Day 606 - Mooncake hobby 🥮 - https://golifelog.com/posts/mooncake-hobby-1661740622115
If you only did something once a year, does it still count as a hobby?
Not sure about you but I'm taking it as a hobby. Especially when it comes to mooncakes.
Mooncakes are a specialty pastry that's given and eaten during mid autumn. It's a Chinese ethnic custom that dates way back. Right now it's more of a commercial festival, kind of like Christmas.
But there's something about mooncakes that I'm particularly passionate about. My annual mooncake pilgrimage to the [old school store Tai Thong Cake Shop](https://www.taithongcakeshop.com/) in Chinatown that's been around since the 50s. Buying this gives me sooo much joy.
The hollow sounds of the wooden mooncake moulds.
The yellowed posters from the 80s.
The smell of glorious bakes.
I’m like a kid in a candy store there.
I'm fascinated by the heritage craft behind it. That it's still made by hand to this day at the shop is an achievement in itself – most mooncakes are now factory made, even the brands that are so-called heritage brands (looking at you Tai Chong Kok). It's just not the same. The taste simply isn't as good. The browning on the crust is too even, under-baked. The sweet lotus paste and salted egg tends to be dry and crumbly, unlike freshly baked ones which are oily and moist. The shops are revamped to a modernized look to appeal to younger folks. There's no much soul.
What's the most precious about these heritage, hand-made mooncakes is how it's a disappearing trade. The masters are old. They have no successors. If there were successors, they modernize the business and the old flavours get lost. Within the past decade, I've seen 3 heritage pastry brands lose their soul to modernization.
My heart breaks when I see that.
I love my heritage pastries with a passion, and also hate that fake modernization with a passion.
So I guess this qualifies me as a mooncake hobbyist?
All the elements of a hobby are there: passion, interest, delight, loving it for it's own sake.
I'm a mooncake hobbyist.
There I said it.
Not sure about you but I'm taking it as a hobby. Especially when it comes to mooncakes.
Mooncakes are a specialty pastry that's given and eaten during mid autumn. It's a Chinese ethnic custom that dates way back. Right now it's more of a commercial festival, kind of like Christmas.
But there's something about mooncakes that I'm particularly passionate about. My annual mooncake pilgrimage to the [old school store Tai Thong Cake Shop](https://www.taithongcakeshop.com/) in Chinatown that's been around since the 50s. Buying this gives me sooo much joy.
The hollow sounds of the wooden mooncake moulds.
The yellowed posters from the 80s.
The smell of glorious bakes.
I’m like a kid in a candy store there.
I'm fascinated by the heritage craft behind it. That it's still made by hand to this day at the shop is an achievement in itself – most mooncakes are now factory made, even the brands that are so-called heritage brands (looking at you Tai Chong Kok). It's just not the same. The taste simply isn't as good. The browning on the crust is too even, under-baked. The sweet lotus paste and salted egg tends to be dry and crumbly, unlike freshly baked ones which are oily and moist. The shops are revamped to a modernized look to appeal to younger folks. There's no much soul.
What's the most precious about these heritage, hand-made mooncakes is how it's a disappearing trade. The masters are old. They have no successors. If there were successors, they modernize the business and the old flavours get lost. Within the past decade, I've seen 3 heritage pastry brands lose their soul to modernization.
My heart breaks when I see that.
I love my heritage pastries with a passion, and also hate that fake modernization with a passion.
So I guess this qualifies me as a mooncake hobbyist?
All the elements of a hobby are there: passion, interest, delight, loving it for it's own sake.
I'm a mooncake hobbyist.
There I said it.
