WGBH Radio; The Callie Crossley Show

I'm Cally Crossley This is the Cali Crossley Show. We're getting a jumpstart on the Chinese New Year. The most important holiday in Chinese culture. Next Monday marks the first day of the lunar new year and with it no end of celebrations in Boston with Tony Lee the President of Boston's Chinatown main streets as our guide will get a tour of the upcoming events from the Chinese New Year Flower Street to the Chinese New Year parade. From there we take in Chinese cuisine the Chinese New Year is steeped with tradition and many of the customs are associated with food with Chinese canary anthropologist Lily Jan leading the way. We'll explore the symbolism and meaning associated with holiday fare. We top off the hour with our wine guy Jonathan Allsop. He'll offer survival tips for this year's Boston Wine Expo. Up next from the year of the dragon to draining the flag and. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying Republican Rick

Perry is bowing out of the race for the White House just two days before the South Carolina primary. NPR's Don Gonyea says the Texas governor is now endorsing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. This is not how Perry thought it would end. I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Newt Gingrich for president of the United States. He got into the race last summer is a top contender a popular straight talking conservative from Texas with an economic record of job growth to brag about. He was ahead in the polls but stumbled right out of the blocks and was unprepared and seemed tired during debates. Recall that famous oops moment when he could name all three federal departments he'd pledged to eliminate. Perry finished poorly in Iowa didn't compete in New Hampshire and was last in polls in South Carolina in endorsing Gingrich. He's doing what he can to derail frontrunner Mitt Romney. Don Gonyea NPR News Greenville South Carolina. Well the leader of Iowa's January 3rd caucuses may be Rick

Santorum not Mitt Romney. Certified results show Santorum with 34 more votes than Romney who was initially announced to be the winner. But today there is no declared winner of the first in the nation contest because votes from eight precincts are missing. The search continues for 21 people missing in the wreck of the Costa Concordia off the Italian coast. But NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports rough seas are forecast and that could delay the search and plans to pump fuel from the capsized ship. Fragments inspections are focusing on a part of the mega ship lying below the water line where five bodies were found earlier this week. Rescue operations had been suspended Wednesday when special measuring equipment signal that the 1000 foot long vessel had shifted slightly. It's now lying on a rocky shelf and there's concern that should it slip a few yards it could sink down to the seabed at a depth of more than 200 feet. Bad weather could also hamper the urgent task of extracting half a million gallons of fuel inside various tags in the

ship's hull environment minister quote had to clean the worn Parliament of the potential ecological disaster should fuel leak into the Tuscan Marine Sanctuary. Sylvia Poggioli NPR News Rome. President Obama is using a Walt Disney World theme park as the backdrop of an announcement today to bolster tourism in Florida. He's rolling out a plan that includes more involvement from business leaders promotion of theme parks and faster processing. U.S. stocks rose today partly on news of strong bank earnings. Bank of America says it has returned a profit in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley announced a smaller than expected loss. At last check on Wall Street the Dow is up twenty seven points to twelve thousand six hundred six Nasdaq up more than 20 at twenty seven ninety one. This is NPR News. New unemployment claims are back down to the Labor Department says applications dropped by about 50000 to 300 52000 last week.

A child reportedly is the first known fatality from a powerful Pacific Northwest winter storm. The Associated Press citing the fire department in Albany Oregon says a child's body had been pulled from a creek where a car was swept away from a grocery store parking lot. Rescuers are still searching for an adult who was reported missing. A fire spokeswoman says a man and another child were rescued last night following an accident. Independent films get their biggest annual focus as the Sundance Film Festival opens today in Park City Utah. NPR's Howard Berkes says veteran and first time filmmakers are hoping to showcase their work. Organizers at Sundance went through more than 4000 submissions before selecting 117 feature films for this year's festival 90 will have their world premieres over the next 11 days. One common theme is uncertainty about politics culture and the economy. A cinematic reflection perhaps of the Occupy Wall Street and

Arab Spring movements crowd an industry reaction at Sundance can make or break careers. Some of the 45 first time filmmakers may hope to be the next Steven Soderbergh whose 1989 hit Sex Lies and Videotape was the first big breakthrough film at Sundance. Howard Berkes NPR News Salt Lake City. We're seeing modest gains continue on Wall Street Dow Jones industrial average up 28 points it's at twelve thousand six hundred six. NASDAQ up more than half a percent now at two thousand seven hundred ninety one. Lakshmi Singh NPR News in Washington. Support for NPR comes from America's Natural Gas Alliance whose members are participating in an online registry providing drilling information to the public. Frack focus. Dot org. Good afternoon I'm callin Hosley. Today we're getting a jumpstart on the Chinese New

Year. Next Monday marks the first day of the lunar new year. Joining me to talk about the celebrations that will happen throughout Boston is Tony Lee the President of China town main street. TONY LEE Thank you for joining us. Great thank you for having me. So why New Year. Tell us about why it's a new year. OK on the Chinese calendar we go by the lunar. We go by the motions of the moon with the lunar calendar so January 23rd happens to be January 1st on our calendar and Chinese navy is a big deal. This is the time of year where we kind of start fresh. We clean out the sleigh clear it all out clean out the blackboard so to speak and this is the time where we where we take a look and enjoy the past of what we've done in the last 12 months and then move forward for the next 12 months. Now we might think that this is just something that is celebrated in the United States not true. Correct as it's actually celebrated internationally because as you'll see Chinese pretty much everywhere. Perreault.

