DUMPLINGS
Dumplings
Preamble
Welcome welcome to the first-ever food history lesson on this blog, hopefully, one of many more to come. At present the posts are likely to follow no set structure, instead, flowing where the words take me. I truly hope they are interesting to you all.
Why food history?
Well, simply put food describes the travels, journeys, and lives of people past. It is something enduring and tangible, a thread connecting humans past, present, and future. Once you learn about the history of a dish, you begin to connect the dots, analyse current trends, and realise that there is much meaning behind what we eat and why.
I couldn’t have picked a more universal topic to dive into than that of dumplings.
Let’s dig in
Dumplings - those oh so unctuous morsels of happiness that persist in every culture. Soft, tender, elastic, oh so moreish. What actually are they?
Let’s stop and make a quick distinction and connection before we dive in further. Commonly, when we think of dumplings, we think of those Far-Eastern dumplings - little packages of filling, surrounded by a dough wrapper. However, dumplings also include those that are not wrapped, such as the traditional British dumpling, the Jewish matzo balls, Italian gnocchi and so on. To understand the connection, we must understand what a dumpling is.
Constituents
To break them down into their simplest elements, dumplings are made of a mix of starch (any kind), and some form of meat or vegetables, or a mix. They can be distinct parcels, as mentioned above, wherein the dough wrapper, made of starch and liquid, encases a filling (these are the oldest kind described in the history); or they can be a mix of starch and liquid and filling all in one, creating your doughy “ball” dumplings.
The original dumpling
It is widely agreed that the original dumpling is the Chinese Jiaozi, attributed to Zhang Zhongjing.
Over 1,800 years ago, during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Zhang was one of the most eminent physicians of the time, and now considered one of the finest in Chinese history.
He returned to his hometown, following retirement from government service, and noticed that a lot of the community had frost-bitten ears. Zhang, being a healer, set to work to create a solution, a way of getting medicine to all the community. He wrapped mutton, chillies and medicinal herbs in a dough skin, shaped them like an ear, and boiled them before serving them to the community. It is said that their frostbitten ears recovered, but also that these medicinal dumplings were delicious, evidenced by them withstanding the test of time.
Since then you can find dumplings all over the world. But we have to ask the questions - how did they get to the places they are now and why?
Dumpling travels
Surprisingly, there’s little evidence of dumplings being transported around the world from China. Some sources suggest that their spread was inevitable considering the size of the Chinese Empire. Couple that with the fact that there seems to have been a time where the Jiaozi mentioned above were used as currency during the Ming Dynasty, due to their looking like gold or silver ingots.
The first mentions of dumplings, of any kind, appear in a Roman cookbook - Apicius, whilst the name “dumpling” isn’t actually mentioned until the 17th century, with German roots - perhaps from the word “dampf”, meaning steam. However, the jiaozi precedes both of these quite significantly.
Nepalese Momos - Recipe courtesy of Meera Sodha
Purpose
We need to understand the purpose of a dumpling to find out why they are everywhere.
As with many other foods, dumplings may simply have been created to extend food, and use up surplus grains. That little piece of meat you have can be taken so much further when mixed in with vegetables, and wrapped, or made into a doughy dumpling. Boil them and you’ve got a soup to go with it. As with many popular foods, the history seems to be steeped in poverty of sorts.
Why then are there differences in dumplings?
Simply put, you use what you can get. Whatever cereal is available and common locally is what’s used, be it flour, oat, maize; but also common vegetables that can make dumplings - if a cereal isn’t available/common - such as potatoes or pulses.
Examples
Alright alright, show me some dumplings from around the world.
We’ll start with Britain - you’ve got Norfolk dumplings and just bog-standard British dumplings.
Skip to Italy and you’ve got gnocchi, ravioli and every other filled pasta.
Pop yourself over to South East Asia and you enter dumpling heaven - you’ve got the jiaozi mentioned, alongside Tibetan/Nepalese momos, Japanese gyoza, Korean Mandu.
Hop over to Mexico and you’ve got tamales.
Back across the pond again, this time to Poland where you have pierogi.
And back to the origin of the name - Germany - dampfnudel, spaetzle and many more.
Fin
Ultimately, dumplings are a worldwide food, made to stretch food out and fill the bellies of many. It seems that migration has had little impact on their spread, and that circumstance more than anything is what lead to their rise.
One thing is for certain, wherever you are, dumplings are delicious, and an easy way to connect to the history and culture of wherever you are.
You and I eat the same.
- Moose
PS
I hope this was interesting for you. This proved to be a much more mammoth task than I had anticipated. Finding a starting point is difficult, as I could easily fall down the rabbit hole of the history of flour, which whilst riveting to me, may not be to you.
Ultimately, I’m trying to strike a balance between detail and entertainment. If you have any feedback, please get in touch and let me know!
Resources
A link to dumpling recipes from all around the world:
Dinner By Dennis - Dumpling Guide
References:
Kitchen Project - Dumpling History
Chef One Foods - Dumpling History