中国·福州——热爱城市从热爱美食开始

On the afternoon of May 24, “Fuzhou, the City of Gastronomy”, the Fujian cuisine promotion sponsored by the Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce entered Yangzhou at its second stop. Local people came to taste the Fujian cuisine enthusiastically, and they even had chances to see the processes that how chiefs made those dishes ornamentally, with the stunning background Min Opera, which undoubtedly presented a Fujian-style feast for Yangzhou citizens.

The “Uncle Deaf” Yuanxiao attracted a crowd of tasters.

At 2 p.m. on that day, the techniques of Fujian cuisines such as Tongli Meat Yan, Yonghe Fish Balls, and Taro Paste were displayed in the Fujian Cuisine Appreciation Area, where the scent attracted many tasters. It’s worth mentioning that two classic Fujian cuisines were made on the stage at this promotion -- Sliced Whelk with Weak Wine Sauce and Litchi Pork with Stuffing. Fresh Neptunea cumingi shipped from Fuzhou by air were cooked and presented on the plate by the chef. The pieces were like red flowers blossoming on the plate, and tasted tender and fresh. For the Litchi Pork with Stuffing, water chestnuts were diced into small portions and made into balls. The food looked like litchi and tasted crisp outside and tender inside.

At the event, Fuzhou City awarded the Yangzhou Cuisine and Catering Industry Association and Yangzhou Shangri-la Hotel as Fujian Cuisine (Fuzhou) Masters Workstations. This marks the cooperation of Fuzhou and Yangzhou in cooking skills. In the future, more Fujian cuisine chefs will come to Yangzhou and train local inheritors, so that Fujian cuisine culture will develop continuously in Yangzhou.

“As two famous cultural cities, both Fuzhou and Yangzhou have a history of more than 2,000 years. Fujian cuisine is represented by Fuzhou cuisine; Huaiyang cuisine is an important part of Jiangsu cuisine. As two of the Eight Regional Cuisines in China, they are both representative and influential.” A relevant official of the Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce said that they hoped to promote the Fujian cuisine culture and jointly push forward the high-quality development of the catering industry through communication and cooperation with Yangzhou, which is also one of the “Cities of Gastronomy”.

In recent years, Fuzhou City has laid high emphasis on the protection and inheritance of Fujian cuisine. They promulgated and implemented the first Regulations on the Protection of Fujian Cuisine Techniques and Culture, and issued the Three-year Action Plan of Fuzhou City on the Protection and Development of Fujian Cuisine. In this way, they aim to build an international consumption city. Specifically, Fuzhou took the special action of “Three Batches (developing a batch of famous catering brands, enhancing a batch of municipal demonstration blocks of culinary experience, and creating a batch of ‘Fujian cuisine restaurants’, ‘intangible heritage techniques’, and ‘time-honored brands’)”, and bid for the “City of Gastronomy”, to attract more tourists to enjoy Fujian cuisine.

At present, the Fujian cuisine promotion, “Fuzhou, the City of Gastronomy” is building a new platform of food culture exchange and cooperation between Fuzhou and the rest of the world. This will lead to Fuzhou’s innovation and development in the catering industry, further promote the Fujian cuisine culture, and publicize the Fujian cuisine brands, helping Fuzhou to bid for the “City of Gastronomy”.