Portugal etc. everywhere and are there differences in the way that the celebration happens now that people are in the Diaspora so to speak. Well conceptually everyone celebrates Chinese New Year the same way. It's how they celebrate it that's different and it kind of molds towards the culture towards family scheduling. Different people have to work so the scheduling changes but nevertheless when it comes to Chinese New Year every Chinese family they believe in closing the year and then opening the. So that in itself involves two parties. So if you know where the parties parties are right there those deliberations celebrate the event so to speak. And that's just with the internal family then you have to do the same thing with your coworkers then the same thing with the members of the community. Then you do it with your friends and family. So so then and then your extended family so you can see these parties can go on and on pretty much for almost a half a year. All right well first tell us about the closing out party and then tell us about the bringing in.

OK the closing party is when they take it very seriously my parents. They've been in the States for 40 years now so I'm I myself I'm actually an immigrant also. I came over when I was three. And so my parents being that very traditional they still hold on to the colleges. We celebrated the closing of the Year last night. So different families do it on different times depending on what their schedule is. And what do you do. OK. So for someone like me who's been in the States for so long my mentality is more or less Americanized So the dinner is very stressful for me because this is the den where you have to say things properly. You have to speak well of things you can't be negative Tonight's not the. That last night was not the night to drop your chopsticks. It was not the night to have your fork on the table make any kind of noises at the table. Everything has to be positive. You have to talk about prosperity and it's all positive positive stuff can I say cannot use the word death cannot say anything negative.

OK so that's closing it out right. Also So when you bring in what are you doing because you know we think about the American new year on January 1st. Most people are like oh glad that's over with now resorts is a kind of a negative thing right and it can be very stressful. Actually I think it is very stressful for many of the families especially the more traditional ones who take the culture very seriously because now the next couple of days is kind of like the cleansing time next week actually on Friday we're going to do the opening of the year party and that's the event where it's just very relaxed very. Do whatever you want and don't even have to sit at the dinner table together. Oh no it's more casual very casual that's when you open the Year at the closing of the years when you kind of give thanks to all the things that we've done in the last 12 months and then we talk about what we plan on doing this next 12 months and even all the dishes on the table is very very specific on the closing of the year. So emotionally is it a closure as we think of the ending of the year traditionally and going on January 1st when people feel as though they have a clean slate.

Yes that's that's exactly the concept for that dinner and it's the closing of the year. And now we move on and how can we make this year more successful a more powerful one. Why do you think this is is so very important culturally this holiday culturally. I'm actually from the Cantonese background so for many of the Cantonese toys and these people back in China we were the farmers the villages. So a lot of the times is spent on the farms agriculturally. You have your harvest through the year and you kind of look back at what you've what you've done and you kind of think OK well this year we did pretty good with the vegetables or whatever what can we do next she had to either keep the quality the same or increase the volume of it. And it is the same. I mean you talked about the differences between you and your folks are are they the kind of intensity the kind of formal traditions being passed down to folks.

It's it is it is actually not being passed down for example so when so in the future for me I do not see myself taking it as seriously as how my parents have taken it. And as you see Americans who have been in the Chinese Americans who have been in the States for more than two or three generations it gets diminished as time goes on. It is kind of sad. But then at the same time the tradition itself can be very laborious as well. So it's how you look at it you know. OK. It's the Year of the Dragon So there's a lot of celebrations going on around the city depending on what year it is. As I said it's the year of the Dragon is there a difference in what you'll be doing and what the events that are taking place around the city. Well there's different beliefs depending on who you ask if you talk to somebody straight from Beijing. According to methodology it's believed that we are the children's of the Dragon. And so that being that this is the year of the Dragon This is the hero of all of us this year is more powerful than the others.

If you were to look at this from an astrological perspective it's just another one out of the 12 years that passes through. So depending on what mentality that you have. Every new year is always a brand new one it's where it's all about prosperity it's all about being successful. But the Year of the Dragon is taking a little more seriously than the others and it's just a little more intensity when it comes to this year being the year to really expand your business. This is the year to do it. It's the so to speak. This is the year you've been talking about having kids or talking about buying a home. This is the year to do it. And then if you're looking to retire this is the year to just do it strongly retire and go have fun wherever it is that you want to go to do big things do big things this is the year of courage and doing big things. Now every year there is a lion dance a big parade and you know as I've looked at it I thought it was just you know very pretty but I didn't realize that each of those moves has symbolism. And why is it that there's always the dance of the

lion no matter what year it is you're the Dragon or whatever. You know the Chinese as far as the closing out of the year as I was saying before with the Chinese culture is that. The Chinese are actually very superstitious. So as far as how well last night's dinner goes is actually an indication of how well the year is going to become. So what happens if you've got a rough start so to speak. The purpose of the lion is actually to ward off evil. So if I were to translate that culturally what it's doing is it's warding off negative comment. And it's very and it's believed strongly that the lion would ward off any negative comma any. The Chinese is very superstitious and so the purpose of the lion is to clean off any evil spirits and make and get any kind of. Nothing in the way so to speak toward success so the lie is revenge which is coming up the lion dance for a duster anyway 29 carets that's a big deal.

