中秋節是中國四大傳統節日之一，而中國四大傳統節日分別為春節、清明節、端午節與中秋節，基本上這些節日人們都會盡量回老家，和家人及朋友們聚聚，假如有幸是個連假的話，更是一個旅行的好藉口，我有些朋友早早就規劃旅行，打算來個秋遊賞楓，當然更多的朋友是選擇和親友們一起烤肉，聯絡感情，在這裡每逢中秋必烤肉，好像已經變成一種約定成俗的慣例了，看著這幾天的新聞報導，客運站及火車站，都湧現著返鄉人潮，看來大部份的人，都選擇和家人們團聚。
多年前，只要一到中秋節，不少人會提早備好食材，到了傍晚，住家門口、騎樓或公園，都可能架起烤肉架，從香腸、明蝦、雞翅、豬肉片，到玉米、青椒、香菇等蔬菜，幾乎什麼東西都可以拿來烤，街頭巷尾飄著不同人家的烤肉香，大家一邊烤肉，一邊聊天，好不熱鬧啊！不過，近年來已經立法限制烤肉地點，不若以往，只要想烤肉，那裏都可以，所以，當我到公園運動時，只有帶著孩童放電的家長們，已經很難看到一家烤肉萬家香的畫面了，聽說中秋節時，是月亮最靠近地球的時間點，我也趁著夜色我也試著留下月亮的痕跡，不過，手機太爛，很難拍的清晰。
小時候，每到中秋節除了烤肉之外，一定會吃月餅及剝柚子，我記憶中鐵盒裝月餅的口味有伍仁、豆沙、蓮蓉、棗泥這幾種，我最喜愛的是伍仁金腿，因為口感很豐富，而且可以吃到肉，第二個喜歡的就是蛋黃蓮蓉，因為鹹鹹甜甜的，且口感綿密，很好吃，雖然每到中秋節時，我都很期待吃到月餅，但是傳統的月餅，蠻油膩的，吃一個就吃不下正餐了，難怪，這幾年傳統月餅逐漸被蛋黃酥取代，蛋黃酥大小適中，較不會有吃不完或過量負擔的問題，不過，這幾年蛋黃酥的價錢也水漲船高，我前幾天看到新聞，提到知名的蛋黃酥店家，已經賣到一顆蛋黃酥一百二十元台幣，還供不應求，真的是瘋了啊！
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four major traditional Chinese festivals. The other three are the Chinese New Year, the Qingming Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival. Basically, people try to go back to their hometowns and spend some time with their families and friends. And if we’re lucky enough to have a long weekend, it becomes a great excuse to take a trip. Some of my friends plan their trips way ahead of time and are already thinking about going on an autumn trip to see the fall colors. But of course, even more people choose to get together with family and friends for a barbecue and spend some quality time together. Here in Taiwan, having a barbecue around the Mid-Autumn Festival has almost become an unwritten tradition. Looking at the news these past few days, you can see huge crowds at bus terminals and train stations, with people heading back to their hometowns. It looks like most people still prefer to spend the holiday with their families.
Years ago, when the Mid-Autumn Festival came around, many people would buy all the barbecue ingredients ahead of time. By the evening, you could see barbecue grills set up in front of people’s homes, under apartment building arcades, or in parks. We would grill all kinds of things, from sausages, shrimps, chicken wings, and sliced pork to corn, green peppers, mushrooms, and all kinds of vegetables. Basically, if you could put it on a grill, people would probably try it. The smell of barbecue would fill the streets, and everyone would chat and eat while grilling. The whole neighborhood could get really lively. However, in recent years, regulations have been introduced to restrict where people can have barbecues. It’s not like it used to be, when you could basically barbecue almost anywhere you wanted. So these days, when I go to a park to exercise, I mostly see parents bringing their kids there to burn off some energy. It’s actually pretty rare to see those old scenes of one family after another having a barbecue and filling the whole area with the smell of grilled food. I’ve also heard that the Mid-Autumn Festival is the time of year when the moon is relatively close to the Earth, so I tried taking some pictures of the moon at night. Unfortunately, my phone isn’t very good, so it was really hard to get a clear shot. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy the moon with my own eyes.
When I was a kid, besides having a barbecue, eating mooncakes and peeling pomelos were must-do activities during the Mid-Autumn Festival. I remember that the traditional mooncakes sold in those old-fashioned metal tins usually came in flavors like mixed nuts, red bean paste, lotus seed paste, and jujube paste. My favorite was the mixed-nut mooncake with ham. I liked it because it had such a rich texture and, more importantly, you could actually taste some meat in it. My second favorite was the salted egg yolk and lotus seed paste mooncake. It had that nice combination of sweet and salty flavors, and the texture was smooth and rich. It was really delicious. Even though I always looked forward to eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, traditional mooncakes can be pretty greasy and heavy. After eating just one, I would already feel too full to have a proper meal. No wonder traditional mooncakes have gradually been replaced by salted egg yolk pastries in recent years. They’re smaller and just the right size, so you don’t feel like you’re eating too much or have to worry about finishing a huge mooncake. Of course, the price of salted egg yolk pastries has also gone up quite a lot in recent years. Just a few days ago, I saw a news report about a famous bakery that sells salted egg yolk pastries for as much as NT$120 each, and they’re still selling out quickly. Seriously, that’s crazy!