Prompt ….
This week’s photo prompt is provided by Singledust. Thank you Gina!
New Year is one time Chinese indulge their sweet tooth. In the much depleted China town of Calcutta old Mrs Fa spent many days making sweetmeats for the Chinese New Year. The ‘maa faa’ remains the universal favorite. She also made rose cookies, coconut sweets, sesame sweets, puffed rice and jiggery-toffees.
It is believed that the Kitchen-God goes up to heaven and reports the good and bad deeds of the household to the Jade-Emperor at the end of each year. Therefore, he should be appeased with sticky sweets so that nothing sour or bitter comes out of his mouth. Finally, the Kitchen-God is allowed to leave only after the New-year eve feast by burning down the old picture.
After completing the rituals, Mrs Fa is back in her kitchen preparing the momos, taipos etc for the regular breakfast market that is their bread and butter.
Words ~ 145
For more on Chinese breakfast in Kolkata – Click here.
Thank you Priceless Joy
Yarnspinnerr 
Are you writing from experience? Those are some pretty specific details you’ve included.
I have had some very good food in China town of Calcutta over the years and have a few Chinese friends.
Thanks for the interest.
Wow! Love the allusion to tradition! ❤
Thank you.
Oooh delicious story 😉
Glad you like it. Thank you.
I really like this Chinese tradition! Made me hungry for some sweets. 😀 Great story, YS!
Thank you PJ. 🙂
Sweet story! 🙂
Thank you.
Loved the insight into tradition 🙂
Thank you.
That Kitchen God, making his list and checking it twice! I like this myth and particularly that it is a Kitchen God and not a Kitchen Goddess.
Life is so seeped in rituals…we follow them for the moment and then we must return to ‘the bread and butter’ of life. So many layers to your story.
Ellespeth
Glad this interested you. Thanks for the read and comment.
I had a relative that used to do the same thing when we went to her place as kids – so many sweets galore, all before the Kitchen God! But she used to say that she made sweets so that the Kitchen God’s mouth would be glued shut when he went back to report to the Jade Emperor… I think I like this version more.
I like her version too. Thanks for the read and interest.