Just this past Thursday was “Mooncake Day” or also formally known as “Mid-Autumn Festival.” It is a traditional holiday for Chinese people to eat moon cakes on this day. There are different flavors and types of mooncakes and just recently, I began to wonder what the symbols on the cake itself meant. Ever since I was little, I didn’t question the food that was given to me. Inside the cake is usually made of red bean or lotus seed paste. The texture is thick and usually has a yolk in the center.

According to kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com, the imprints on top of the cake “symbolizes a family get-together and reflects the family culture and the special importance Chinese people attaching to the family reunion. The moon cake is not just a kind of food, but more of a cultural element deeply penetrated into Chinese people’s hearts, symbolizing family reunion and embodying spiritual feelings.” The cake was meant to be shared by a group of people, and thus is always a symbol for family union. I never knew that mooncakes had actual meaning behind just being food. It meant being part of a family and part of Chinese culture.

What other foods do you know have meaning behind it?