Moon Festival

One of the biggest traditional holidays here in Taiwan is the Moon Festival, celebrated in mid-autumn on the autumnal equinox. It feels a lot like Thanksgiving in the US, and is a time when families get together and celebrate harvest. However, rather than turkey and cranberry sauce, there are some different food traditions here, including:

The barbecue. Since the festival is all about the moon, it makes sense to eat outdoors under the moon and it's certainly still warm enough to do so. Unfortunately, it also rains here almost everyday, so barbecues end up moving into garages or covered spaces and you can't see the moon. However, I happen to think BBQs here are pretty fantastic. Everything, from vegetables to tofu squares and every kind of animal is put over charcoals and eaten off a stick. And neither of the parties I've been to have had real sit-around-360-days-out-of-the-year barbecues, instead there have been little cinderblock constructions sitting on cement floors, which make more sense to me. And in case you were wondering, blowtorches and an electric fan do wonders to get charcoal going.

The moon cakes: Little ball-shaped cakes flavored with sesame seed or taro. Total number of moon cakes given to me this year: 18 and counting.

Pomelos: Pomelos, like Hershey's kisses and crack cocaine, are highly addictive. Lucky for me, they're not as unhealthy as chocolate or illegal drugs. Not only is it traditional to eat Pomelos (it looks like most families get at least one crate of them) for Moon Festival, but also to wear the rinds on one's head. Entertainment, hair treatment, and bug repellent in one. My kind of celebration.

Happy Moon Festival, everyone!