There’s a Purdy’s Chocolatier near my house, less than a 10 minute walk away. I’m not much of a snacker, so I haven’t made too many purchases from them. However, last week, I saw something different. They were advertising candies for Lunar (Chinese) New Year. I think this is one of the first times I’ve seen westernized candies being marketed for such a holiday. Sure, stores like Holt Renfrew and some grocery stores in areas with a higher concentration of East Asians might mention something about the Lunar New Year, but chocolates? This is something different!
The lantern tin
Things have, however, changed over the years, and in my opinion, for the better. Not only are there more people, who, like me, were born and raised in Canada, with one foot in the old world and another in Anglo (or Franco) Canadian culture, but there are also more multicultural families, created either through marriage, adoption or both. This means that the Lunar New Year is not specifically for certain ethnic groups anymore.
The chocolates aren’t anything special. It’s only the packaging that makes it more New Year-like. In addition to a tin of mixed chocolates (which includes plain milk chocolate as well as ones with almonds), one can also find chocolate New Year medallions, chocolate loonies (yes, it’s the same as the Chanukah gelt Purdy’s sold back in November) in laisee/hongbao (lucky red) envelopes, a tin “bank” and other red or horse-themed packages (entire collection here). Price points are pretty “standard” for Purdy’s.
Assorted chocolates inside
I know that some people will see this as bastardization – especially older folks from the immigrant generation. However, they forget that things have changed, even in the old country (my mother, who came to this country as an adult, told me that she’s seen moon cake-shaped ice cream in Hong Kong, around the Moon Festival). Cultures and traditions, after all, evolve and change in order to survive.
The Lunar New Year starts on January 31. The upcoming year will be the Year of the Horse.
