Fake-Faux: the word is "inured"

    Moon Festival

The moulds for these biscuits were rooted out of an old fashioned rack of dusty wooden hand carved moulds in a kitchen ware shop selling pots and pans opposite the art deco Central Market, in Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately since it was then not the time of year to be making these biscuits there were no pig-shaped moulds to be had. It seems that piggy biscuits rank with Moon Cakes, as the most iconic fare of the Moon Festival. However these are beautifully ornate and skillfully crafted.

I like the idea that although these moulds are made to general, formulaic motifs, if you were to compare moulds of a single motif you will see that they differ where each craftsman has his own distinct flourish and also amongst those made by the same craftsman there is a difference in execution. Then there is the fact that to get the biscuit dough out of a mould you have to give it a fair number of hard whacks so the biscuits come out a little distorted, with different expressions of surprise on their faces (which only deepens when they realise their purpose is to be eaten)! This seems to make them animate, living entities, and goes a little way to describe the deep felt fondness for these quaint little confections.

Moon festival biscuits are made from the dough used to wrap baked mooncakes. I followed the Baked Mini Mooncakes recipe posted on the Do What I Like blog by Florence. A little word of advice, DO resist the temptation to eat these biscuits straight out of the oven. They only moisten and take on their authentic consistency three days after baking, any earlier and you will never find out what the real thing is supposed to taste like!