 Toronto's Asian
Heritage Month had a delicious start on May 1 when the Hong Kong
Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada and the Asian
Institute of the University of Toronto jointly presented the
"Asian Foodprints" gala dinner at the Metropolitan Hotel to
celebrate the Hong Kong Food & Wine Year.
Most of the 200 participants of the gala also attended an
international conference with the theme "Chinese society through
food" at the university's Munk Centre for International Studies.
International scholars, chefs, culinary experts, critics and
even filmmakers spoke at the conference, which also featured a
dim sum demonstration, and a reception called "Happy Hour Lan
Kwai Fong." Using food as a social identity, the
conference's discussions focused on historical evolution of
food, and changing social construction of culinary practice and
art in Hong Kong and China, as well as Chinese food and the
political economy of the global food system.
 Hong Kong scholar Professor Sidney Cheng, Chairman of the
Department of Anthropology of the Chinese University of Hong
Kong, was one of the keynote speakers at the conference. He gave
a presentation on "A Taste of Low Cuisine in Hong Kong".
 The "Asian Foodprints" gala featured the latest trend of Hong
Kong-style cooking, with a touch of creativity from a team of
chefs originally from Hong Kong, headed by Chef Patrick Lin of
Lai Wah Heen. The gourmet dinner was used by the HKETO and the
Hong Kong Tourism Board to launch the publicity of the Hong Kong
Food & Wine Year in Canada.
HKETO Director Ms. Maureen Siu said at the occasion that "Hong
Kong is the culinary capital of Asia." "It is famous for its
wide variety of culinary delights and for the exotic fusion of
Eastern and Western cuisine. I'm delighted that the Asian
Institute has picked the Chinese cuisine and Hong Kong as the
first to be featured in this international conference series,"
she said.
"Asian Foodprints" was supported by Humber Canadian Centre of
Culinary Arts & Science, and Inniskillin Wines, which sponsored
the wines for the evening. |
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