Culinary Center Exports Cookery Skills And Traditions Globally

Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, will establish 10 overseas promotional centers for Sichuan cuisine in the next three years to showcase its culinary skills and food culture.

Sichuan cuisine, featuring flavorful and spicy tastes, is one of the four major Chinese cuisine schools. Chengdu, as the birthplace of Sichuan cuisine, is home to many Chinese time-honored snack brands and about 60,000 restaurants.

The city won the title of city of gastronomy from UNESCO in 2010, the first Asian city to receive the honor.

"I came to Chengdu twice. It's a city with a combination of fast development and a slow pace of life," said Huang Yongyue, vice-consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in Milan, Italy.

The Slow Food International Association announced last month that Chengdu would host the seventh Slow Food International Congress Meeting in September, the first Asian city to hold the event.

The meeting, organized every four years, is the top-level deliberative event of the association, which has been held six times in countries including Italy and Mexico since 1990.

Lorenzo Berlenghis, vice-president of the association, said the event aims to raise the awareness of the origin of food materials and promote clean and high-quality food production and consumption to help in environmental protection.

People from around the world will know more about China's major food materials and how the country is making efforts to protect its traditional agriculture through the 2017 meeting, he said.

About 600 catering enterprises, experts and members of the Slow Food International Association from 90 countries and regions will attend the event.

Yin Jian, deputy head of the Chengdu commission of commerce, said the government will organize the 2017 Chengdu food and travel festival at the same time. "We will introduce the cultural background behind the food to the visitors."

Yin also said food design is an important part in the city's innovative economy and international exchanges.

China's online travel agency, Ctrip.com, released the 2016 most popular attractions for food lovers. Chengdu was enrolled in the list together with Tokyo and Paris.

Deng Bo, a local tour guide, said: "The very first question from most tourists visiting Chengdu is where to eat authentic local food."

The local cuisine is loved by not just Chinese, but also international guests.

When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Chengdu in July 2014, she bought materials at a local grocery market and learned how to cook Kung Pao Chicken, or spicy diced chicken with peanuts, a typical dish in Sichuan cuisine.

David Cameron, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, tried hotpot in a restaurant in Chengdu in 2013.

chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/10/2017 page5)