RED MANSIONS’ SWEET DREAMS
This is a series profiling the Chinese lifestyle and the people’s way of eating and drinking through literary texts, from the four great classical novels to ancient recipe books. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It has generated numerous scholarly works and countless screen adaptations, and among the topics in studying the novel are the dishes described and the extravagant lifestyles they represent.
The most famous foods from the book include qiexiang (an eggplant and chicken dish), hairy crabs, grilled venison and goji buds stir-fry, but Cao also describe an array of delicate Chinese desserts enjoyed by the characters on a daily basis.
To the people of Da Guan Yuan, eating desserts was part of their lifestyle, much like the afternoon tea tradition in English culture. And in different cultures of different times, desserts and pastries have always been the food of comfort.
In Chapter 34, after Jia Baoyu was beaten, his principal maid Xiren brought him sugar rose syrup, a sweet drink made of rose extracts that had soothing properties.
And in Chapter 11, when Qin Keqing, the daughter-in-law of Jia Zhen, was ill, Grandmother Jia asked to bring her yam cake with jujube paste, which made her feel better.