Hakka Cooking in the Homeland

After Popo passed away, reminders of my Hakka identity grew scarce. Although my parents were proud to be Chinese, they seldom spoke of their Hakka heritage. As I pursued a career and raised a family of my own, my Hakka identity slid into dormancy. Decades passed. As retirement approached, I decided I finally had time to research the food of my culture. The heart of my plan was a trip to China in the fall of 2005. My travel companions and I began in Guangdong Province, where I searched for my ancestral roots in Meixian and explored the home of Hakka cuisine and culture in Meizhou, the provincial capital. We then followed the Hakka food trail to Beijing, Luodai (a village in Sichuan Province), and Hong Kong. Eating in the country where my ancestors had come from taught me the taste of true Hakka food. As I continued my travels, I would have a baseline for comparison.