Chinese New Year (m)

Today, my son H skated in a show at Harvard called Skatefest.  It was a benefit for The Salvation Army.

After the show, one of the parents invited us to celebrate the Chinese New Year with him, his family and some other skating families at a restaurant owned by his close friend.

I politely declined for two reasons: 1. the diet and 2. my mother was with us.  My friend, Dr. L, insists we bring "Mama" with us.  I honestly thought she was my perfect excuse until I heard her say "yes!"   In retrospect, I should have expected this from her as it combined her two favorite things: Chinese food and "free."

We get to the restaurant.  Such a celebratory air.  Such energy.  Everyone is Asian but the three of us (my husband, my mother and I--H went to the movies with a girlfriend) and three other friends.  We sit down at a large, round table with a lazy susan in the middle.  It started slowly...some hot tea, iced water, some fiddling with the chopsticks, some of us ask for forks, some polite conversation, etc.  And then, the soup course...followed quickly by scallion pancakes, beef teriyaki on skewers and crab rangoon (fried dough with cream cheese filling; there is no crab in there).  My mother is as happy as I've seen her.

Then, the dishes start coming...chicken...beef...mushrooms...pea pods in garlic...pork.  There's a shrimp dish that has shrimp, walnuts and a special creamy-like sauce surrounded by a large doughy mound that is filled with the tarrow (I think that's what they said) of the lotus flower.  I taste a bit.  It is out of this world.  My husband picks at his food (he doesn't eat Chinese food.  His parents ate it once and his mother got sick from it). 

Just when you thought it was finished, the lobster and fish dishes come out.  Huge lobsters, grilled to perfection and split so they are ready to eat. I've never seen this much food.  Dr. L explains that this goes on for at least four days, sometimes a week.  People don't go to work.  The whole culture shuts down and parties.  Food is the center of all activity.

The dishes are flying past me on the lazy susan.  I'm feel like I'm in the College Bowl for Math, calculating points in my head at the speed of sound.  I had about 5 points going into this dinner.  I drink 6 cups of tea and three glasses of water to avoid overeating.  I pick at the baby pea pods in garlic.  To die for.  I have a few pieces of lobster.  Incredible.

After dessert ( a sweet bean soup, bizarre, but tasty), we talk for a bit and then bid farewell to our friends, thanking them profusely.

As we head to the car, I can tell my husband will go home and eat cereal.  My mother is over the moon and declares that she loves "all Chinese people."

And I?  I'm left wondering how a food-obsessed people can be so thin.