Book description
Lion's Head, Four Happiness is the captivating story of Xiaomei
Martell, who was born in one of China's most remote regions just two
years before Mao launched the Cultural Revolution. The youngest of
four daughters - her name means 'Little Sister' - her family had no
money or connections, yet they raised her with a thirst for knowledge
and a love of food, ranging from the Lion's Head meatballs her Uncle
Deng cooked to the 'phoenix feet' that apparently cured wrinkles, by
way of two-hundred-year-old eggs.
Xiaomei's entertaining and inspiring story takes us to a world where
children play with painted pig toes, dumplings give you perfect ears
and rather than saying hello, you ask 'chilema' or 'Have you eaten?'
This is a unique and engaging account of a culture and cuisine that
is a world away from the China we know today.
Xiaomei Martell was born in 1964 in Inner Mongolia, one of China's
most remote regions, and spent her formative years there during the
Cultural Revolution. After winning a coveted university place at the age
of fifteen, she studied first English and then art in Beijing where she
also worked after graduation, teaching English, acting as a travel guide
and working for art galleries. She came to England in the late 1980s to
pursue her studies and has lived in England ever since.
