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What piece did you choose to imitate? Why did you choose this piece?
I chose to imitate “Noodles in Broth” by Hong Junju.
I chose this piece because it depicted the chef Cui’s cooking as peaceful and almost therapeutic, which is contrasted to my own experience of cooking where everything feels chaotic, complicated, and stressful.
The poem is written very simply, each line is very short, and to the point. The simplicity of the poem makes the reader feel as though chef Cui’s cooking is very easy, and the process is smooth. From one line to the next, the cooking process flows with no complications, and within a few sentences, the cooking is done. Additionally, there were specific lines in the poem that stood out to me which evoked a sense of calm; “with a light feather he would brush the flour” and “in long strings, white like autumn silk”. These lines evoke an image of the noodle being created through gentle strokes of care, and the final result brings about something soft and smooth. The peaceful energy didn’t end through the creation of the food, but was also present upon eating the food where “a smile would come to the lips, the body would relax.”
For someone like me, who feels like cooking takes forever, and frequently finds myself making mistakes and getting stressed out, I wanted to dive into the experience of pleasurable cooking by using Hong Junju’s poem as a base and using my grandmother as the chef in the poem.
What did you learn about the culture of the original author through imitating his or her style?
A lot of the poem focusses on the process of making the noodle rather than the taste of the noodle, which seems to illustrate the idea of developing mastery and self-cultivation. This idea can also be seen in Zhuangzi’s story “The Secret of Caring for Life”, where Ding works as a butcher with great pride and pleasure. Ding develops a mastery at chopping meat. His self-cultivation in the field of butchering also allows him to become more skillful at harmonizing with the Dao.
Eating with a community is also something that is implied in the poem with the line “we would gulp them [the soup] down all at once”. As mentioned in Lia Junru’s “Chinese Food” reading, enjoying food with others is characteristic of how the Chinese eat, due to the Chinese cultural values on blood relationships and kinship. These values are inspired by Confucian philosophy where humans are viewed as social beings, therefore human interaction must be a part of life. In Confucian philosophy, filial piety is also very important which strengthens the connection between blood relatives.
Finally, one of my favorite lines in the poem “After two bowls in a row, A smile would come to the lips, the body would relax”, could be interpreted in various ways. If the smile and relaxation are coming from the eaters, the lines could be interpreted to be connected to the Chinese belief of food equalling health. If the smile and relaxation is coming from the chef, then the lines could be interpreted as an example of how food can be a language of love.
What did you learn about the culture of the original author through imitating his or her style?
A lot of the poem focusses on the process of making the noodle rather than the taste of the noodle, which seems to illustrate the idea of developing mastery and self-cultivation. This idea can also be seen in Zhuangzi’s story “The Secret of Caring for Life”, where Ding works as a butcher with great pride and pleasure. Ding develops a mastery at chopping meat. His self-cultivation in the field of butchering also allows him to become more skillful at harmonizing with the Dao.
Eating with a community is also something that is implied in the poem with the line “we would gulp them [the soup] down all at once”. As mentioned in Lia Junru’s “Chinese Food” reading, enjoying food with others is characteristic of how the Chinese eat, due to the Chinese cultural values on blood relationships and kinship. These values are inspired by Confucian philosophy where humans are viewed as social beings, therefore human interaction must be a part of life. In Confucian philosophy, filial piety is also very important which strengthens the connection between blood relatives.
Finally, one of my favorite lines in the poem “After two bowls in a row, A smile would come to the lips, the body would relax”, could be interpreted in various ways. If the smile and relaxation are coming from the eaters, the lines could be interpreted to be connected to the Chinese belief of food equalling medicine, where noodles, in this case, can bring about a sense of relaxation. As Lin Yutang states in “Food and Medicine”, food can nourish us and strengthen the flow of vital energy which can bring about many benefits, one of them could be relaxation. If the smile and relaxation is coming from the chef, then the lines could be interpreted as an example of how food can be a language of love.
What did you learn about your own culture while writing?
While writing my poem, I found it difficult to find a dish that incorporated noodles. The only dish that I could think of was my grandmother’s noodle soup, which in Spanish is called sopa de fideo. One thing that I quickly noticed about this dish was that it was almost identical to a traditional Dominican dish called Sancocho, both using the same key ingredients and the same key steps. The only difference between the two dishes is that the broth is Sanchoco is thicker due to the plantains and yautia (a root vegetable). These two vegetables are not carried in the noodle soup dish. Additionally, the noodle soup carries the obvious additional ingredient, noodles!
In my poem, I also make mention of eating together as a family, with the lines “with a bowl of soup filled to the brim, we would gulp it down all at once”. It is very common in my family and other Dominican families to eat together at the dining table. Everyone waits until all family members have arrived home and are seated before starting their course. Additionally, as lunch in the largest meal of the day, it is very common to find yourself filling your plate and eating a very large quantity of food. All of my family members, with the help of my grandmother pressuring us to eat more, will be completely full after our meal. This is why I included the line “with a bowl of soup filled to the brim”.
I ended my poem with my grandmother feeling happy, relaxed and satisfied with feeding her family the food she has cooked for them. This is something that I feel is characteristic of my grandmother. I can’t imagine her not in the kitchen or worrying about if others have eaten. Food is definitely her language of love and the way she shows that she cares. She enjoys being in the kitchen and cooking for her loved ones. I feel that I can say the same for many of the grandmothers in other Dominican families.
Is there cultural DNA embedded in the piece you read and in your piece? How does this DNA manifest in the texts?
Many cultures share similar values and traditions, such as the value of family or the tradition of eating together, however, there are certain features in Hong Junju’s poem that depict Chinese culture specifically. One of these features being the food item, the noodle soup, which was very popular in the 3rd century when this poem was written. In the 3rd century, noodles were made by kneading wheat flour, which is shown in the poem with the lines “he kneaded the dough to the right consistency” and that the flour was “made of wheat of the fifth month”. The noodle is then cooked in water and added to a soup called mian pian. Additionally, the noodles in this poem are “long strings”, which can represent longevity, as known from the life long noodle story.
Another feature that shows Chinese cultural DNA in the poem, is the imagery of silk that is used to describe noodles. In the poem, noodles are described as “white like autumn silk” and “as fine as the first of the cocoons of the shu”. China is famous for silk, and silk is believed to have been the first to cultivate silk, a luxury item that became widely traded with other nations.
In my piece, I intended to incorporate my cultural DNA through ingredients that are native to, and commonly eaten in the Caribbean, like yuca, a root vegetable. In my poem, I also make mention of short noodles, which in contrast to China’s life long noodles, the length does not hold a symbolic significance. The short length of the noodle is due to convenience: shorter noodles cook faster. Additionally, in my poem I imply being full of food with the line: “with a bowl of soup filled to the brim”. This idea of being full may be a common experience in the Americas. This line is in contrast to Hong Junju’s line of “in a half bowl of soup”, where in China, according to Lin Yutang, being too full is believed to hurt the flow of vital energy and the lungs.