You're right that's that's that's the January 20 night is is this Sunday. All the festivals in Chinatown takes place on a Sunday and that starts at 11:00 a.m. And what happens is. All the streets in Chinatown will be closed. So Hudson Street Tyler beech Harrison all those streets will be closed so it's actually a family friendly day as well. And so what happens is the parade starts at 11:00 a.m. at Phillips Square. Philip squares at the intersection of Essex Street and Harrison Avenue. And there will be a stage there. So at 11am the politicians and the VIP the sponsors come and there are about 10 clubs that are involved in this event and each club comes up to the stage one of the one at a time to meet the organizers of the event. And I am actually going to be the emcee to the event. So when you come out I'll be able to pull you up on stage and say a few words if you wish. And after each club comes up they

then in turn go on their own pattern to visit various businesses throughout Chinatown and that goes all day Jan. 29 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and somewhere around 12:00 12:30. The last group which is called pious OCA Sion they're located in Chinatown as well. They are not going to parade through Chinatown but they will too like a half an hour of martial law performance on stage so there are events from the 19th through the 22nd there's stuff going on. But then I note that there's a lot of stuff going on through March actually right. So so the greatest thing about Chinatown is that there is more than 100 different organizations. So as you know my last name is ye. So the year itself has a Family Association and the actual name of the year association is Yi functoid New England. And we have a network of throughout the United States and actually globally and it's almost like a Lions Club where everywhere. OK. And that's just the year. So then there are the Wongs the

all the other names and each association has their family group association. And each of them has their own celebration in Chinatown or wherever it might be. And so you have all these associations doing these banquets and these banquets typically range from 300 to 500 attendance. Really. Yes. So there's a lot of people in each of these events only once a year or so. Right right. It's once a year and it goes straight from New Year's Day all the way through til all the way to much even sometimes April. Do you have a favorite Chinese New Year memory favorite Chinese New Year memory. Actually yeah I had an uncle from Hong Kong come over and he took Chinese New Year very seriously so. So those four or five days that he was here we ate like kings and every day he would give me a home. Wow. Which stands for red envelope so the Chinese believe in giving red envelopes and is this generally cash in it because giving checks is considered impersonal

only cash is genuine. So so that week when he came I did pretty well. Well I have to say that one of my favorite Chinese restaurants right here in Cambridge Shanksville they give the Oval Office to everybody who comes in there. Chad is correct. And then when the lion dance comes that you give them a also a red envelope as well. OK so that's you know that's your favorite memory. That's the favorite memory. Right well the U.S. will be celebrating big time then the U.S. actually I think they've actually got a date set already and it's scheduled for February 25th. It's generally not open to the public but if anyone were interested to go that that's certainly possible. All right. OK well I think Tony you're going to have to pick this tradition up and keep it strong. Absolutely. We'll look forward to it. All right. We're talking about the Chinese New Year next Monday marks the first day of the lunar new year. I've been talking with Tony Yee of the. New England. President of Chinatown main streets. We're going to continue the conversation with a look at Chinese cuisine the symbolism and meaning behind traditional fare.

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Stories you'll want to share. News. Welcome back to the Calla Crossley Show. If you're just joining us we're talking about the Chinese New Year next Monday marks the first day of the lunar new year. Joining me in the studio is Lilly Jan she's a chef instructor and an expert on Chinese food culture. Lee Joon thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. All right so we're going to talk about the big fees Tony. The president of Chinatown Main Street just explained that the banquets are huge and important. So tell us about the food and why it's so important. Well a lot of the food that is served and prepared is very very symbolic. You know as Tony mentioned the meal the night before Chinese New Year Day is typically just family. But you know we often extend it to family friends and beyond but it's really important because you want to have your family around to eat all the good luck things to

you know foster that in your family and in your immediate surroundings for the coming year. So things that are traditionally sort of that are very very popular are dumplings. In Chinese dumplings and you know a lot of things in Chinese as he mentioned it's a lot about superstitions so jobs in Chinese is a homonym for many sons and obviously sons are a very popular child to bear in one. One child policy China to continue the family tradition but you want to have you know a family that is prosperous and growing. And also you know a lot of want times when you're when they're folded in a specific way look like gold ingots. So it's good luck and it brings fortune you know spring rolls when deep fried our crispy brown golden bars and they look like gold bars. So a lot of these things have a lot of symbolism when with them you always serve for example a whole chicken with the head and feet attached which I know a lot of my American friends find the really horrifying when it comes to the table. And I don't I do. I don't blame them. But the reason is you don't serve pieces of a chicken because it's a broken chicken. And when the new

your rivals you want as much holiness and and the fullness and completion as possible to accept that new year and all the luck that comes with it. So the same thing with fish then. Absolutely fish is a hominum for fortune and luck. So you want to eat the fish but when you eat the fish for example you know I was taught this from a very young age. You never flip a fish over. You order a whole fish and you eat the fish like that. But when you eat the other side you never flip it over because it brings bad luck onto the farm. The fisherman. And also because it's called luck and fortune it might tip over your fortune and it might spill out. So what you do is you peel off the bones as one whole piece and then you eat the rest of the fillet. Well what would be a simple dinner or that would include every good luck thanks. There's a lot of really I mean the complainers are absolutely the fundamental of all this I spent last weekend I made 700 dumplings Oh my God. Because you know it's important that you make them fresh and that they're not store bought and that they're your own families and and

