Dim sum =? savory snack

[Laurence Horn]

On Aug 17, 2011, at 5:24 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:

> 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?)
>
> Joel

I was thinking more of the practice of bringing a special item on one dish resting on another one, so that when they total up the dishes at the end of the feast (snackfest?), those special items will count double.  At least that's how the places in the respective S.F. and NYC Chinatowns used to do it.

LH

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