Dim sum =? savory snack

[Benjamin Barrett]

On Aug 17, 2011, at 2:24 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:

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> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Re: Dim sum =? savory snack
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> At 8/17/2011 03:35 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>> On Aug 17, 2011, at 3:00 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>
>>> For dim sum, the OED says "A savoury
>> Cantonese-style snack; a meal consisting of these."
>>>
>>> For savoury, the OED has one relevant definition:
>>>
>>> adjective "3. Used, in contradistinction to
>> sweet, as the epithet of articles of food
>> having a stimulating taste or flavor."
>>>
>>> I have a bit of trouble imagining dim sum as
>> a "snack," but I suppose you can look at it that way.
>>
>> But if dim sum can be "a meal consisting of
>> savoury Cantonese-style snacks", I think that
>> can work˜each dish (or double-dish for the fancy
>> ones) is a snack, and the sum is the meal.
>
> Or I think often three (items) to a dish.  (Isn't three a lucky number?)

That's another interesting property, though it doesn't always hold. Gai lan is just piled on the plate, and the custards we had came four to a plate (I think I've usually seen three to a plate in the past, FWIW). Still, "served on a small plate" might be a requisite part of the definition of dim sum.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

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