Nutrition structures, dietary health trends, and the relationship between bodies and food.
I. Weather-Dependent Small Farmers and Mothers Seeking to Escape the Motherhood Penalty Affected by climate conditions, the survival rate for seedlings planted in late summer this year was remarkably low. Consequently, Hu Xuemei’s farm on the outskirts of Chengdu could not supply any vegetables for delivery over the past few…
I. The Ennobling Bean Porridge In a previous article, I mentioned coarse wheat grain, and this time I shall turn to bean soup. These two everyday dishes are steeped in significance; preparing them properly requires a well-ordered kitchen, a tended hearth, and a serious approach. In the Tang dynasty, Yan…
Foodthink Says As autumn sets in, the Little Dining Table in Yulin, Chengdu has been up and running for six months. This half-year of practice has undoubtedly fostered a growing rapport between the cook, the dining companions, our partner farmers, and the food itself. Alongside the planned changes, life has…
Delicious chocolate chip cookies are high-fat traps that trigger a cycle of fear, plunging us into one nightmare after another steeped in dread; the crisp crunch of potato chips offers a crunchy release for pent-up anger, lending a hollow sense of reassurance; sugar-free cola is a ‘cheerful deceiver,’ akin to…
On 17 July, on the eve of the 2024 Summer Olympics opening in Paris, a coalition of international organisations launched the “Kick Big Soda Out of Sport” campaign, taking on the world’s largest soft drink manufacturers, including Coca-Cola. The initiative contends that “Big Soda” – soft drink industry giants epitomised…
A tanker truck caught mixing mineral and edible oils has thrust cooking oil into the spotlight, capturing unprecedented public attention. While people are asking how to ensure the vegetable oils they consume are safe, as a food enthusiast, I’m posing a different question: do we really need to be eating…
Editor’s Note You are what you eat; dining well is never a trivial matter. The recent scandal involving edible oil transported in tanker trucks has once again reignited anxiety over food safety, while tracing the origins of what we consume remains fraught with difficulty. Along the lengthy chain from field…
Shelling and grinding buckwheat groats into flour, mixing it with wheat flour to form a dough, and then slicing it into fine, slender noodles yields one of Japan’s most everyday staples. In Japanese, *soba* (buckwheat) is a homophone for “beside”. Consequently, asking for “buckwheat noodles” sounds identical to saying “please…
Editor’s Note In the opening piece of the “Master One Pot’s Little Dining Table” series, Xia Lili draws on a handful of personal recollections to explain her philosophy of shared meals and the origins of the project. This time, she brings us straight to the lively heart of the kitchen.…
Foodthink Author Kouzi Farmer, avid long-distance walker, and village liquor brewer. Full-time foodie, part-time farmer, amateur writer. Some will surely glance at the title and immediately protest: isn’t the saying that you ‘gain a few pounds over the New Year’? How could you possibly lose weight and…
