四大名菜

The Four Dishes of Fame
四大名菜

28cm x 40.6cm

Mixed Media Collage on Cloud-dragon Handmade Paper mounted on Wood
混合媒介拼貼雲龍紙本，木板

I never ate at the school canteen. My hot lunches were always delivered by my household chef and driver. There were endless jokes about my food; what Peking Duck? Dim Sum? Roasted pigs? All the other girls had only seen them in ancient moving pictures. They marched arm-in-arm into the school canteen, giggling and chitchatting. I sat in a quiet corner of the school garden to eat my steamy meal. The bell rang again. From various direction, hundreds of girls rushed into classrooms like schools of salmons. I was, as usual, the silent one but had my ears perked up. Today's cellophane wantons were so crispy! I had only had hand-wrapped shrimp wontons in broth. Those were soft and silky like overcooked ravioli. I could not wrap my mind around crispy wontons! I was there fantacising and did not dare to pitch into the conversation.
從小到大，我也不會在學校吃飯，膳食總是由廚子在午飯時間送到學校。讀書的時候，常常有同學嘲笑我吃的東西好奇怪。什麼燕窩粥、百花雞、香酥鴨等，他們只在古老的電影裡看過。他們成群結隊上飯堂，浪聲嘻笑。我則靜靜坐在花園角落，吃熱騰騰的飯。鈴聲響起，大家魚貫湧進教室。我不發一言，卻豎起耳朵，聽同學們說今天吃的玻璃紙雲吞有多爽脆。我只吃過手包的鮮蝦雲吞，那是軟滑綿綿的，我不能想像雲吞怎麼可以是爽脆的。我逕自在憧憬，也不敢搭口，因為眾所週知，我，渡如愚，是從來沒有吃過一口膠。