GORDON RAMSAY RECIPES

On the 5th of February the Chinese welcome the year of the Pig and the farewell, or rather the goodbye, to the year of the Dog. The Chinese restaurateurs in Milan and Paolo Sarpi's beloved Chinatown are already decorated for the holidays

The fans of the Middle Kingdom, Zhōngguó 中国 (name of the continent that we all know as China), this year will not be disappointed nor much to dry mouth, in fact they will delight sight and palate with the traditional parade and exclusive menus designed specifically to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

2019 is the year of the Pig

Specifically it will begin the year of the Earth Pig, according to the traditional philosophy, also the Chinese zodiac follows the law of the 5 elements, which sees wood, fire, earth, gold (metal) and water to govern the sense of the universe. There are therefore 5 different types of year of the pig and the belief wants that the characteristics of a person depend on the sign of the zodiac of the year in which it was born and the element corresponding to that year. In the case of the friends born in 1959 and the future unborn children of 2019 you might hear that you are communicative, expressive people, who like to socialize and be among friends, with an excellent sense of humor and timing. Calculating that there are 12 animals for Chinese astrology and that each year corresponds to an animal, next year the pig will be in 2031 and specifically it will be the year of the Golden Pig.

The parade of Paolo Sarpi

A tradition kept alive by the Chinese community in Milan and by the various associations that deal with China in Italy, is the traditional parade of the lion wǔshī 舞狮, which sees kung fu students bringing a papier-mâché lion to the streets depicting Nian, the scary legendary monster. Many know her as a dragon dance, wǔlóng 舞龙, which is actually a widespread variant in northern China, so the two disciplines are often confused but not the same thing. This year the unmissable appointment is set for Sunday 10 February, it will start at 2.30 pm from Piazza Gramsci (M5 Jerusalem) and the parade will reach Paolo Sarpi street with performances, music and dances until 5.30 pm.

From Bon Wei, gnocchi and pork are prepared

To pay homage to the arrival of the Pig's year, the chef Zhang Quoqing cooking an agrifying pork (pork loin straccetti sautéed with red peppers, Mu-Ehr mushrooms and bamboo) and rice dumplings and Shitake mushrooms (traditional dumplings, sautéed with fresh Shitake mushrooms, Chinese cabbage and dehydrated shrimps found in Chinese wine ). Traditional meals will end sweet rice balls tāngyuán 汤圆, which with their spherical shape represent the family reunion: here filled with sesame cream, wrapped in the powder of yellow beans and Hóngtáng (cane sugar) .This cake is typical of the Lantern Festival, which closes the celebrations of the Chinese New Year, you can then savor these dishes and many others from the eve of 4 February to 19 February, combined with the wines of Cuzziol Grandi Vini.

Da Gong Oriental Attitude propose the tagliatelle with wild boar ragout

For the whole month of February the chef Keisuke Koga and Guglielmo Paolucci they have decided to propose, on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, a dish that is traditionally prepared during the Spring Festival spaghetti lāmiàn 拉面 symbol of long life, which in this context will turn into a gourmet dish giving life to the rice noodles with wild boar ragout, served on a bed of chestnut and miso cream, all garnished with a fried leek nest cut into julienne .

From MU dim sum 8 Cantonese specialties

MU dim sum, celebrating the Lunar New Year by inserting a series of in its menu Cantonese tradition specialties, available from 5 to 12 February 2019. The Chef Kin Cheung and the love for the tradition of MU dim sum gave life to a menu with dishes full of symbolic meanings, in perfect Chinese spirit. It is about eight dishes who invoke fortune in a loud voice, will be served at the same time, as usual in the East, where there is no precise sequence of courses, in favor of sharing the dishes served in the middle of the table, from which to draw with the typical sticks. Among the dishes you can not miss the fish, which for its homophony with the word abundance is consumed in all Chinese houses during the Spring Festival, in this case was chosen the Whole steamed sea bass qīngzhēng lú yú, you will also find the Cantonese chicken, cooked in white Bái Qie Ji, Fried prawns in soy sauce gān shāo xiā and la Delitism of Buddha Luóhàn zhāi, a vegetarian dish to respect the Buddhist custom that provides for the consumption of vegetarian foods in the first five days of the year to purify themselves. Obviously the inevitable ravioli jiaozi, served with pork filling, and an intriguing dish, theat Fortuna in one hand Heng cai jiu shou, pig's trotter, stewed for five hours and accompanied by oyster sauce, soy sauce and Shiitake mushrooms. Turning to desserts, the choice will fall on the typical New Year's Eve cake Nian Gao or on rice dumplings in Tong yuán ginger broth.

The Oriental Aperitif arrives at the Mandarin Bar & Bistrot

From 4 to 10 February at the Bar & Bistrot of the Mandarin Hotel you can celebrate the Chinese New Year in line with the Milanese style, starting at 7 pmOriental Aperitif, with the The Oriental Boar cocktail based on Johhnie Walker Blue Label, salty syrup at Lapsang Souchong, vermouth infused with cocoa beans and licorice bitters, accompanied by some of the most typical Chinese specialties revisited by Chef Antonio Guida such as Spring Roll, Dim Sum, Cod and Edamame.
The surprises do not end here, even the Spa is preparing for the celebrations, in fact from February 5, by booking an 80-minute Oriental Essence Massage, you can receive the traditional red envelope Chinese hóngbāo 红包, with a voucher to use for the next booking.

