Following Taichung writer Yang Shuang-zi’s Taiwan Travelogue winning the International Booker Prize, the jute leaf soup featured in the book has also drawn renewed attention. With its slightly bitter taste and lingering sweetness, this dish is not only a classic summer delicacy enjoyed by Taichung residents, but also a carrier of local history and everyday memory. The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Taichung City Government stated that the city continues to connect literature with food culture, inviting the public to experience the charm created when words and cuisine come together. As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, residents and visitors are invited to enjoy the classic Taichung festive pairing of “rice dumplings with jute leaf soup.”

The Cultural Affairs Bureau noted that jute leaf is the tender shoots and leaves of the jute plant. In earlier times, jute was widely cultivated in the Nantun area for the production of hemp rope and burlap sacks. After harvest, farmers would repeatedly rub and rinse the leaves before cooking them with sweet potatoes and whitebait, creating a home-style dish known for cooling the body and easing the summer heat. As plastic bags became widespread, the jute industry gradually declined; however, this traditional flavor has remained a shared culinary memory among Taichung residents.

The bureau added that jute was not only found on the dining table, but was also once an important fiber material in Taiwan. Cultural relics in the collection of the Museum of Fiber Arts, Taichung, such as a sleeveless vest made of burlap and a rattan-woven lunchbox, preserve traces of how jute fiber was used in daily life and bear witness to the memories shared between people and materials. The Jute Culture Museum in Nantun also presents the development of the jute industry through its cultural relic displays.

In addition to being a familiar traditional flavor for Taichung residents, jute has in recent years been developed into creative dishes and products such as jute leaf sun cakes, cookies, cakes, and milk tea, showcasing the diverse possibilities of local food culture. The Cultural Affairs Bureau also continues to promote local culinary culture through the Taichung Literature Festival. In 2024, the “Reading and Dining” series invited Taiwan Travelogue author Yang Shuang-zi and writer Mao Chi to take part in a dining-table conversation on “Old-Fashioned Food Memories of Taichung.” In 2025, the festival launched an “Opening Literary Banquet,” while this year’s program features Thai cuisine in connection with migrant worker culture, continuing to bring literature from the page to the dining table.