Foods consumed during the holidays tend to be both symbolic and tasty.  Foods of the Chinese New Year are no different.

The Chinese New Year is the longest and most important holiday on the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Also known as the Spring Festival, the holiday is based on solar and lunar movements and occurs on different dates each year.  Lasting more than two weeks, the Chinese New Year celebration is based on the legend of the Nian (年).

Chana masala or chole masala is a popular vegetable dish in Pakistani cuisine & Indian cuisine. The main ingredient is chickpeas. It is fairly dry and spicy with a sour citrus note. The dish is found throughout South Asia, and is particularly popular in northern India and Pakistan.

Along with chickpeas, the ingredients typically include onion, chopped tomatoes, coriander seed, garlic, chiles, ginger, dried mango powder (amchur, sometimes spelled "amchoor"), crushed pomegranate seed (anardana) and garam masala.

In Chinese culture, food has significant meaning and roles in the traditional wedding ceremonies. Learn more about the Chinese traditional wedding day and how food‘s important role on the special day.

The winter melon, also called white gourd, ash gourd, or "fuzzy melon", is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is the only member of the genus Benincasa. The fruit is fuzzy when young.The immature melon has thick white flesh that is sweet when eaten. By maturity, the fruit loses its hairs and develops a waxy coating, giving rise to the name wax gourd, and providing a long shelf life. The melon may grow as large as 80 cm in length. Although the fruit is referred to as a "melon," the fully grown crop is not sweet. Originally cultivated in Southeast Asia, the winter melon is now widely grown in East Asia and South Asia as well.

When asked to describe a watermelon, one might use the colors red, white, green, or pink. How about black? The Densuke watermelon is a Japanese favorite and differs from its traditional (and less expensive) cousin in its rich black coloring.

The cashew nut is a popular snack, and its rich flavor means that it is often eaten on its own, lightly salted or sugared. Cashew nuts are sold covered in chocolate, but less often than the cheaper peanuts and almonds.

The Vernal Equinox occurs around March 20/21 and signals the beginning of spring. The celestial event is a national holiday in Japan and is called Shunbun no Hi. During Shunbun no Hi, there are 12 hours of darkness and 12 hours of light.

As with many things in the Philippines, there are several stories as to the origins of this rather unusual yet distinctly Filipino dish. The first one is that it came from Pampanga. Another, from the regal dishes of the Moro elite who once settled in Manila before the Spanish arrival (interestingly enough, in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, Kare-kare also remains a popular dish). It is a comfort food for Filipinos, and is a perennial family favorite in both local and overseas Filipino households.

Coming of age is a serious event in Japan. So serious that the occasion is celebrated every year during the Seijin no hi (Coming of Age Festival).  In Japan, twenty is considered to be the beginning of adulthood and is the minimum age for drinking, smoking, and voting.

Grilled unagi is a relatively expensive delicacy in Japan, prized not only for its flavor but also for its legendary stamina-giving properties. It's traditionally eaten during the hottest part of the summer (on the "Day of the Ox" on the lunar calendar) to provide strength and vitality for the rest of the year.

In the days of the Soviet Union, Christmas was not celebrated very much. New Year was the important time. With the fall of Communism, Christmas is openly celebrated - either on December 25th, or more often, on January 7th. The date is different because the Russian Orthodox church uses the old 'Julian' calendar for religious celebration days. The Orthodox Church also celebrates Advent. But it has fixed dates, starting on 28th November and going to the 6th January, so it's 40 days long.

Christmas in the Philippines, one of two predominantly Catholic countries in Asia (the other one being East Timor), is one of the biggest holidays on the calendar. The country has earned the distinction of celebrating the world's longest Christmas season, with Christmas carols are heard as early as September and the season lasting up until Epiphany.

Dim sum is the Cantonese term for a type of Chinese dish that involves small individual portions of food, usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate.

The Chongyang Festival, also known as the Double Ninth Festival, occurs on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese calendar year. Based on the theory of Ying and Yang, the holiday originates from the belief that even numbers belong to the positive Ying and odd numbers belong to the negative Yang.

What In the World is that Cooking Utensil?

Copernicus pointed out that the sun wasn't revolving around the earth, but it was really the other way around. He was ridiculed, just like those who dare to step outside of the status quo are often ridiculed as well. Now and then, it can seem like whatever country you are from is the center of the universe and all life revolves around that particular culture's way of doing things. Take cooking for instance...how often do you think about using utensils from other cultures? It may lead to a better, healthier, or at least more exciting way of cooking. Ready to explore another way to cook? Great! Let's start by finding out about the bamboo steamer.

The lychee (Litchi chinensis, and commonly called litchi, laichi, lichu) is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. It is a tropical and subtropical fruit tree native to China, and now cultivated in many parts of the world. The fruit has a pleasant floral taste and is very sweet.

Calamondin or Calamansi (scientific name: Citrus ×microcarpa) is a fruit tree in the family Rutaceae that was developed in and is very popular throughout Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines, where it is most commonly used for cooking. In the west it is variously known as acid orange, calamondin orange, Chinese Orange or Panama orange. In the Philippines it is called kalamansi/calamansi.