Pickling Classes Teach Younger Generation To Preserve Hakka Traditions

A series of DIY workshops is bringing the food culture of Taiwan's Hakka people to children in a hands-on way in rural Hsinchu County.

Transcript

00:00Here in rural Hsinchu County, most of the people you meet are Hakka, a people of Chinese

00:07origin with their own language, way of life, and way of cooking.

00:12Preserving food through drying and pickling is a big part of food culture here.

00:22And the winter is one time when there's lots of pickling to do for the year ahead,

00:26with rich fields of radishes and seasonal greens ready for harvest.

00:31Kids here would once have grown up with pickling all around them, but these days it's common

00:36to buy pre-made pickles from the supermarket.

00:44To get back to this Hakka tradition, one local pickle maker is offering classes aimed at

00:49families looking for a day of DIY fun.

01:18But this pickling tradition doesn't have to be preserved the same way for all time.

01:23And here, new flavors of pickles are even being invented, using local produce the kids

01:27can pick themselves.

01:51For Hakka children who take the class, this can be more than a culinary adventure.

01:55It can also be a chance to practice the Hakka language, which, despite vigorous revival

02:00efforts, is still being eroded by years of out-migration from Hakka villages and official

02:05promotion of Mandarin.

02:14And the parents, some of them Hakka speakers too, find it good education for the kids about

02:19where food comes from, the land.

02:36These workshops are a chance to learn something new as a family, and for local Hakka people,

02:41it's also a chance to get back to old family roots, preserving a way of life along with

02:46the vegetables.

02:48Justin Wu and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.