Dumpling Day by Meera Sriram is the perfect book to start off this day. It is a rhyming celebration of one of the world's most universal foods! Readers follow ten diverse families as they cook dumplings inside their homes in preparation for a neighbourhood communal meal. Authentic recipes for all the different dumplings and a map showing their regions of origin are included in the endnotes. Some sources say that dumplings originated in China, but dumplings are found in many of the world's cuisines. As a child I ate dumplings that were more like floury balls of dough in with meat and gravy and we had golden syrup dumplings for dessert and neither of these dumplings were anything like the dumplings I now eat and love, especially if they have been steamed.
So what is a dumpling? Put simply it is a small mass of dough that is often wrapped around a filling that is then baked, boiled, fried or steamed. Wikipedia has a list of dumplings from every country. Gnocchi is even considered a dumpling!
Many of the picture books that have 'dumpling' in the title do seem to have more Asian-type dumplings, but what ever you decide to use to celebrate this special day I am sure they are yummy.
Look for these books for starters:
• Our World of Dumplings by Francie Dekker
• Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan
• Dumplings For Lili by Melissa Iwai
• The Ugly Dumpling by Stephanie Campisi
• Boy Dumplings by Ying Chang Compestine
• Dumpling Dreams by Carrie Clickard
• Little Dumplings by Susan Rich Brooke
• Luna's Yum Yum Dim Sum by Natasha Yum
• Fearsome Beast and Dumpling Feast by Yves Stening
• Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang and Charlene Chua
And if you can't celebrate Dumpling Day, look out for Noodle Day on the 6th October and World Pasta Day on 25th October.
