Within a Sky Full of Earth

Did you know about haw flakes?

Traditional Chinese: 山楂餅
Simplified Chinese: 山楂饼

Haw flakes are Chinese sweets made from the fruit of the Chinese hawthorn
(Crataegus pinnatifida, genus Crataegus). The dark pink candy is packaged using twenty-two one millimeter-thick candy discs and sold in packs of ten. They are also frequently given away after a consultation with a traditional Chinese doctor.

Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.) is a small flowering tree with thorns. The hawthorn produces berries in the fall, and it is the berries that are called haw. The Haw Flakes package has a good depiction of hawthorn leaves and berries on the outer wrapper. Mashed and sugared liberally, the hawthorn berries are made into Haw Flakes (contrary to popular belief, you are not eating the hawthorn flower ). There are several varieties of hawthorn and they are very hard to tell one from another. You are probably more familiar with the hawthorn than you realize, as hawthorn can be mistaken for holly. Holly has spiked leaves and produces berries years round. Please refrain from eating holly berries.

Hawflakes are manufactured in China, and can be found in other Far east locale such as Hong Kong without difficulties. In Hong Kong they have been around since the 1970s. There has been virtually no change in the recipe or taste from the original version. By far the largest seller of haw flakes is the Shandong Foodstuffs Import & Export Corporation of Qingdao, Shandong, China. Packages that have been imported overseas have come from the Qingzhou Jiahe Food Corporation company (州市嘉禾食品有限公司). The snack may be available in select overseas Chinatowns.

In Macau, haw flakes can also be easily found in local traditional Chinese Medicine Doctors, just like our visitor from China brought to us. We had never tasted it...it's a strange looking candy that you chew...one at a time, a granular consistency, not too sweet and very light! For those of you are afraid to try, don't worry, Haw Flakes are not made of pig guts and they are not made of flowers. They're made of berries!

Thanks Matthew from USA, Australia, Portugal and China, for the visit, the flakes and the nice chat, last Saturday afternoon!
By the way, here's the Portuguese for Hawthorne: pilriteiro or estripeiro, it's really uncommon...

And the days at Bloom go this way... relaxing...learning...enjoying life!

(Info about haw flakes from Wikipedia, from here & there around the web)