It’s about time to introduce you to a new section on my blog – the “Food Corner”. Many people think that China has all these weird foods and that living here must be quite a challenge. While it is true that people in China eat some things that Western people might find strange or even repulsive, most of the dishes I get to see on a day to day basis are plain delicious and very enjoyable. So, in the Food Corner, I’m hoping to do away with some of the misconceptions about Chinese food and show you what culinary treasures they really have to offer!

First, however, I’ll start with a rather Western treat. It’s Christmas season after all, and since China doesn’t really celebrate Christmas (hence no Christmas foods/treats) for the next couple of weeks we’ll stay rather Western, before we dive into the secrets of Chinese cuisine. So, today …

Let’s talk cookies!

I started my first cookie baking venture of this season just the other day. Actually, to be honest, it wasn’t me who did most of the work of cutting the cookies – it was my students (yes, I make my students work for me ;))! But the truth is, most of my students have never baked anything in their lives, let alone cookies, and some of them haven’t even used a rolling pin before (though it is a very common item in any Chinese household). So, as soon as I mention something about “cookie baking” they get all excited immediately, and are eager to do it themselves! It’s almost like teaching pre-schoolers how to bake, though we are talking “university students” here! One thing’s for sure: baking with my students is always an adventure … often enough they forget all about the cookie cutters (which are there to help you with the work, right?!) and they want to make their own shapes, which turns the baking session into a never-ending venture!

Usually, I have a standard set of cookies that I bake – my favorite ones being some kind of vanilla cookies (in German called Vanillekipferl – yum!). I do them every year, so I finally figured out how that works with my tiny oven! Yep, baking in China is an adventure, esp. since some of the ingredients I can’t get anywhere around here and have to order them online! Actually, most everything I need for baking I have to order online, since Chinese people don’t usually bake at all – cookie cutters, vanilla powder & extract, etc.. And for the sugar I had to learn that here in town they only sell the very coarse-grained type, and I have to travel to the city to get the finely granulated type we need for baking. The same is true for butter (none is being sold here in town). So, usually I stock up on all the extra stuff, because there is no quickly-running-to-the-next-store-when-you-run-out-of-something around here! But at least all the important ingredients are available somehow and now I can enjoy Christmas with real Christmas cookies!