Food Tasting

Last Saturday was our food taking. We also took the opportunity for our parents to meet for the first time. The first future in-laws meeting, of course my heart was pounding with anxiety. How her parents would react to mine, will they say something wrong to offend the other, can they get along? All these and a million other questions raced through my head. Well there’s only one way to find out and I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.

The dinner is where our parents we will talk “terms”. Find out what each party wants and is willing to give. What the bride’s family will give and what the groom’s family will give, so on. Pig’s trotters, oranges, cakes; just to name a few. According to traditional customs, there are quite a number of things to follow. Luckily we are both not from very traditional families thus a lot of customs are done without or are simplified. Or else, I will suffer any splitting headache. Dinner went uneventfully; food was rather good and the portion ultra generous. There we at least thirty prawns and we struggled to finish the food. Burning with curiosity and contempt, we questioned the captain that will it be the same portion on the actual day. His reply was: “Yes, of course!” However, we all doubt so.

In retrospect, the dinner strikes me that it is pretty much like a scene in Hong Kong gangster movies, where the triad boss “tan pan”. Well I can’t help but find the setting very similar, a negotiation over dinner at a restaurant. Each side stating their terms and the other party will be trying to bargain for something more favourable. When an agreement cannot be reach, they’ll turn the tables and a huge fight erupts. Luckily our meeting was more civil, no turning of tables of smashing of wine bottles. However there was still quite a bit of tension. Diplomatic etiquette and choice of words were the order of the day. Well at least more so in the beginning. When the first dish was served, I swear that on one dare touch it for at least 2 minutes. It just lay in the middle of the table. I suspect that everyone was waiting for someone to make the first move. At last I have to step in to start the ball rolling by offering it to the elders first. Well over food and drinks the atmosphere started to lighten up and I could see that both families are more at ease when talking. The ice begins to melt and some small jokes can be heard. Over the course of the dinner, hopefully my parents and her parents got to know each other a little better. Well I could see their effort in doing so. My worse fear would be nasty in-laws relationship, for that I can heave a sigh of relieve. Well as the Chinese saying goes “A good beginning, is winning half the battle”. It still a long journey, hopefully through the years, their relationship will be just a good.