tanghulu
táng hú lù is a traditional chinese snack
consisting of several malt sugar coated fruits
of chinese hawthorn
(crataegus pinnatifida)
on a bamboo skewer
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my grandmother imported for us sacks of
hawthorn derivatives
our lips puckered with plenty
wondering what it was like to grow up
in the shade of sourness
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it is typically made by skewering hawthorn fruits
and coating them in heated sugar syrup,
which hardens in the cold.
the pits and seeds are emptied
before they are skewered and dipped
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i am only now learning
what it means to fight.
i had only ever known
acquiescence, or stubborn subtle defiance
or losing by default, mostly
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hard crack sugar refers to syrup
boiled to precisely between three hundred
and three hundred ten fahrenheit
where water content is low,
causing it to harden into a brittle, glass-like state
upon cooling
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despite its many beloved forms
nobody eats a hawthorn berry raw
they are naturally sharply acidic,
thin-fleshed, mealy, dry
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tanghulu has been made since the Song dynasty,
an imperial dynasty that ruled from 960 to 1279,
though in ancient times other fruits were also used
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did my forebears fight
like we do?
have we found new fruits,
new ways to break,
or do we begin to crack
in all the same places?