The Teahouse and Dim Sum

The drinking of tea met the eating of dumplings early in the twelfth century. Not only were meat-filled pouches of dough part of the cuisine of the palace in Kaifeng, China‛s capital during those years of the Southern Song Dynasty, but dumpling houses were commonplace in the city. According to Meng Yuan Lao, a scholar of the period who wrote extensively about food consumption in the capital, these and other small food-and-drink rest stops for travelers—what we would call modest restaurants—were plentiful.