Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1997

HIGHLIGHTS Of RGC-FUNDED PROJECTS and cooking styles seldom vary f r om day to day. According to the researchers, such a contrast reflects the dichotomy of Hong K o n g l i f e itself ： H o n g K o n g is a c o s m o p o l is b o a s t i ng i n t e r n a t i o n al sophistication on the one hand, and on the other an extension of Chinese culture a nd t r a d i t i on d i s p l a y i ng Can t onese characteristics. The Function of 'Yum Cha' is Changing Another area of investigation was the changing f un c t i on of ‘ y um cha' — a Chinese-style breakfast meal outside the home w i th tea-drinking as its main feature. The researchers discovered that in the p o s t w a r p e r i o d w h e n H o n g K o n g experienced an influx of 'refugees' from mainland China, ' yum cha' was largely an activity of single males, w h o met over their breakfast tea to socialize or exchange tips about job-seeking. As these first- generation immigrants settled down, got married, raised families, and became grandparents, 'yum cha' has also been transformed into a family activity. It serves to draw together family members w h o may n ow live and wo rk in different parts of the territory, and hence reinforces the institution of the family. The changing function of ‘ yum cha' reflects the full indigenization of a who le generation of early immigrants. Tea Cafe a Uniquely Hong Kong Product From tea cafes wh i ch sprang up in the difficult postwar years to the fast-food stalls that have prospered since the mid- 1980s, Hong Kong people have f ound a great variety of both Chinese and Western f o o d at v e r y i n e x p e n s i ve p r i c e s. According to the researchers, the tea cafes are not only typical of Hong Kong as a melting pot of different cultures, they actually produce typically Ho ng Kong f ood stuff wh i ch can reinforce a Hong Kong identity. One example is a drink called yin yeung, a mixture of coffee and tea w i th milk. In yin yeung one can see the l oca l i za t i on of b o t h Eastern a nd Western cuisines i n the H o n g K o ng context. Nouvelle Cantonese Cuisine Emerges with the Middle Class Then there was also the emergence of nouvelle Cantonese cuisine in the early eighties, first f ound in a host of tastefully decorated restaurants in Tsim Sha Tsui east. Characterized by the use of exotic ingredients, n ew recipes, adventurous cooking techniques, and excellent service, it was a taste deliberately created and p u r s u e d b y t he ‘ n e w l y r i c h '. T he researchers believe that this process of culinary invention reflects larger social and cultural trends ： Hong Kong is getting rich and its new middle-class aspire after a lifestyle that is more glamorous and that stresses greater delicacy. Puhn Choi a Complex Metaphor A t r a d i t i o n al d i sh i n t he N e w Territories, 'puhn choi' boasts a history longer than colonial Ho ng Kong. The researchers f ound that towards the end of British rule in Ho ng Kong in the 1990s, it suddenly became very popular. This nostalgia for 'puhn choi' is pregnant w i t h political meaning. The researchers regard it as a metaphor of Hong Kong people's search for a sense of cultural belonging during a period of great political change. Many of the research findings can be widely used to understand the changing f o o d w a y s , c o n s u m p t i on patterns ， lifestyles ， and cultural identities of not only Hong Kong but also Asia and the rest of the world. The three researchers in the We are What We Eat 25