Taste of spring

May 20th, 2022 Friday Rainy

The first spring I spent in this city was dreamlike. After all the hard work I poured into the application, I was finally accepted into the program I wanted. The day my soon-to-be graduate supervisor told me about the news, I felt that even the sun was shining more brightly, and the sky was beaming with hope.

That weekend, I took a long walk in various neighborhoods to truly appreciate my first spring in a city that I now call home. As I walked along a major street, I noticed thousands of cute yellow flowers blooming on the green lawn of the median, extending into the horizon, as if leading to a faraway palace where the spring fairy resides. I was so excited that I rushed into the street to take pictures, and ended up getting honked at by some angry driver 😛

Later I found out that, to my surprise, that those yellow flowers are dandelions, and they are far from a welcome scene here, especially if they appear on your lawn. Why? Because they are WEEDS!

To be honest, the definition of “weeds” has always been puzzling to me. I think by definition, weeds flourish and expand by themselves, without much cultivation effort or interference needed from humans. But I think another aspect of being a weed is “unwanted”. In other words, people generally do not see much value in such plants, so if they can easily get out of control due to their vitality, that is a problem. I might be one of the few people here who would find the little yellow suns on the green grass charming – at the same sight, my neighbor is most likely going to frown and head as quickly as possible to a garden store for some weed killer.

Here is the interesting point: whether a plant is valuable or not is very subjective, and depends largely on the cultural context. In my home culture, dandelions have been used as a medicine for thousands of years. Since medicine and food are believed to share the same origin, medicinal plants often find their way onto people’s dining tables as well. In urban centers where the fast-paced life has tilted people’s diet towards too much meat and not enough vegetables, medicinal plants like dandelions have been found to help cleanse the harmful effects from consuming meat, thus grow very popular and highly-sought after. My mom told me that a few major parks have actually banned people from harvesting dandelions or similar “weeds”, for the fear that the passion for a healthier diet (from a VERY LARGE population) might drive these “weeds” into extinction.

Just like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, the value of “weeds” is also in the mind of people who perceive them.

I guess I am the lucky one that comes from a culture that see dandelions as valuable, and happened to have moved into a culture where dandelions are ABUNDANT to the extent that I can happily pick them anywhere and my “interference” would be more than welcome ?

Well, I would be pretty dumb if I do not take advantage of that, right?

Over the last weekend, when countless dandelions started blooming in our yard, my husband harvested some (to be exact, over two pounds after roots removed), and we made them into dumplings by adding ground pork, seasonings, and a variety of oils to neutralize their strong earthiness and overpowering bitterness. The distinct refreshing dandelion taste still remained, just more balanced with other ingredients.

The result? A delicacy that truly marked the taste of spring. My mom would be so jealous. Would you like to try some?

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