Chinese vegetarian dinner (#51; Topic K)

Being an author-cum-publisher, I participate in an on-line publishing forum for small and self publishers. Members of this forum hold a dinner whenever a professional publishing organization holds its an annual meeting. This year, it is mid-May at the Washington's convention center. In volunteering my services (since I live in the DC area) for organizing a banquet-style dinner in a nearby Chinese restaurant, I mentioned that tables for vegetarians may be arranged. From comments received, it is apparent that most do not appreciate that banquet-style vegetarian dinners are special treats in Chinese cuisine. How do you do 10 courses, each a vegetarian dish? A mock fish or a mock chicken is far more difficult to prepare than the real thing -- and equally expensive, if not more so. In 2004, though I cancelled a trip to China to celebrate the 99th birthday of my father (due to my heart procedure), the celebration was nevertheless held, along with a vegetarian dinner for all guests I hosted in absentia. December 25, 2005, was my father's 100th birthday; regrettably, I had to cancel my visit (I was in Shanghai in October, and paid my respects at my father's grave), but the celebration and vegetarian dinner were held unchanged. There are several Chinese vegetarian restaurants in DC; the 10-course dinner of one, where I have played both host and guest, has a theme: Dishes of Ladies of the Red-Chamber Dream -- each course featuring food favored by a fictional female character in this classical Chinese novel. No other cuisine, to my knowledge, combines food and culture -- in a supposedly simple vegetarian dinner.
Posted at 3:30 pm, Wednesday, January 25, 2006