there's games that they play just like I know that in New Orleans around Mardi Gras they put a little plastic figurine around and I think they get for that in the case. Correct. So in dumplings sometimes you put a little coin and the person who needs it will be extra lucky that year. So there's a lot of that but you know I think fruit like tangerines and oranges because of their golden color are very very popular make sure they don't you don't serve them in sets of four because four is again a homonym for death. So you want pears because pairs of things are lucky. Eight is ideal. Nine is also the one number that's acceptable because nine is a home for long and longevity. You know so fruit at the end of a meal are important fish and chicken or was really important as I said. You want the wholeness factor but you want abundance you want there to be leftovers you want yours you want your family to be groaning when they leave the table because that fullness in abundance is a translation as to what your year will be like and you want that abundance for the year to come. Now I understand that noodles are very important. Yes absolutely. Noodles again

it's a lot of the symbolism there very very long. So long beans are also important but the length and implies longevity of life and health of life and an appropriate death age. I know that sounds strange but in Chinese culture you know to live to the age of 80 is acceptable and after that if you die it's fine you've lived a long enough life. So for example my grandmother passed away two years ago. And you know it was a sudden death but it was a happy time because she was happy and when she passed away but my mother lamented that she was only 79 but my grandmother had by all accounts a very happy last few years. So it wasn't a problem but she was fixated on that. So you want that long life where you want the longevity and that's what the new Those come with I mean for Chinese New Year Day. You are not to wash your hair. Oh you are. Absolutely. You could wash away the good luck. You're not to sweep or clean anything in your house because it should already be clean. It should be immaculate. Yeah but because you might sweep away good luck and you can't use a knife or anything sharp because you might cut your luck. Or you might cut your life

so you know the noodles long you know delicious noodles are really popular. Handful of noodles if you can find them in Boston are fantastic. Well really now some things are explained to me because I'm not really a fan of dumplings but I love noodles so I'm going to be old and broke I guess. How I have interpreted what she was saying. Well if you're considering rolls tangerines and oranges are always good. And peanuts are actually really great for longevity and health. But there's candies candies good sweetens your mouth for the coming year. All right. So what we eat and and the must haves on the table here for a Chinese New Year. Is it the same in China or is it a little bit Americanized throughout the years. It's a little more Americanized here because obviously you do with you do what you can with what you have. I can't just walk down to the wet market and pick up a fabulous flopping fish every single day as I would when I go home to Hong Kong. But you know for example my family represents many different regions of China and so our family

celebrations are some strange amalgamation of what is traditional in those regions. Like what. Get with them. My grandmother was a phenomenal cook and I know everybody says that about their grandmother but my mother my grandmother was actually trained by a master Chinese chef. Wow. So I feel legitimized in saying that my grandma was a great cook and she was from Sichuan which is famous for very very spicy food. So I wanted incoming soup they were a pan fried or boiled. They were steamed and then tossed in the hottest paste you could possibly imagine. And this is my breakfast. Well when I would stay with my grandmother and you know when she passed away that was the one thing I missed the most because for me that was grandma. But that's how we celebrate and that's how we did it you know and and my grandma made fantastic beef noodle soup and those noodles were fantastic and she could handle. So it was very specific to what my grandmother thought was her forte so she could show off a little. Yeah. And also what made sense if we were in Hong Kong seafood is a very prominent. Dish in Hong Kong so we have a lot more seat for the table. You know if we were in Taiwan maybe there would be more vegetable and more balanced meat and what about Boston. In Boston I try to

uphold the traditions because I think you know I've done a lot of work in researching food culture and Chinese food culture and I really want to hold this whether or not I have kids but for other people in Boston I do the fish I do the chicken but I do a chicken soup because it's harder to get a whole chicken to roast and cook appropriately I can't I can't hang meat in my window I think my neighbors would think I was a stranger in Brookline. So you know I make a soup instead of hanging the meat like they do in Chinatown and I make small adaptations so my spring rolls I omit the meat because I want to include more of my friends who maybe are kosher or who askew meat. So I make a lot of patients because there's no such thing as a real visionary in China. We put pork on everything. But I tried to you know be more inclusive of American culture cuisine and I mean it works the same way when I celebrate Thanksgiving in America a lot of times my stuffing is based in sticky rice and my marinate for my turkey has some sauce in it. I can work with it. Yeah. You're listening to eighty nine point seven WGBH an online of WGBH dot org. I'm Kelly Crossley. We're talking about the Chinese New Year and the important

role food has in this celebration. My guest is the late Jan an expert on Chinese food culture. So Lily what my first guest Toni you was talking about was the closing of the year and the going into the new year. Is the food different on both of those occasions. Yes. You know towards the end of the year you want the abundance and you want that abundance to continue but for the first two weeks of the Chinese New Year every single day is symbolic of something. One is the birthday of all chickens one is the birthday of all dogs I know that sounds ridiculous but it's true. And every single day you want to eat something sweet but some days there's a lot more emphasis so for this the first day of the New Year you do not eat meat. But you know that's obviously optional I can't do that because I live in America and that would be weird. But there are a lot of other ways to celebrate you know but after the new year there's something AK called The End and it's a sticky sweet cake that you serve constantly and you buy and make in abundance. And you you bring as gifts to other people's houses because it's a home and the end means to

