Foreword I
This book honors what no Hongkonger would neglect: the appetite for fine cuisine.
With subtlety and humor, Christine Cappio offers a glimpse into the intimacy of the city’s food markets. Her drawings describe the unique atmosphere of each location. More than a guide, she
offers us a perspective. Coming from France, a country which attaches great importance to its gastronomy, she decides to take a leap forward and sweep away her prejudices, with the ambition of
becoming a true Hong Kong cook!
Gastronomy is an ancestral art and a key feature of all great civilizations. China and France share this. As Lin Yutang (1895-1976), a famous Fujian scholar influenced by Western culture, put
it in 1937, “every meal on each day is a Feast of Life”. Aren’t most of the “Thirty-Three Happy Moments” described by Jin Shengtan (1608-1661), Suzhou’s “Prince of Commentators”, related to the
pleasure of eating? To achieve this, the Chinese have chopsticks, the French have their “coup de fourchette” (literally fork’s blow) which means they are big eaters.
Wet markets are at the core of this common culture. Food needs to be looked at, touched and smelled before being sliced, simmered, fried or steamed, and eventually landed on our plates! There
is magic in this whole process. This is why great chefs are, whether in Paris or in Hong Kong, surrounded by an aura of mystery. But there is one ingredient you cannot do without: freshness.
She is the mother of all flavors. It is so true that the three words “fish”, “fresh” and “tasty” share the same character in classical Chinese: xian (鮮).
In an era where everything tends to be sanitized, wet markets remind us that a city is an organism that has a soul, a heartbeat and also a belly. The Belly of Paris was the title that French
writer Emile Zola chose in 1873 for his novel describing the life in Les Halles, the city’s central market. Our markets are living organs that retain their picturesque character and remain
meeting places where colours, smells and noises interact. In Hong Kong, where space is scarce and disputed, markets are faced with the challenge of being replaced by the development projects of
business or shopping centres. In this respect, Christine Cappio’s strolling in the wet markets is also a manifesto: let us fight to be able to experience this maze of alleys and backstreets,
smells and flavors, with our grandchildren when tomorrow comes!
The banquet of life is right in front of us, and the only question is how much appetite we have for it!
Alexandre Giorgini
Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macao
Foreword II
I am doubly privileged to be invited to write the preface for Ms Christine Cappio’s second book. This time it is about another fascinating Hong Kong institution – the wet market.
As a cosmopolitan city where East meets West, Hong Kong has no shortage of modern and large-scale supermarkets. Many, however, still prefer to go to wet markets to source their groceries and
fresh food, which is the essence of Cantonese cuisine and a distinct feature of Hong Kong’s social landscape.
The traditional wet market is another symbol of Hong Kong culture with its special ambience and vendors typifying the Hong Kong spirit of self-reliance, vibrancy and diversity. Open daily,
wet markets around Hong Kong offer a rich array of fresh groceries, from meat, sea food, to vegetables, fruits and bean curd, at a reasonable price, within convenient distance and with a warm
human touch.
When Christine arrived in Hong Kong from her native France decades ago, her mother-in-law is a local Chinese who had warned her to stay away from wet markets because they were “smelly, dirty
and slippery”. But that did not stop her from exploring these bustling and colourful bazaars and finding their enduring charm. In the process, she gathered insights to offer us a complete
picture of the wet market, from how to buy stuff to tricks of the trade, and show the reader how to enjoy the experience.
These days, not many local residents go to wet markets. They prefer to shop in the comfort of supermarkets and convenience stores. Indeed, it is rare to find an expatriate lady in a wet
market. So I highly commend the adventurous and inquisitive spirit that led Christine to immerse herself in an interesting feature of Hong Kong’s unique and traditional culture to bring us
another delightful little book. This publication vividly reflects Christine’s strong affection for Hong Kong and passion for Chinese culture.
