本文聚焦張愛玲1980年發表的散文〈談吃與畫餅充飢〉，以卡爾維諾的文論來探究其書寫技藝與被忽略的成就，其後並說明她在飲食書寫上的後現代性。第一部分討論此文「輕」的意象，第二部分則進入「輕」的象徵層次，探討其飲食美學與飲食／虛無的生命觀照。第三部份討論此文之「快」。第四部份探討此文之「繁」，並證明此文是華人散文中最早也最傑出的百科全書式書寫。此文既是飲食書寫，也是充滿共感覺（synthesia）的感官之旅，又是考據、人種學研究等，逸出了「飲食散文」的簡單框架。第五部份則分析此文的後現代性。此文不但在華人文壇中最早反映了跨國融混的後現代飲食環境，也以「去疆界」精神逃逸出國族、懷舊書寫等大敘述，並質疑中國／世界、家鄉／去國、大餐／小食、聚餐／獨食、本土菜／融混菜、原味／擬真等的二元對立。

This paper focuses on Eileen Chang’s essay “On Eating and Drawing Cakes to Stave off Hunger” published in 1980 to explore her writing technique and neglected accomplishment with Italo Calvino’s writing principles. Part I discusses the essay’s images of “lightness,” and Part II explores the symbolic level of its “lightness,” its gastronomy, and Chang’s life vision about eating and nothingness. Part III discusses its “quickness.” Part IV proves this essay to be the first successful and sophisticated encyclopedic writing in Chinese essay writings. It jumps from the simple framework of “food essays” to a journey of senses filled with synthesia, a multi-cultural study, an anthropological study, and more. Part V first analyses how this essay reflects a postmodern eating environment, and then discusses how it deconstructs Chinese literary arena in terms of food writing by showing her visions about the contrasts between China/ the world, home/ abroad, nostalgia/ non-nostalgia, feast dishes/ side dishes, eating together/ eating alone, local food/ fusion food, original flavors/ simulacrum.