24) Unfolding my kitchen cabinet

Posted on January 20, 2013

Once again, I am talking about the old days and my sweet and sour story.  I beg your pardon for the continuation of this part two of my old house kitchen.

 Back to the olden days again, to own a refrigerator is like owning an expensive continental car.  We have a special cabinet designed to store the unconsumed balance foods for the next day as foods are precious and we can’t afford to throw it away.

 The design allows air ventilation so that food will not turn foul easily in this humid climate.  The netting also keeps away flies and other insects for sharing the food.  The legs were supported with bowls filled up with water sprinkled with kerosene or salts to deter ants from entering the food cabinet.

Well, some ants still managed to swim over to the flourish land in exchange with some number of drowning incidents!

Some of the cabinet compartments came without doors for storage of bowls and plates etc.  It’s is easy to pick up whatever you want just at a glance!

Offering prayers to stove god, Vesta is also quite a tradition among the Cantonese here.  The altar is always placed on the ground in the kitchen area.  It is believed that the stove god will protect the owner and ocuupants of the house to have a full stomach throughout the year and guard the kitchen in a safe condition.