Matthew Cheung Kin-chung
Chief Secretary for Administration
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Foreword III
When Christine finished her first book, Gweimui’s Hong Kong Story, I had the privilege to have a preview. I told her that I learnt a few things from her manuscript, not because she knew what
I didn’t know of about Hong Kong but her writings gave me a new perspective to look at what I’mfamiliar with. Her observations alert me to angles that I am not fully aware of. As a sociologist,
I know very well about how unfamiliarity would help me understand and unravel the deeper meanings of the so-called familiar. Her fresh and observant eyes guide me to understand Hong Kong in a
new light.
In this second book of Christine’s (and I bet this will be the second title of the Gweimui series and I expect more to follow), she looks at Hong Kong’s wet market. She knows a lot about it
and, I must say, a lot more than I do. I must confess that when I was young I hated our local wet markets (and whether they are open-air or multi-storey indoor is just the same to me). They are
smelly, wet, muddy, slippery, noisy, and dirty. As a kid growing up in a public housing estate, I was often assigned to do some shopping for our family. It was an assignment; I was told when to
go and what to do. I only needed to cross one road, with the assistance of traffic light, to reach the market along Marble Road and this was supposed to be reasonably safe and easily do-able
(according to the expectations in the 1960s, we could handle this household task once we reached the age of nine or ten). Grandmother and / or mother would give me the instructions and then
handed me the money. The incentive was that I could use 10 or 20 cents out of that amount to buy my favourite snacks.
Frankly, I always had difficulties in approaching the stalls that sold poultry; I hated the smell of the fish table; and I did not quite follow the butchers’ “dress code”. But gradually I got
used to it and when I grew up I began to see the richness of social life in our wet markets. The feeling is similar to how I came to appreciate bitter melons: you hated them when you were
young, and then later you will change your opinion. Gradually, you’ll find most tasty when you grow older. The same for my encounter of wet market.
Again, Christine offers her grounded observations of social life in Hong Kong. The choice of the topic itself will tell you how close she has got to ordinary people’s daily life in this city.
As expected, she has an interesting (Gweimui) story to tell. Meanwhile I began to think: when will she start working on the third title?
Lui Tai-lok
Vice President (Research & Development)
The Education University of Hong Kong
Foreword IV
Paris was where I first met Christine in 1983. The Chinese dim sum restaurant called “Hong Kong” in the 6th district was where we had our first date. A not so romantic first date in a very
romantic city! It was Christine’s first time trying dim sum. Since then, we went there regularly. I
did not cook much in Paris and ate all the time in student canteens, which served western food. I was not picky on food, but barbecue pork bun and shrimp dumplings were a big treat for a
Chinese student who studied abroad in Paris. This Chinese restaurant was just like medicine
for my homesickness and always reminded me of my hometown – Hong Kong. Christine had no problem eating Chinese food. I still remember I bought a can of snake soup in Chinatown for dinner in
the dormitory. She ate it with some hesitation and told me that she felt as if a snake was crawling down her throat.
Christine has been living in Hong Kong since 1986. During her early days here, seeing all the Asian vegetables that could not be found in Europe and the way how we cooked really amazed her.
She was curious about Chinese cuisine and asked me many times why my mom put the green and red carrots in the soup but not the green and white carrots. She also found the thousand-year-old egg
astonishing – particularly the pungent aroma and blackgreyish colour when she opened the egg. When we moved away from my mom’s place, we began our own adventures in the wet markets. Both of us
had to work and we took turns to do the shopping, sometimes in the wet markets and sometimes in the supermarkets. We have lived in many different districts and got to know different wet
markets. At the very beginning, we looked and acted like inexperienced customers, thus always suspecting that we might have been cheated. Now we are no longer novices, but regular customers who
will be offered additional spring onions or a few dollars’ discount from time to time. We shop at least once a week together in the Tai Po wet market.