stick together glue together and go means the heights. So it really is an indication of sticking together and you know having a lasting relationship with whoever it is that you're sharing this cake with and going to new heights or having that extension of your relationship. And that's a very very popular thing. Every single day whenever you can can use a really popular Chinese people don't really have much of a sweet tooth but this is the one time of year can use are everywhere. So you know that changes a little bit. There's a little bit of sweet even at the very end of the New Year's Eve meal. But New Year's Day and continuing you get a lot more sweets. What's your favorite What are your favorite foods. Dumplings are hands down my favorite thing in the world and I have a freezer stocked full of them right now that you made that I may yet toiled over. But you know the one thing I really love is something that my mom shared with me growing up and it's these tiny little soup dumplings not in the way that Americans those who don't think necessarily but they're called tongue in which literally translates into souped up wings but there are little round balls of mochi which is like a rice flour that's padded into a chewy kind of dough and they're stuffed with black sesame paste or peanut paste and their

saw served with sweet ginger syrup and they're warm and the roundness and the unity and the sweetness is all very very good luck. But they're really hard to make and yeah credibly happening. Yeah I don't get to eat them very often but when I do they're just fabulous and so great and it reminds me of being a kid. One of the things that we just discussed in the first segment was that Tony felt that some of the traditions that his that his folks really you know it here too were going away with his generation and beyond and not people not adhering to the mystery of Glee. And I wonder if you feel the same way because I know that table manners is part of the sharing of this meal is very important. And is any of that changing. First of all tell us what what is the etiquette for New Years. Dinner and banquets and then tell us if it's changing at all. Well Tony was right in saying everything you do has to be 100 percent perfect. On New Year's Day meals and things not only is this one of the few times of the year you get to see your ancestors

and your grandparents and your extended family so you can't let your own parents and shame them by dropping your chopsticks everywhere. But you know it's it's important for the luck factor so little things like you don't want to lay your chopsticks directly on the table. I don't know if you know this but when you go to Chinese restaurants all the time if they Chinese the chopsticks come in wrappers they are folded into little chopstick holders. My Chinese kids so that they don't rest or actually on the table. So I don't know if there's a rationale for this Chinese. A lot of it is grounded in hygiene. But it's just a class a you you know as far as they're concerned you don't ever ever ever ever put your chopsticks directly into a bowl of rice by stabbing them down. Oh yeah that looks a little tacky even to my I have to say. You know the argument for me is why would you. You would never do that with a fork. Yes exactly why would you do that you know is that it just looks weird. But the reason behind that is the only time you would ever put chopsticks like that into a bowl of rice is for funerals so that the ghost in the spirits can come and eat the rice for a full belly on the way to heaven. So to do that is incredibly bad luck on

Chinese New Year I can't even imagine you'd be welcome back ever again. You know other things were pretty forgiving and a lot of things but you know you can't spit bones out you know if you're going to eat the whole chicken you can't just spit the bones on the table. You have to kind of tuck them away discretely and you want to make sure that you serve your ancestors first so as the youngest daughter of my family I immediately from a young age knew what part of the fish was best and what part always with my grandma were the head and what part is had is always the first part that goes to my grandmother because it has the cheeks and those are the best. And then the face is a lot of gelatin and a lot of collagen and so it's very good for her. His joints on his knees and his. So that always went on a separate plate and I removed it with two spoons and gave it to him. If he passed on it I would then it was up for grabs. But it always had to go in first and tea pouring is a huge one and I see this when I go there. You never let the people next to you have an empty cup. And as the child of the table Typically I'm the youngest in my family i always had to keep everyone's tea cups full. I mean obviously there's there's a

limit if it's a huge lazy to table the lazy susan they can't it's roots reach but my mother my grandparents my brother or anyone in my immediate vicinity always have a full teacup and that's just the way it's done I mean. So when I go out these days and I see you know it's wonderful to see that the Chinese community is adapting to American culture but it is a pity that some of that reverence for your ancestors and your your elders and some of those manners are disappearing. I don't think that they know to say thank you when someone pours tea for you and that it's not common and that you should always serve the person with you first. You know there's a great scene in Joy Luck Club where she serves everyone else the better piece of crab. I love that. And I've never had the good piece of crab I'll tell you that. Until recently you know and it's a really big deal to serve the best. And to know the best and to give the best. And I think that's slipping and it's a pity. You know I know one of my best friends is getting married and her boyfriend or fiance to be.