At the RosebyMary they introduce the Chinese ravioli

Also the veg & natural bistro RosebyMary has decided to pay tribute to the Chinese New Year by inserting at lunch, on the days of Tuesday 5 and Friday 8 February, the traditional ones steamed ravioli jiǎozi 饺子, proposed with a refined and tasty filling of organic vegetables and tofu, made according to tradition, following the original Chinese recipe, wishing everyone a rich year of money and joy.

The Spring Festival known in the West as Chinese New Year is the most heartfelt holiday in China, which marks the transition from the old year to the new one according to the traditional Chinese calendar, thus closing the year of the dog to start the year of the pig

To us Westerners it might seem bizarre that the Spring Festival ChūnJié 春节, also called Chinese New Year Zhōngguó xīnnián 中国新年, falls when spring has not yet arrived and New Year's Eve has already passed, this is because the traditional festivities in China are based on the lunigular luncheon Chinese agricultural calendar, in which the months begin at each new moon and the Spring Festival coincides with the second nuvilunio after the winter solstice, which this year falls on February 5th. For 15 days the Chinese, scattered throughout the country, are reunited with their loved ones to celebrate the new year in company. The festivities end with the Lantern Festival and as always food, legends and superstitions are king, let's discover them together.

Customs and superstitions in the home and kitchen

The Red, which has always been a symbol of luck and joy during the Chinese New Year, as in other celebrations or happy celebrations such as weddings, is strictly forbidden during funerals. On the occasion of the Spring Festival, i spring couplets chūnlián 春联, strips of red paper on which to write good words to hang on the door to drive away evil spirits.

Another recurring practice sees the posting of the character fú 福 of luck upside down, as the expression "fortune upside down" fú gives the 福倒了 is homophona of "arrives the fortune" fú giveso the 福到了, where to change it is the first radical of the second character. Then before the arrival of the new year it is a good thing to dedicate yourself to the house cleaning, a symbolic custom that would serve to wipe out bad luck and all that has remained of the past year. During the two weeks of partying, the Chinese go to find relatives and friends for the traditional wish visit bàinián 拜年 and on this occasion the children are given the typical ones red envelopes hóngbāo 红包, containing money and messages of affection.

As for the customs in the kitchen, on the eve of New Year's Eve for the dinner are scheduled 12 courses to symbolize the 12 months of the year, then each area of China has its typical dishes, but certainly can not miss the citrus fruits, whose round shape recalls the idea of fullness, abundance and prosperity, such as mandarins and usually eight are served, as eight is considered the most fortunate number in China. The are also inevitable ravioli Chinese jiaozi, stuffed with meat, fish and vegetables, which according to the type of cooking are different in ravioli in broth shuǐjiǎo 水饺, steamed zhēngjiǎo 蒸饺, sautéed on the plate guōtiē 锅贴 and those stuffed with broth i xiǎolóngbāo 小笼包.

We then move on to spaghetti lāmiàn 拉面 symbol of long life, the longer they are and the longer will be the longevity, so it is forbidden to cut them otherwise it would mean to shorten life. Also steamed sandwiches manifest on the rich tables of the eve, the classic mántou 馒头 and the stuffed bāozi 包子 that we can now find both open and closed stuffings. The inevitable is the fish, served in abundance, to respect the said niánnián yǒuyú 年年有余, or "throughout the year there is superabundance", (where yú 余, superabundance is homophone of yú 鱼 fish). Moving on to the dessert we have the glutinous rice cakes niángāo 年糕, filled with lotus seeds, peanuts and goji berries. At the alcohol level, it goes from high levels with the traditional Chinese liqueur báijiǔ 白酒, to drink all in one breath, loudly exclaiming gānbēi 干杯.

According to the legend …

One lived in the depths of the abysses monster extremely scary that he loved to sleep, he rested in fact 365 days a year, but one year he woke up and for this he was called Nian 年 which in Chinese means year. Every year, on the eve of New Year's Eve, the monster woke up and was very hungry and wandered around the neighboring countries in search of food, eating whatever he found on his path and everyone began to fear his meeting. On the eve of the next New Year the villagers organized themselves to hide in remote mountain places to escape his clutches, all except one old woman who remained to take care of her sick husband.
On the eve of the eve, while the old lady was preparing the jiǎozi r ravioli , as tradition had it, one appeared at his door beggar, all unkempt and with the worn and dirty clothes that bent over his cane asked the lady something to eat and although i jiaozi that he was cooking they were few and he handed him a bowl. When the beggar finished eating, he asked about the deserted village and the old woman explained to him the arrival of the monster Nian. The beggar reassured her by telling her that the sky would protect them and urged her to get him red paper and cloth that he attached to the door and with which he surrounded the house.
When the darkness came down, a gigantic wave rose from the sea and Nian came out and loudly began to emit scary cries that came closer and closer, arrived in front of the old woman's house the monster found the beggar waiting for him, it seemed a little 'frail and unappetizing but as there was no soul alive in the village he thought he could start with him, but just when Nian tried to eat it the beggar magically magically fired a fire with his stick that produced the sound of crackles of firecrackers. The monster, surprised by the deafening noise, slammed its head into the door with its red couplet hanging, and as soon as it saw the red color its eyes began to burn and gave it to the sea.
For this reason it is customary to do burst firecrackers and fireworks and hang decorations of paper or red cloth, to scare and ward off the fateful monster Nian. Another tradition is the parade of the lion wǔshī 舞狮, where kung fu students carry a papier-mâché lion depicting Nian along the streets, accompanied by the thuds of drums. A widespread variant in the North of China is the dragon dance wǔlóng 舞龙, for this reason the two disciplines are often confused.

Tag: Chinese

here's where to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Milan – Italian Cuisine