My experience about French markets started when we returned to Lyon after our marriage. Going to the market in Vienne on every Saturday morning is a big event for Christine’s family. It is
indeed a wonderful experience in the summer time. The stalls are set up on the streets and the whole area is turned into a pedestrian district. Every Saturday morning, one can virtually find
everybody there. People spend the whole morning there shopping and chatting with each other. You stop every 5 minutes to greet someone you know. People talk about politics, weather, family or
gardening. Usually you will end up in the local cafe for a drink. During my first visit to Christine’s family, the Saturday market of Vienne was where I met her family friends and neighbours
for the first time. They were curious to see me in real – Christine’s Chinese husband. I guess the whole village had been gossiping about Christine’s family and wondering why Christine had
chosen a Chinese as her husband because inter-racial marriages were not common at that time, particularly in a small French village.
I have always enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere of French street markets. I feel that the Hong Kong markets always give you a rushed feeling as people are at all times in a hurry to do
their shopping. Whenever we return to France, we would still go to enjoy the Saturday market in Vienne. But now nobody is curious in seeing me with Christine’s family anymore. I have also
become accustomed to the pace of French everyday life and take my time to shop and chat with people in the market.
Over the past 30 plus years, Christine has transformed from a Gweimui who could not speak a word of Cantonese to a Gweipo who can communicate and sometimes even bargain with the stall sellers
in fluent Cantonese. I am so glad that now I need not be bombarded with loads of questions about Chinese food anymore.
Stephen Cheung Yan-leung
President
The Education University of Hong Kong
Introduction
I love green markets and I have always loved them. My interest started when I was about 10 years old and big enough to accompany my mum on her market errands at the nearby town.
There was no market in the village where I grew up and the closest one was about 2 km from where we lived. It took us about half an hour to walk there and a bit longer to come back since we
had to carry full bags of produce, meats and cheese, etc. The outdoor market took place once a week and I could only go during school breaks as we had school on Saturday mornings. My parents
did their monthly grocery shopping at a hypermarket near Lyon and seldom brought their three children (my sister, brother and me), as we were easily tempted by sweets and other unnecessary
things and more importantly we could have got lost in the long crowded aisles. Therefore, going to the market was a very exciting outing for me. I can still recall my joy at this fun event. Not
only that I was helping my mum to carry back her shopping bags full of fresh food for the week ahead, but I could meet some of my classmates and taste cheese at the cheesemonger. And when there
were sales, I could also get new clothes.
Since then marketplaces made a deep impression on me, and getting close to vendors as well as meeting people have always attracted me. Every time I return to my hometown, I never miss this
weekly event and I still find it as much fun today as it was when I was a child.
I was so thrilled to discover the markets in Hong Kong when I came to live in this city back in 1986. They were in many ways different from those in France. The butchers’ stalls smelled stale
blood and meat and the ground near the veggies and fish stalls was slippery, hence the name “wet” markets. I felt quite at a loss surrounded by so many foods I had never seen before, most of
them without price or nametags.
However, I liked the lively atmosphere of Hong Kong wet markets and these drawbacks did not discourage me from exploring them. Learning how to buy at the market had been an exciting
journey.
Talking about green markets led me to speak about food, French cuisine and my upbringing in a traditional French family. Food is a wide topic and I am always amazed by the passion with which
people talk about what they eat and their willingness to give you advice on how to cook this and that. Food is not only a basic need to our physical life but is also of great importance to each
nation’s culture, particularly at festivals. Eating is a pleasure. It is said that French live to eat when most people eat to live, and the saying is true with Hong Kong people. Food is
life and health.
Finally, I would like to encourage everyone and each one of my readers, be they locals or non-locals, to venture and explore these lively and cultural places and learn to appreciate their
atmosphere and benefits. Be adventurous, try new ingredients and produce, don’t be shy and ask stallholders to share with you their recipes and experiment!
Hong Kong wet markets are fun places to walk around and buy!
Christine Cappio
Note: As for my previous and 1st book, “Gweimui’s Hong Kong Story”
published in 2016, I will offer the royalties from this book to charitable organisations.