I wasn't raised with a lot of the traditional Chinese values and ideas so he had to learn a lot. You know as he was getting ready to meet the parents and little things like that and that kind of indicated to me that it was starting to slip away as Chinese people become more Americanized. So it is a pity him and the stories are going away. Oh no. Saddest part. Chinese people tap two fingers on the table when someone pours them tea as a means of thank you. And it comes from a story where there was an emperor once who like to go incognito and travel through the city into faraway places and of course if you use Incognito you can have people constantly pointy for him. So he would have to pour tea for them as well to keep his disguise going. Of course if his underlings were poured tea by the Emperor typically they would get down on their knees and count how but that would not work in a small tea house. So what they did was they tapped two knuckles on the table to indicate a kowtow as though they were kneeling to think their emperor. And that's a tradition that continues so when you go to do you know if I pour my mom well she taps a knuckle once but. Tiger mom you

know and that's that's the story is that are going away and it's a pity because those are great stories that really they're very vivid they stick in your mind as a kid. Food is one of those things that really can remind people of culture in so many ways when it seems to be that way you have described all the special foods for Chinese New Year is exactly what this occasion does. Absolutely. You know and this is the one time of year where China as its big manufacturing you know world it shuts down for two weeks and I read something on the BBC recently that there was a mass exodus that's one of the largest urban acts of this is because everyone who left the countryside to go into the cities to work get these two weeks off we don't get Christmas off we don't get a lot of holidays off these two weeks everyone goes home and there's this mass exodus out of the cities which is so interesting to me but this is real this is very real. My mom is at home in Taiwan now with her father and her sisters and my uncle. And on Sunday I will call my mom and I will call my grandfather and I will wish them a Happy New Year. And I have an altar at home with my grandmother's face for

offerings for her to make that she make sure she's OK in her afterlife. What's your favorite Chinese New Year memory. When I was I was thinking about this after you asked me when I was a little kid my I lived in Long Island and my mom came in to give a demonstration about what Chinese New Year was and I wore this beautiful red Chinese traditional dress and I was six and she brought in dumplings and she told a story about a beggar who came to a poor family's door hungry and they didn't have very much food but they invited him in and they gave him a few dumplings of their own stock. And they all went to bed cold and a little hungry but they shared. And the next morning the beggar was gone and they looked in the pot and it was filled with gold and won tons. And he was the kitchen dog in disguise to check on a family. And that stuck with me. That spirit of generosity inclusion. And you know you never know. You never know what's going to happen and that's what that new year means to me and what those stories mean to me that's wonderful. I think that give us a couple of restaurants you recommend if people want to experience

Chinese New Year in some of the restaurants around town and you know do your full list we'll put it up on the website but just a couple you might recommend. You know I think it's a really great way to get in there with the culture and get elbow to elbow with a lot of screaming Chinese ladies and hello moon. Right outside of trying to opposite the gates in the other district is fantastic. You know they have the carts which is great and that's starting to go away. They have the cars that push around and if you don't know the language you can just ask them to lift up the basket lids and just point out things that you want. And that's a really great way and an inexpensive way to eat a lot of dumplings. There's also seafood there's great so new Golden Gate is a really popular one in Chinatown a lot of people love. They have great fashion seafood tanks in the front of the restaurant peach farm is a very popular one. They know a lot of chefs in Boston. And of course gourmet Dumpling House in trying times is a good one. What about that one. That one has great soup dumplings they have a great fried fish. But my favorite restaurant in Boston for Chinese is Jo Jo Taipei and Alston and they do a fusion of Taiwanese insist on everything but they just have really great homey

classic dishes. All right well you heard it here from our cultural expert and food expert Lily Jan. We'll put that list up on the website for people who couldn't be writing as they were listening. I'm Kelly Crossley and we've been marking the Chinese New Year with a conversation about Chinese food and culture. And I've been speaking with Lilly Jan Lilly Jan is a chef instructor and an expert on Chinese food culture. Thank you so much ily. Thank you for having here. Thank you. Up next we check in with our wine expert Jonathan also. He'll give us the lowdown on this year's Boston Wine Expo. You're listening to WGBH Boston Public Radio. This program is on WGBH thanks to you. And the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

opening its new in January 19th presenting at 100 honoring the centenary of their February 2nd at 7 at Calderwood hall tickets at Gardner Museum dot org slash music. And it's your move. It wasn't a matter of whether but rather when and how. When Falwell and Janice are more co-owners we clearly thought the WGBH would be the place to be his listeners are discerning. They're well established in their homes in many cases and we thought it might be a good match for us and in fact it has been. It's just all blossomed for us to learn more visit WGBH dot org slash sponsorship. A century ago Lower Manhattan was home to the immigrant neighborhood known as Little Syria. I remember when I was young going to the World Trade Center my grandma and my aunts would point down the street and say that's where our history started in this country. Generations later Arab-Americans preserve the history of New York's Arab community saving little Syria next time on the world.

Coming up at 3:00 here on eighty nine point seven WGBH. Give the workweek the boot with the WGBH winds of Italy. Join winemakers from Tuscany Lamberti in pool yes here at the WGBH studios on Friday night January 20th from 6 to 8. Sample in a range of incredible winds including many that have never before been available in Massachusetts. Tickets are $25 with a discount for WGBH members visit WGBH dot org slash taste of WGBH. I'm Kalee Crossley joining me in the studio is our wine guy Jonathan also founder of the Boston Wine School. He's here to give us a primer on this year's Boston Wine Expo which starts Saturday right dark Saturday Saturday and Sunday both days from 1 to 5. I brought a little sparkling wine to celebrate the New Year. Oh

