A Welcome to the Year of the Sheep

CEBU, Philippines – Chinese New Year, or the Chinese Spring Festival, is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. All people with Chinese ancestry are one in celebrating a ritual that their forefathers started about 5,000 years ago. The occasion is also commemorated in countries with large population of nationals with Chinese ancestry, like the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Canada and the United States of America.

Legend has it that 12 animals responded to the call of Lord Buddha on one Chinese New Year, and he then named the years after each animal, including the sheep. Some say it was actually a goat that Buddha named a year after, but it really makes no difference because sheep and goat share the same Chinese character, and some cookbooks have the same symbol for goat and mountain sheep.

Chinese New Year's Eve is the most favorite time for holding family reunions, for drinking good wine and eating good food. The celebration often goes with prayers for the family's wealth, health and happiness. However, the eve of Chinese New Year this year also falls on Ash Wednesday, February 18, which prompted Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to exempt the Chinese-Filipino and Chinese Catholics from the required fasting and abstinence.

Since the better hotels and restaurants in Cebu also held celebrations of the Spring Festival 2015, I hope that the members of the press are included in the dispensation, because we - especially us lifestyle writers - had work to do during the occasion. As a food writer, I had to taste the food served in order to be able to write about it.

Marco Polo Plaza Cebu invited us to the Culinary Impressions of China, a culinary journey featuring the best of Chinese cuisine. As is customary, a special menu was created with dishes and delicacies that are viewed as symbols of prosperity. Eight dishes were served us for lunch - because "in the Chinese dialect of Cantonese the word for eight is "baat," which rhymes with "faat," the word for prosperity."

Appetizers were Fried Shrimp Balls, Chicken Wings with Salt and Pepper and Crispy Chili Beef. Soup was the Eight Treasure Bean Curd, followed by Steamed Parrot Fish with Soy Sauce, Crab Meat Foo Yong, White Chicken with Ginger Sauce, Beef Steaks with Beijing Leeks, Ling Nam Noodles and Yang Chow Fried Rice. The Beef with Leeks was my favorite; it was very succulent and tender as marshmallows.

As you may have noticed those are ten dishes in all - and I had said earlier that we were served only eight.  The reason is that rice and noodles are excluded in the count and are regarded as mere fillers. Some food was to be left unconsumed on the plate since "leftovers" symbolize abundant provisions in the coming year.

 The fare that day was a far cry to my childhood memories of Chinese food: from tikoy to kiamoy, from bachiang to haw flakes and lugaw paired with bah ho (rice gruel with dry shredded meat) or taosi, salted black beans (particularly of the Temple brand) eaten by our friendly Chinese grocer in sleeveless shirt. Very sweet, excuse me, these champoy memories.