It might be a ritual to show affluence in the past.That I don't know. But, now, it's a fix wedding dish and it always the second dish in a course. Doesn't matter what social status bridegroom and bride are in. They will have shark fin soup in their wedding dinner. But, I think most of them are not real shark fin. Just immitation shark fin cook in shark fin soup style.
什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟
和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩
BTW, has anyone tried Shark's fins melon? It is a large roundish melon which has flesh that is in strands like the shark fin. You boil it in soup and it tastes great! Not as much texture but yummy! i tried it with Supreme Stock last week.
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."
Cyril Connolly
Being a Chinese person living in Toronto, I can say that shark fin soup is not the absolute epitome of Chinese culture, nor is it an omnipresent symbol of Chinese culture in Toronto.
And a part of the shark fin problem does come from the finners (is that a word?), but restaurants and consumers are certainly encouraging it. As long as there is demand, supply will be there one way or another.
Personally, I don't like this ban because I think the soup tastes great, but I guess there are more important things than how good my soup tastes.
我是个疯子疯子疯子只爱你的疯子 你是个傻子傻子傻子傻的却好懂事
要爱你一辈子 写爱你的故事 在我心里承诺了几千次
Speaking of Toronto, I'm actually headed there in 2012 for two years! How many Toronto folk are on spcnet anyhow?
Read the latest chapters of Coiling Dragon at Wuxia World!
Because I'm somewhere in between,
My love and my agony.
Read the latest chapters of Coiling Dragon at Wuxia World!
I thought you are full Mongolian from Mongolia so I assume you don't know how important shark fin soup is to the Culture.
Wedding is very important and Shark Fin soup has been the main dish for the wedding for milleniums.
If Toronto goes ahead with it then restaurants in the area will lose a lot of business. Most Chinese would choose to have their banquets in other restaurants where shark fin soup is available.
Everyone is different. Your family has every right to not consume shark fin soup just like other people should have a right to consume them. It should be up to the people to choose.
If consuming shark is shark genocide and should be stop then people should stop eating and starve to death people consuming anything is genocide against that particular thing. The reason they want to ban shark fin is because they themselves don't consume it. If you tell them that beef should be banned, they would be outraged and telling you it's none of your business that they consuming beef.
They should go after people who finning the shark and throw the rest back to the ocean not the consumers and restaurants who do nothing wrong. Sure, there are more important things out there, but it doesn't mean it's ok for them to genocide part of my culture.
Yes, I agree that wedding is very important and shark fin soup has been the main dish. But, from my observations, more and more young couples are not serving this dish. They have replaced with e.g. fish roe (hopefully this is the correct word) soup and sometimes buddha jumps over the wall (minus the shark fin of course).
I have nothing against people who do the replacement as they have every right to do so. For people who think shark fin is bad, don't consume it. However, they should respect other people culture and should not try to take away other people right as it's none of their business.
I don't think anyone's breeding sharks, that's why, while cows are bred in large numbers and is in no danger of going extinct. Sharks, however, are in danger of extinction.If consuming shark is shark genocide and should be stop then people should stop eating and starve to death people consuming anything is genocide against that particular thing. The reason they want to ban shark fin is because they themselves don't consume it. If you tell them that beef should be banned, they would be outraged and telling you it's none of your business that they consuming beef.
Milleniums?
Ok, I take it you are just exaggerating for effect.
But, it's still not true. Shark Fin soup only dates back to the Ming Dynasty and last time only the rich people eat. So, it's not the main dish in wedding for milleniums. Many chinese people in the olden days couldn't even afford to have chicken in the menu, let alone shark fin soup.
什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟
和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