… and now the rest of the story
[which I omitted to keep my earlier post short].
According to Zee’s version: The women and her husband were originally from Chengdu, but moved to the outskirts of Chongqing after quarrels in their extended family. There her husband got a job as a manager at an oil press. He always treated well the coolies who carried the oil from the press to the market. In gratitude the coolies would bring gifts of fresh vegetables or chickens to the family. In exchange the wife would prepare lunch for them with the lamb and bean curd from the shops next door.
After her husband died when a ferry capsized, she and her sister continued to live in the same place. The coolies would come by and ma po tofu was on its way …
What I find surprising about this version is the Chongqing connection as the Chen restaurant (and successors) seem to be only associated with Chengdu.
There are so many widely different versions of the ma po story that one really does not know the true history. But this one has a pretty good provenance.
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