good. Our journey here in the Chinese New Year I think it works and I think it works year round. It does or this is the 21st year for the Boston Wine Expo. Boston the Boston Wine Expo is finally qualified to drink. It's a big deal here in Boston. It's huge and has a yawn. Let me ask that question first well you know a couple of things have happened you know on the one hand it it it has grown I mean it's the highlight it's the highlight of every wine lovers winter I mean we're not looking forward to it as much this year as in previous years because usually if the weather is like hellish for eight or 10 weeks in advance. Right by the end you get to the end of January and the end of February it's like the Boston Wine Expo is the only thing keeping you from killing yourself if you just look at it. So this year the weather's been so nice the anticipations not exactly the same as in previous years. But you know it is a highlight it is just and especially for

consumers. You know you and I are spoiled. We go to tastiness where they say hey you know who wants to taste 65 wines. You know but for wine lovers and consumers to be able to go someplace meet meet literally literally hundreds of wine makers be able to if you physically could taste thousands of wines it's just it's a fantastic you know. I mean from the Wine School perspective it always comes back to education. Yeah. So it's it's you know it's just a great education and just great exposure that consumers in the U.S. do not get a lot or enough. Are there not these kind of large events as there are in Europe. There are more in Europe there are many many many more in there more in Europe they're more like state fairs OK county fairs you know you take the kids and we you know brings me to a place which is that and that's because so that I think that sometimes people might read about the bust

of white Expo and say well I can't go because I don't really know anything about wine. Right if you're in it if you're in a country or countries where it's like the state fair and everybody goes then it's much more relaxed. And that's what this should be because it's got so much to offer. Well a couple of things have happened with with the Boston Wine Expo you know 21 years ago it started out it grew into the largest It grew into the largest consumer wine event in North America. I mean it was just huge. Thousands and thousands of people. Now I'm not you know I can't I can't speak for the expo's motivation but in the last couple of years maybe as a response to you know economic collapse the Expos scaled is scaled back a little bit. It is not as big as it used to be there. I don't think they're selling quite as many tickets as they used to in an attempt to improve. In an attempt to improve the experience so it's kind of gone through a little bit of a life cycle where yeah for a good

period of time it was it was huge I mean it was just gigantic in the last couple of years. It's become a little more balanced a little more reasonable and probably a little more physically comfortable for people who go there it's not just this great you know wine MASH like it has been in the early years it was why in the early years was like the Wild Wild West you know. Well let's talk about some of your very practical tips about how people should approach this and I want to emphasize again it's not just for people who think they know wine it's for people to come and experience if you love one if you love wine or if you think you might like it you know it's a great time to go check it out. Absolutely right. All right so your tips are very practical this is good. Very true. We try to keep it really practical. One go on day two which is Sunday which is Sunday. And this works for a lot of wine festivals not just the wine experts usually two days go on to day 2. It's going to be a lighter day. It's going to be a little more civilized you going to be able to talk to people better between the two days pick day two. Another thing we like to key to

success is to dress for a mess. OK. You are going to get wine spilled on you before the day is over. OK. Black shirt Burgundy slacks you know waterproof dark colors waterproof boots. Whatever. OK. Absolutely. It is obviously like you know the cream colored Donna Karan suit you totally leave that at home. It's just there's wind flying everywhere of course. Eat first then drink. You really need to think of this as if you were eating and preparing for a marathon. You know lots of carbs plenty of water lots of protein because it is a marathon but it's a it's a wine. You know it's a wine marathon and you're not drinking by the way you're sipping this. You know you have to hit upon the most challenging

factor here is that you really have to do something that people don't normally do which is have great spirit discipline you can not you know you can not go into a place where there are a thousand wines and start drinking every wine you taste you'd be you'd be in say you know you'll you'll be insane and drunk you know floor and on the floor and you know. In no time now the first couple of times it happens it's a little funny but you know you know after a while it just people just don't just don't think that's funny anymore and you're there to you know you're there Tim you're there to meet people you're there to taste wine you're there to learn about wine and learn about food you know and you can't you can't do it if you're that sad person sitting over in the corner with the security guard talking to you if you're going to just ruin that's ruin it ruins everybody's whole day. And there's a lot of water to drink a lot of water. You know I don't I don't want to I don't want to go back to like ninth grade organic

chemistry too bad here. But the thing that metabolize alcohol in us the enzyme that we use to metabolize alcohol water drives that you know every every time a molecule of it metabolizes a molecule of alcohol it needs one molecule of water so that's the fuel for that. That's in terms of keeping your wits about you. That's probably one of the best things that you can do for yourself is to just drink plenty of plenty of water. I love your tip to look for the tables that draw the largest crowds just to see what's going on. Yeah. Well well. I'm not myself a big planner. I like to deviate from the plan and have a unexpected adventure. But I found I can't really deviate from the plan unless I have a plan for you not a satisfying. So one of the things that I really recommend is to first to have some ideas of what you want to look at and what you want to taste and where you want to go. So then you can

let something unexpected happen to you and for you at the expo. And you know one thing absolutely it's like you're you read the crowd you know you follow the you know you follow the flow of the people. A few years ago for Vine's was doing temporary tattoos and the place was just absolutely. It was like it was a scrum a scrum of people getting temporary tattoos put on themselves in the middle of this whole wine scene. And it was just you know it was it was magnetic it was attracting people so yeah definitely definitely look for that. I also I also like to look I also like to look for the out of place sad person who's kind of standing off to one side with two wines. You met the vendor not not just people in the crowd not people. You know you get you get you know it's funny you'll get like you know they're all you know they'll be one winemaker there from Malaysia

you know with like some kind of Malaysian y and it just be really out of place and I'm trying to I'm not trying to pick on Malaysia right I know you well know there nobody's really going to go you know look at the place it's crowded but you're also like you know where's you know where where where is the ignored corner of the room you know like what's going on there because that could be a lot of new bizarre quirky stuff and it wasn't too long ago when people thought that wines from Greece were odd and now they're hot so you know if you had gone to the grease table two or three years ago at a bus one Expo you'd be ahead of the crowd tell you that I mean there's so much I mean so much e-mail from this Malaysian comment that I made just because because you know Malaysia is a huge wine market and you know India China you know producing already producing huge amounts of wine that are not coming to us yet. But you know that's. That's that's a whole that's a whole nother that's a whole nother hour.

