I have been traveling to China for so long now that I have developed friendships that have no connection to my work. Two such friends, Linda and DJ own a bar, a bar I frequent when I am in Shenzhen. Linda is Chinese, from Hunan. Her husband DJ is a Scotsman from Aberdeen. DJ travels for months at a time, working on oil drilling platforms. Linda stays home and runs the business and raises their son. Very nice people, always warm and hospitable. When I am in town, I get invited to birthday parties and the like, and these parties get raucous. Chinese people enjoy a good party!
Linda and DJ recently moved into a new home and last week had a housewarming party to which I was also invited. The house, an apartment on the 11th floor of a 20+ story high-rise was small by American standards, maybe 600 square feet and spartan. White walls, little in the way of amenities - no one seems to bother with picking interior colors here. There were two average sized bedrooms, a bathroom / laundry room, and a living and dining area which was pretty tight. The kitchen was the smallest I think I have ever seen anywhere. It was a closet really, separated from the dining area by floor to ceiling sliding glass doors, presumably to keep the heat from filling the rest of the small space. A small refrigerator and microwave, a 2 burner cooktop and a tiny oven left little room for counter space - 4 square feet max.
There were twelve of us for dinner crowded around the small circular table in the undersized dining area; our hosts along with their son and Linda's mother, three of Linda's sisters, three of the girls who work in the bar and Derek, a Brit who also travels to Shenzhen frequently. To call this intimate would be an understatement - elbow to elbow. Then the the food started coming, family style. And the food kept coming. Pork dishes, chicken dishes, spicy potatoes with garlic, ribs, greens, rice, an enormous fish, shrimp. Eleven different dishes in all, and all of it hot and perfect. I have no idea where she kept all of this food hidden in that impossibly small kitchen, let alone how she had everything ready to eat at the same time using a two burner stove and an EZ-Bake Oven!! As small and dysfunctional as this kitchen seemed to me, it in no way held back Linda. She may be the most amazing cook I have ever met. Oh, and the wine was flowing too... Like I said, the Chinese love a good party.
There was much food left over after we had all stuffed ourselves, but I guarantee not a piece will go to waste. Most of the Chinese present grew up on farms in Hunan and often went to bed hungry. Wasting food is unthinkable, as it should be I suppose.
Linda and DJ recently moved into a new home and last week had a housewarming party to which I was also invited. The house, an apartment on the 11th floor of a 20+ story high-rise was small by American standards, maybe 600 square feet and spartan. White walls, little in the way of amenities - no one seems to bother with picking interior colors here. There were two average sized bedrooms, a bathroom / laundry room, and a living and dining area which was pretty tight. The kitchen was the smallest I think I have ever seen anywhere. It was a closet really, separated from the dining area by floor to ceiling sliding glass doors, presumably to keep the heat from filling the rest of the small space. A small refrigerator and microwave, a 2 burner cooktop and a tiny oven left little room for counter space - 4 square feet max.
There were twelve of us for dinner crowded around the small circular table in the undersized dining area; our hosts along with their son and Linda's mother, three of Linda's sisters, three of the girls who work in the bar and Derek, a Brit who also travels to Shenzhen frequently. To call this intimate would be an understatement - elbow to elbow. Then the the food started coming, family style. And the food kept coming. Pork dishes, chicken dishes, spicy potatoes with garlic, ribs, greens, rice, an enormous fish, shrimp. Eleven different dishes in all, and all of it hot and perfect. I have no idea where she kept all of this food hidden in that impossibly small kitchen, let alone how she had everything ready to eat at the same time using a two burner stove and an EZ-Bake Oven!! As small and dysfunctional as this kitchen seemed to me, it in no way held back Linda. She may be the most amazing cook I have ever met. Oh, and the wine was flowing too... Like I said, the Chinese love a good party.
There was much food left over after we had all stuffed ourselves, but I guarantee not a piece will go to waste. Most of the Chinese present grew up on farms in Hunan and often went to bed hungry. Wasting food is unthinkable, as it should be I suppose.
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