The mid-autumn festival is approaching, and we are anticipating those wonderful mooncake gifts in fancy boxes. Living in Malaysia, almost everyone has heard about this sweet, adorable delicacy. Few, however, are aware of the old tradition behind it, and fewer still know about the obscure but fun facts regarding it.
1/ One cake to rule them all
Nowadays, the mid-autumn festival could be about one person consuming one, two or three mooncakes in one sitting. We really need to slow down.
The right way to eat a mooncake, however, is by sharing it with the entire family, and that means everyone taking a slice out of one cake. Yes, one cake! Read that again. The act of sharing the round moon cake with everyone is symbolic of the unity and completeness of the family.
2/ Not just us
The mid-autumn festival has always been about the celebration of a bountiful harvest. Hence countries around the world celebrate it too in their very own unique way.
The British, for example, celebrate the harvest festival with hymns, prayer, and having the church decorated with baskets of fruits and food. On the other hand, the Jews commemorate the week-long autumn harvest with Sukkot.
They would erect temporary huts called a Sukkah and spend the week praying, eating, and sleeping inside them. These are all nice information, but not as cool as our sweet, diabetes-inducing mooncakes.
3/ They do not call it mooncake for nothing.
We now eat our mooncakes anytime, anywhere, in bed while watching “Over the Moon” on Netflix or right after finishing that healthy salad. Back then, however, the Chinese would set their tables outside their house for dinner. The mooncakes were eaten as dessert while they admired the full moon. It is a great idea, but really, we prefer watching “Over the Moon,” on Netflix.
Here is also a fact we all know. The mid-autumn festival is a time of reunion and celebration. Those mooncakes may be sweet, but nothing is sweeter than the family bonds and relationships that withstood the test of time.
With that said, we at HCK Capital would like to wish everyone a very Happy Mooncake Festival!