I like to remind people that these days Americans have moved from beer as their first beverage of choice and it's now wine. So there are a lot of people just for the first time really exploring lot. Lot of young people coming just to taste different things and there's all kinds of wine accessories and fun things and then there's lectures if you want to go that well you know that's and that's a great way to pace yourself is to sign up for one of the seminars in addition to what's going on on the tasting floor. You know all the wine makers and all the wines they have in separate rooms these sort of breakout sessions which are a little more organized you know give you an opportunity to sit down and put your feet up. And that's a really good way to pace yourself for something. Absolutely now when my colleague Emily Rooney has her financial expert on the inside to OH YEAH FOR FINANCE. So I have my wine guy on. Yeah I want to know what tables you're going to. Yeah. You're at the wine Expo. Well here here is my plan this is also you can also look at this up on the Busta mind school

Facebook page just up on Facebook just search for Boston Wine School. Here's the list of that. Here's sort of my rough plan in my list that I'm going in with table 268 Turtle Creek great local wine make great local wine maker out of Lincoln mass and they in addition in addition to growing grapes around here and making wine from New England grapes he also has relationships with vineyards and wineries. You know all over the U.S. and he's making a car narrows Pino in the water. And so he's got a barrel sample of that barrel sample something that an ordinary wine lover would be lucky to do once or twice in their lives so this is definitely something you don't want to miss table 268. That's Turtle Creek winery. I notice you said Ghost look at this guy who is an international wine guy. 61 year 261 is a winery called winery and

wine maker called Cameron he knows he is a wine maker who owns no vineyards and bones like no winery. He's into go see and he's he negotiates for different lots of wine and he has his own. He has his own vision his own concept he has his own idea about what wine should be but he enunciates it by bringing together all of these other wines that he buys from different producers and works with different producers to create. So he may be ahead of some trends then it's a very 21st century idea. You know most of the time if you want to get in to the wine business you're either born into it or you become like a doctor or a lawyer retire and then buy a buy a place. But this is something that a young person with a vision who has an idea about what they want to say and what they want to do with wine. You know this is a new way to get into the wine business that

hasn't really been available and I something. Stamp on the trends us what I'm saying. Well absolutely. You go to his table he says this is what I think is happening and you are impressed. And this is it. And for him and from his label this is what happened. Ninety plus sellers they do the same kind of thing I mean their boss to come in to do the same kind of thing to bring the style together under one brand. It's just a super 21st century like post-modern idea so I'm really very I'm very interested to very interested to see that. I'm glad you have a note for the Finger Lakes wine country this ng or a New York and people don't believe that there's excellent excellent. You know what the problem is with the fame. Well let's not let's let's not be negative. You know what the challenge is that the Finger Lakes face is that they make they make this overwhelmingly awesome and fantastic white wine and white wine is just not as respected as red as red wine. And there's just there's just there's just

no way. There's just no way around that and it's just it's unfortunate for them that. But that's you know they make these great Rieslings these awesome diverts demeanors. They've got a whole pavilion. They've got like a finger lakes wine pavilion this year tables 256 to 265. Jonathan we can say in connection with Chinese New Year if you were going to have dinner of Riesling inadvertant minor is exactly something that would go delicious labor perfect. You know what it would be a great selection. You know I have to say so for people who are intimidated don't be don't be for people who are worried about a Plan B open and dress appropriately and just go for it yeah. And and again look for something look for something new have a really really new experience there because that's the kind of thing you're going to take with you into the future. I brought another Kelly Brown another red wine marketing sparkler super This is the and the decoder new sparkling wine from Spain it's a it's a

cava. It's just a great you know it's just a great example of Spanish sparkling wine. And I brought this is what I'm going to be going off the rails looking for OK. This is a grape called Stop Iran stop Iran. And this is a grape from Georgia. There's a little wine shop that is opened up around the corner from where I live and they order a lot of Georgian Bulgarian Romanian wines so I'm going behind the Iron Curtain the former Iron Curtain looks pretty darn good and I and I and we've been talking about the Boston Wine Expo with Jonathan also our wine guy and the founder of the Boston Wine School the Boston Wine Expo runs through this Sunday to learn more visit our website WGBH dot org slash cow across Lake go to Johnson's Facebook page to see his picks and thank you Jonathan. You can keep on top of the calico show by following us on Twitter you can also become a fan of the Calla Crossley Show on Facebook today show was engineered by Antonio you are produced by Chelsea Mertz will Rose lead an abbey road

that Kelly Crossley Show is a production of WGBH Boston Public Radio.