The Jade Peony read like a love affair between the old and new — the Old China, the Old China ways, and the Old One, aka Poh-Poh or simply grandmother, versus the new traded secrets of Chinatown in Vancouver. This love affair with China weaved through stories told from the perspective of three siblings, only sister Jook-Liang, second brother Jung-Sum, and third brother Sek-Lung. Though these stories are about the struggles of Chinese immigrants I think all people can relate to the internal conflict of honoring traditions while dreaming of dancing like Shirley Temple and being modern.
For me, Two Gallants’ The Deader was the soundtrack of Jade Peony, explaining this love for China with lyrics alluding to the raging sea, which was what metaphorically and geographically separated these characters from the Old China, from war, and from their dreams of heroism and lost relationships, specially after the departure of the Old One.
Though told from different perspectives, one constant remains in each story: the Old One, who passes down the jade peony as an inheritance to her grandchildren, but also confers them a more valuable inheritance — their cultural heritage as a people and the necessity and importance of holding on to a measure of “old way” attitude. After finishing the Jade Peony I was reminded of My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk which also depicted a battle between the old and new. The only difference here was that this battle was about art!
In My Name is Red, miniaturists in the Ottoman Empire set to solve a murder by studying a set of paintings. These paintings are rebels amongst the 2-dimensional miniature designs of the time. They are 3-dimensional, almost abstract. Modern. Wickedly painted.
But as much as these novels set the battleground for East versus West, old versus new, and herbs versus modern medicine, they are about relationships and unlikely friendships. I really enjoyed reading about only sister Jook-Liang’s friendship with an elderly “monkey man” who believes in Liang and encourages her Shirley Temple-like performances; tough guy Frank Yuen, second brother Jung-Sum’s mentor and surprising crush; and third brother Sek-Lung’s babysitter, the beautiful Meiying who commits the unpardonable sin of falling in love with a Japanese boy. It is through these seemingly unlikely friendships and the union of the opposing ideals that I got thinking: where is the bacon in all of this?
I’ve been contemplating bacon ice cream for awhile and being afraid of committing the unthinkable. Can bacon really be savoured in frozen form with cream, sugar, and eggs (umm… lots of eggs)?
So naturally I put The Deader on repeat and inspired by the Jade Peony started to candy some bacon! Following this David Lebovitz recipe I simply used some brown sugar over strips of bacon and with just 15 minutes in the oven I had perfect candied bacon.
Photo Credit: DavidLebovitz.com
And 24 hours later, after the ice cream custard was chilled and ready for the ice cream maker, I realized: the old and new don’t need to be battling each other. I think through friendships and story telling (a theme that I’m beginning to notice in this year’s Canada Reads with Generation X’s omelet of stories) the old ways can complement new, modern, and wickedly painted ideas.
At last, I absolutely enjoyed reading The Jade Peony and was grateful that it finally got me to make some bacon ice cream!
Wow, looks surprisingly tasty, Mojgan!
[...] The Jade Peony inspires Mogjan at Something Lemon to make bacon ice cream. (Which to a bacon hater like myself sounds like the grossest thing ever but I’m sure bacon lovers everywhere are going to want to try it.) [...]
[...] inspire my food choices. Reading my way through the Canada Reads books inspired a date with bacon ice cream, a rise in my comfort food intake, and delight in a layered chocolate torte! But what about where [...]