This week we are mostly devouring An A-Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included), Jenny Lau’s brilliant new anthology in which she explores identity, race, language, food and culture in the Chinese diaspora + everything in between. She even addresses popular misconceptions about Tibetan food (see the chapter “V for Vegan”), quoting from our own cookbook, Taste Tibet, to dispel the myth that Tibetans, as Buddhists, must surely be vegetarian.
Lau would have a field day with the application process we go through every January to bag pitches at the summer music festivals (we submit applications every year, even for those festivals that already feel like a second home). Tendering for spots is an annual exercise in selling yourself: your concept, unique identity, food and look.
Except that often there’s little space to do so. Application forms commonly require you to specify the cuisine that you offer through a tick-box exercise, but never include an option for Tibetan food. This means that most of the time we’re forced into identifying as Other Asian (check out Anna Sulan Masing’s upcoming new release “Chinese And Any Other Asian” for a deeper dive here).
Worse still, we sometimes have no choice but to select Chinese or Indian, the food that is arguably closest to our offering, but these are not cuisines that we’re comfortable claiming.
This feels like an immediate fail in pursuit of our higher purpose. We take our momos on the road every summer to make sure they’re represented further and wider than the restaurant can reach. We want to talk about Tibet, its food, its people – to get the name of Tibet out there in bright lights. How often we stumble at this very first hurdle.
Lau’s book explores the path that restaurants like ours have to navigate to get our dishes seen and sampled. One consideration, she suggests in her chapter “D is for Dan Dan Noodles”, is how easily the name of the dish can be romanised. We feel lucky that we don’t have to do anything with momos to get them to sound as cute and delicious as you know them to be. Gyoza and jiaozi, she says, “look terrifying to pronounce”, thereby posing more of a challenge.
We recommend An A-Z of Chinese Food to anyone with an interest in the themes of identity, culture, belonging – and food.
Meanwhile, come and see us. The restaurant has been quiet in January, but our momos are awesome as always, so if you haven’t visited us yet this year please do swing by. We’re open all the usual hours this week, as follows:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm (dinner only)
Saturday: 12-3 / 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3 / 5-9pm
This week’s menu is up on the website – check it! Come for take-away, dine-in or you can order home delivery through Deliveroo.
Our freezers are also packed with all the nutritious meals you don’t have time to make yourselves – come have a forage.
Finally, if you’re in the market for TT discounts and freebies just subscribe to our weekly Substack to receive offers direct to your inbox.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Julie and Yeshi
Opening hours this week:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Saturday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9pm
☏ 01865 499318
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