On Wednesday April 17th, 2013 at 7 in the
evening, I attended an event titled “A Bite of China”. A Bite of China was a
free culinary art performance hosted by Confucius Institute at North Carolina
State University and the China Cuisine Association that took place in Bostian hall.
The event was open to students and faculty as well as the general public. Upon
arrival I was greeted by student’s a part of the Chinese Students Association,
given a pamphlet about the chefs that would be cooking that night, what they
would be cooking, and told to take any seat I pleased. I also received a book entitled
Chinese Taste that has small excerpts about Shunde, the district of Guangdong
from which the chefs came, and more information about the meals they would be
preparing that evening.
The
meals the chefs prepared were interesting as I had never heard of many of them.
The meal that caught my attention the most was fried milk. Being born and
raised in the South of the United States I had heard of a multitude of fried
items, but never milk. Watching Chef MA
Chenggen was interesting as he was very fluid with his movements keeping the
milk from burning. I am still not sure about how I feel about this dish as I
did not get the opportunity to taste it, but if I ever get the chance to do so
in the future I will definitely do so.
The event
was mostly in Cantonese, as this was the language he chefs spoke, but there
were translators. This event gave those who attended the opportunity to not
only see traditional Cantonese cuisine being prepared but also a chance to
immerse themselves in a language they may not be familiar with. I thought it
was a wonderful idea to host the event in this manner as it may have inspired
some to take the language or learn to prepare some of the meals. This event has
global dimension for this very reason. It was very low-key and personal as
members of the audience were able to taste the food that was prepared as well
as ask the chefs questions about the ingredients they were using and so on. At
the end of the event some even got the chance to take pictures with the
credible chefs.
As a student in her sixth year of Chinese
language study I could understand bits and pieces of what the chefs were
saying, but seeing as how I am learning Mandarin I could not understand all of
it. Regardless I enjoyed hearing the
language being spoken by natives, and listening to audience members attempt to
ask questions in the dialect. The experience was lovely overall even though I
never got the chance to try any of the dishes prepared. So technically
I didn't get my bite. The dishes did smell wonderful
and according to all that tried them, they were all delicious. There were some
mixed feelings in the crowd about some of the dishes however. As I sat in the
audience I met a girl from a different district in China and she expressed to
me how many of the dishes being prepared disgusted her due to the mixing of
different ingredients like milk and beef. I believe that this would come to a
shock to many people but it shouldn't as meals are not even prepared the same
across the United States and China is much larger leaving more room for
variation and the creation of local dishes.
“A Bite
of China” was a fun event and while it had its flaws, it was difficult to see
of the dishes being prepared, it was still a wonderful educational experience
for all that attended.
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| Tasting the first dish, Chicken in Four Seasonings |
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