Law prohibiting the sale of shark fin soup in restaurant is pure exercised in stupidity since no law prohibiting the import of shark fins into the country that is not properly captured. Not to say the least when City Council grand stand the issue of shark fin sales and shark fin soup in city council is creating if not breaking the anti discrimation law as define by the charther of right. They are actually creating and targeting Chinese community in Canada as an environmentalist destroyer and causing much distress to Chinese animal conservationist like me to be target. I would avoid purschasing shark fin food. That being said, it does not mean I do not eat shark fin at wedding banquet. It is also racist not to say the least. This is and attack on Chinese culture. Remember this has been a Chinese tradition while western civilization were still in the dark ages. What this affect is the business in Toronto Chinese restaurant will suffer while neighbouring cities that choose not to ban the shark fins served during Chinese wedding banquets. To tell the truth in 2011 I do not have any wedding invitation and the only wedding invitation for for my daughter for a wedding ceremony and reception in Hawaii.
It is easy for those against the Chinese Restaurant serving Shark Fin soup to say what is good or bad for the Chinese to eat or should not eat but lack the knowledge for a solution to curb the actual problem. It is not the sales of shark fin that is the problem. It is the senseless over killing of shark and the method of killing the shark for their fins call shark fining that is the problem. The prohibition of sales of shark fins soup in a city is not going to fit the problem but only to make it worse. Even if the country ban the sales of shark fin is not going to solve the problem.
For a democratic country that pride its multiculturalism it is a stabbed in the back and I would even go a step further to say this is racially motivated hate crime to push for the ban. Not all shark fin are harvested just for their fin. Many poor fishermen that caught shark do not just cut up their fin and throw the fish alive back to the ocean. Imaging they hardly had enough food to feed their family and do you think for an instance they would throw away good food. However, the commecial fleet we have a major problem with the over harvest and much worse the practice of inhuman shark finning is much desturbing more so to the Chinese because of our taste for the product.
This is not an enviromentalist problem but more so a Chinese problem. At the rate the over harvesting of the shark the whole shark population may depleted by my generation. That would be a sad day for the human race. Actually, there is more at stake for the Chinese because one of the greatest Chinese tradition would be destroy by the Chinese demand for shark fins and a small but greedy merchant of oportunity and illegal shark fishermen.
I am not saying I would ordered shark fins soup myself. In fact until I can determine that the shark that are caught are fully used for consumtion I will stay away from shark fin food. However, if invited to a banquet that does not mean that I will not eat shark fin food if it is served.
How than can we solved this problem of over killing of shark. The cause of over killing and the problem with the method of disposing the live shark after the fin were cut off is due mainly to the price of shark fin. It is simple a demand and supply problem. What little demand the North American consumer need there is not even going to make a dent in the demand in the world for shark fin. It will only make the under ground market price higher in North America and the problem get worst. To solved the problem of the high demand and the problem is solved.
Best solution is education. We are not going to solve all these problems any sooner by flexing and using new law to prohibit the product. The world is no where closer to solving the problem with prohibited drugs on the market but the law only that made the underground crime for prohibited drug much more lucrative. What make us think that the law would solved this problem and not make it worst. Furthermore, it is not only shark that is over harvested but the ocean on the whole is over harvested. Unlike other problem in the world this problem can be solved with proper education. The shark fin industry is not the problem but the unscrupules business due to the lucrulative business that destroy the shark fin industry. The world body have to have regulation with hugh penalties making the bad boys of the business pay beyond what profit they reap from their bad pratices. The City by-law prohibiting the sales and procession of shark fin will likely reward the criminal and punishing the honest Chinese Business merchant for their hard work.
My sentiment is if I am in the illegal trade of illegal shark fin I would pay of bunch of stupid know nothing do gooder some money to create the demand for the product. All they had to do is to sensationalize the shark fin cruelty and hordes of misinformed citizen will be up in arms demanding the ban of the legal sales of shark fin. Infact this is already accomplish by a stage footage of shark finning cruelty and dumping the live shark into the ocean.
Chinese history of shark fin soup began during People in the Qing Dynasty treasured shark’s fin and edible bird’s nest, which are indispensable ingredients at modern, opulent banquets. These two foods were brought into China from Southeast Asia in the early years of the Ming Dynasty when the eunuch, Zheng He, returned from there. During the middle period of the Qing Dynasty, edible bird’s nest and shark’s fin headed the menus at extravagant banquets. Sea cucumbers and prawns are native to China, but only became imperial dishes much later.
