Moon Cake Festival

Throughout China, people celebrate this mid-autumn festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, but the Sichuanese, with their proud food traditions, try to go one better. On one occasion in 2006, a giant moon cake was baked by the citizens of Chengdu that weighed in at an enormous 400kg/882lb. It was cut up and distributed free to the local citizens. Moon cakes are heavy, round pastries stuffed with all manner of fillings, from meat to almond paste or even salted duck’s eggs. In Sichuan the classic fillings are melon seed, lotus seed and almond paste. The crusts are decorated with symbols such as dragons or a phoenix. Traditionally, 13 moon cakes are piled in a pyramid to symbolize the 13 months of the lunar leap year.