Lady Lunchalot

Dumplings are a reminder that for all the evils in the world, there are still some things that are good and pure.

Dumplings have to be one of the most delightful foods imaginable. These little gift-wrapped nuggets of deliciousness are seen in cultures all around the world, from spiced Chinese dim sum, to warming Jewish kneidlach, to Italian agnolotti.

Dumplings come in two varieties. There are filled dumplings, that consist of a filling enveloped by some kind of noodle-esque wrapping (think wontons, ravioli, dim sum). And there are dropped dumplings, which are the naked, unwrapped kind that are usually made from something starchy like flour or potato. These are the stodgy kinds of dumplings that I always associate with Eastern Europe, borscht, and words with too many consonants.

Personally, the filled dumplings are my favourite kind, because it makes me feel like I am being given a present every time I eat one. You never quite know what’s inside the wrapping, so there’s always an element of surprise.

I love Asian filled dumplings, like gyoza from Japan and Chinese wontons. I used to work near a sushi bar that I couldn’t walk past without buying a gyoza. Any time I am sick I crave wonton soup, otherwise known as short soup. I love how the loose ends of the wonton wrapper swim through the broth like mermaid hair. When I used to live in Chinatown in Brisbane, I once had a nasty bout of tonsilitis. I wandered down to my favourite Chinese takeaway to order some short soup, and as my tonsilitis voice had that deadened, closed-throat quality the woman (whose English wasn’t the best) made the logical assumption that I was deaf, so she yelled at me so I could hear her. I mean, if I was deaf, yelling probably wouldn’t have helped anyway. And she didn’t seem to understand my English very well either. I couldn’t seem to make her understand that I just wanted some short soup.

But I digress.

My other favourite dumplings are the Italian variety. But that shouldn’t come as much surprise - I love anything wrapped in pasta. There are so many types of Italian dumplings; agnolotti, ravioli, tortellini, even gnocchi. I once read a foodie crime novel that involved the mysterious death of a chef whose signature dish was ravioli with so many types of fillings it looked like a patchwork quilt.

Poland is very big on dumplings. So much so, they even have an annual dumpling festival in Krakow each August. I think the Poles have got the right idea. A dumpling festival must be one of the happiest places on earth (after Disneyland of course). How could anyone ever be sad while eating a dumpling?

Have a look at http://www.justhungry.com/2004/08/is_my_blog_burn.html for more info from a dumpling lover.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 27th, 2006 at 9:06 am and is filed under Half-Baked Food Thoughts . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.