Fruits for Foochow Feasts

In the early days of Sibu Sunkist Oranges and Apples (Red Delicious or Fuji or Royal Gala) were two fruits very popular fruits. They were sliced and placed on the table for Foochow celebrations as appetizers. These slices of fruits would be happily snapped up by the diners or invited guests at the beginning of a banquet. The fruit platter was like a welcoming gesture.

Today braised peanuts and cold lotus seed slices would be more trendy.

I remember some more pro-active parents would "ta pau" /pack the uneaten fruit slices home for their eager children at home. Some times the hosts would also collect the "balance" of the uneaten fruits and pass them to their friends to take home. It would have been a waste if they were not eaten .

For some people these were the only foreign fruits they ever got to eat as they would not (afford to) buy them for themselves. Sunkist oranges and apples were often precious gifts for the sick in the hospital besides the ubiquitous tinned Nestle fresh milk.

Today I do not think anyone would serve a complimentary platter of these lovely fruit slices as a token of welcome before a feast starts, considering the high costs of everything . A complimentary platter of fruits would depend on the management of the restaurant.

Perhaps unknown to them at that time this is a "sweetening" practices originating from the Arabs who would serve fruits first before a meal.

At the end of a very sumptious Foochow dinner in Fook Chu Leu Restaurant for example during my childhood was a huge bowl of tinned longans or peaches with lots of ice cubes. This was what I would always look forward to when attending a Foochow feast.

Furthermore when I was young I would never be given a whole orange or whole apple to eat all by myself. My mother would always cut up the fruits for all of us to share.

I remember the first whole fruit (a pear) I ever ate in my life was the one given to me by my aunt Lily in Singapore when I visited her on my way to Kuala Lumpur on a Girl Guide trip in 1968. That was a very mind blowing gesture . Somehow that particular pear tasted just so good to a Foochow teenager who came to Singapore by boat (2 nights and two days) from Sibu. Aunt Lily (then a Singapore teacher) was a dear loving aunt who knew how hard life could be.

We continue to pare apples lovingly and slice oranges for the dinner table at home for our loved ones. Preparing fruits for any one who is sick is a gesture of love in my community.

And pears? They will always remind me of my aunt Lily's great love and compassion.