festival, falls on October 3. In Vietnamese, this holiday is called Tet Trung Thu. There is plenty of holiday folklore about what you see in the moon too.
Yikes, I skipped making moon cakes in 2008 because I was busy polishing the Asian Dumplings manuscript. It’s one of my annual rituals and this year, my schedule will be a tight squeeze but I’m determined to make two dozen moon cakes.
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