China View: Geo-Dumpling Studies
Xavi Talleda · Photo collection · (C)
In the Palaeozoic, continents were united in the supercontinent of Pangea. With the gradual separation of landmass, thanks to the phenomenon of plate tectonics, the world has slowly become as currently visualized in geographical maps. This rifting certainly explained multiple differences regarding the physical characteristics of animals and mankind, however, there remain some unexplainable similarities whose origin is yet to be fully understood. For instance, separated civilizations felt the same need to gather under a constructed religious doctrine, having one or multiple superior entities on top, but no expert ever explained the reasons for this. The same goes for cultural factors such as the similarities between cuisines around the globe.
A common debate connecting China and Italy, for instance, questions the provenance of the Italian spaghetti and the Chinese noodles (面条 miàntiáo in Mandarin Chinese). Many attribute this similarity to the journeys of Venetian merchant Marco Polo, spending his life along the Silk Road and sympathizing with the Yuan Dynasty enough to be included as a member at court. In the 1200s, therefore, Marco Polo entered a China led by the Mongols, as covered in a previous China View article. But did he bring the “spaghetti culture” to China, or did he rather get the idea from local dishes and imported it to Italy? To this day, this remains a mystery which would surely hurt the pride of either Italians or Chinese if even questioned. Another entertaining similarity between the two, indeed, remains politics and patriotism present in food as well.
19th-century French author Anthelme Brillat-Savarin could have really been right when claiming that “we are what we eat”. Gastronomy recounts the history of civilizations, the simplicity of life, the adaptability to the climate and even the struggles of different social strata. As a dominant factor embedded in culture, cuisine can help understand geopolitics as well.
Dumplings, for instance, are often recognized as the mascot of Chinese cuisine. The word “dumpling” is a general classification that regards pieces of dough filled with meat or vegetables. This, however, is only a simplification of what dumplings are and what they mean for the Chinese civilization. In China, there are at least 10 famous types of dumplings, with different shapes, fillings, and provenance. This is because different parts of China provide different resources and, while on the seaside one may find delicious thin Wonton (馄饨 húntun) filled with shrimp, colder areas may require a more consistent paste such as the one of the Cha Siu Bao (叉烧包 chāshāobāo).
The classical horn shape of the most common version of dumplings, the Jiaozi (饺子 jiǎozi), is often associated with the story of doctor Zhang Zhongjing that, during the Han dynasty, had boiled medicine wrapped in the dough in a special soup with other ingredients to treat frostbitten ears. He is said to have eventually saved entire villages. From there, jiaozi became an important symbol of care, health, and family in Chinese culture. In the film Kung Fu Panda, for instance, the dumplings (this time of bāozi 包子type) are an element worth fighting for, delivering the message that the simplest things in life must be earned through hard work. Below, the iconic scene of the dumpling fight involving Kung Fu Panda and his master.
Gyoza Bar in Tokyo. Author’s own photograph, 2018.
In China, dumplings are thought to date back at least 1800 years, which may explain why they have become an integral part of multiple other cuisines around Asia. Because Chinese dynasties continuously expanded in the past, one can find dumplings from Nepal (where they are called “momo”) to Mongolia (“buuz”) to Japan. Because of the mutual influences between Imperial China and Imperial Japan, it is no surprise that the Chinese Manchu name for jiaozi, “giyose,” soon turned into the modern Japanese term “gyoza” (餃子 gyōza). Gyoza is considered to be the Japanese potsticker dumplings, which have recently been adapted to local tastes in the cooking method. Fried, sauced, and colored gyozas are only some of the multiple types of dishes one can enjoy in Japanese prefectures. To the side, images from a gyoza bar in Tokyo emphasize how Asian cultures can be at complete opposites yet contemplating the same values and habits. Asian cuisine, in fact, remains particularly tied around the importance of sharing with loved ones and enjoy life.
Multi-colored Gyozas. Author’s own photograph, 2018.
Fusion of Cuisine and Culture. Author’s own photograph, 2018.
The geopolitics of dumplings, or geo-dumplings, however, becomes even more interesting when culinary influences are not as easily explained by history. It is the case, for instance, of the Mexican tamales and the Chinese zongzi (粽子 zòngzi) which are both rice or corn-based wraps filled with meat or vegetables steamed in banana leaf. So far, culinary experts have counted over 35 dumpling-like types of food around the world, including countries such as Georgia, Brazil, Sweden, India, and Malta. How do we explain similarities between cultures that, in the past, where barely interconnected with one another? If only mankind was present during the Pangea period, then maybe these similarities would have a logical sense. Despite the mystery, one can only hypothesize that the idea to wrap nutrients in wheat or in leaves came from the need to store food naturally by using ingredients that would last. In the past, the absence of fridges and storage places required to look for further help in nature.
Regardless of this logic, it is interesting to observe how diverse civilizations that never met one another, like the Mexican Mayas and the Chinese Imperial civilization, can share something similar. If one desires to dig deeper into history, the religions of these two also interestingly crossed in their relationship with the cosmo and ancestors. At that time, both the Chinese and the Mayas were strongly connected to their past and viewed religion as a spiritual connection with their defunct relatives and with Earth in a supernatural sense. In China, catastrophic natural events meant that the current Emperor was no longer suited for his role and that the throne would have to be ceded to a successor.
Despite these possibilities, to this day the world remains politically divided. However, these remain valuable elements to debate on the existential question of whether we, as a global community, are indeed much more connected than we think we are.