Chinese Wedding Foods
Question:
I’m getting married soon, and hope you’ll be able to answer some questions I have. About one third of the wedding banquet guests are not Chinese. We would like to give an explanation on what the various foods represent and why they are served at banquets. We will be serving:
roasted suckling pig, shark’s fin soup, deep fried crab claws, squab, Peking duck, lobster, vegetables with sea cucumber, and fish. For dessert we will be have
hot sweet red bean soup and two dumpling-like things that I don’t have names for. The first is a white and pink
peach shaped bun with sweet lotus paste in the center. The second is a
round sticky dumpling covered with crushed peanuts on the outside and filled with sweet black sesame paste in the center. Do you have any ideas what all these foods represent? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
Chinese food has special symbolism: mostly wishes of happiness, longevity, or fertility. The
number of courses is also significant. At a Chinese wedding banquet,
eight dishes are usually served – not including the dessert. In Chinese, the word “eight” sounds like “good luck.” (The words for “nine” and “long” are also homophones, words that sound the same but have different meanings. At a birthday banquet, nine dishes are served with noodles at the end.)
Nowadays, a wedding banquet starts with appetizers such as “dragon-phoenix” plates or cold plates which consist of various sliced meats, jellyfish, and various types of nuts shaped like dragons and phoenixes and served chilled. (Lobster in Chinese is literally “dragon shrimp” and in Chinese restaurants, chicken feet are referred to as “phoenix feet”). In a marriage, the
dragon symbolizes the male role while the phoenix symbolizes the female role. (See
Chinese Wedding Traditions for additional use of the Dragon and Phoenix symbolism.) This yin-yang dualism, opposite but not contradictory, is a key concept of taoism according to Professor George Lee of San Francisco State University. He and others believe that taoism and the yin-yang dualism prevades Chinese philosophy. Lee wrote that according to the Black Sect Tantric Buddhism, “man and woman form a family – the tao of marriage.” Therefore, having lobster and chicken at the dinner would represent balance in the new relationhip.
Regarding the specific menu selections you mention:
Shark’s Fin Soup. Soup usually follows the appetizers. The type of soup has some significance, for example, shark’s fin soup indicates wealth because this delicacy is very expensive.
Roast Suckling Pig. Roasted pork is a symbol of virginity. (The groom presents a whole roasted pork to the bride’s family at the engagement party.)
Peking Duck and Lobster. Red is the color for happiness, so serving Peking duck and lobster would signify joy and celebration. Also, serving the dish whole, i.e. with the head and legs, would symbolize completeness.
Squab (or Other Fowl). According to Shu Shu Costa, the author of
Wild Geese and Tea, pigeon has tender meat that symbolizes peace. Usually two pigeons are offered to wish the newlyweds peace as they start their new life together. Squab (pigeon) is similar to quail, so they both probably symbolize peace. Quail is offered whole to each guest so each and every one will also experience a peaceful life. Serving fried chicken would wish the couple to have a good life because in Chinese “red chicken” sounds like “good life.”
Crab Claws. If you want to serve crab, I suggest you serve the whole crab and not just the claws, which is separated from its other parts. Since you will serve lobster, I recommend that you replace the crab claws with fried chicken because of my explanation above. A typical Chinese banquet usually includes chicken and duck.
Vegetables with Sea Cucumber. Serving sea cucumber with vegetables is a sign of selflessness because “sea cucumber” sounds like “"good heart” and this dish wishes the couple to think in a similar way – to avoid conflict.
Fish. Serving fish would hope that the couple will experience a life together with abundance because “fish”" sounds like “plentiful” in Chinese.
Noodles served at the end would symbolize longevity because noodles come in long strands.
Sweet Red Bean Soup and Sweet Buns. Serving dessert probably wishes the newlyweds a sweet life. The hot sweet red bean soup should contain lotus seeds (
lian zi) and a bark-like vegetable (
bak hop) to wish the newlyweds a hundred years of togetherness. The sweet lotus paste in sweetened steamed bread symbolizes fertility; it is shaped and colored to resemble peaches (
ta zi), since the peach represents long life. The sticky dumpling you describe, covered with crushed peanuts with black sesame paste in the center, is called
mochi. (You might consider mochi with lotus paste or red bean paste for their symbolic value rather than black sesame paste.)
At the end of the banquet, waiters usually pass out take-out boxes to the guests because there is usually enough food for everyone and some left over; this represents abundance. It is acceptable to take some of the food home because it is not good to waste good food – or anything else for that matter.
Tea, alcohol, and 7-Up are almost always supplied at a Chinese wedding banquet. Offering
tea is a sign of respect. Alcohol is served to celebrate the special occasion. (In Chinese,“ going to a dinner banquet” is synonymous to “going to drink alcohol;” and in Cantonese, “to go drinking” literally means “go to a bar.”) And 7-Up sounds like “seven happiness,”, since the words for “up” and “happiness” are homophones.)
You might notice that Chinese restaurants have a big Chinese character behind the head table; it is the character for “
double happiness” which is used during wedding events.
