foodtalk
Some of you may heard of this story. When I
was 15, I joined a 4-days 3-nights wildlife camp. My team are consisting of
participants age from 15 to 25, so I was among the youngest. When it comes to
cooking, I found out that most of my teammates can’t cook better than me, so I
volunteered.
From the wildlife camp. I remembered the
first meal I cooked for my team was as simple as fried rice and chicken soup.
You can imagine going through a wildlife camp, we do a series of physical
activities. And the moment my teammates can sit down on the long bench and
eating my food with joy over their expression, That was the first time I felt
that I have the attachment with culinary, that I understand the language of
food. I felt that food is an emotion. It is a way of communicating in emotion
shared between the person who prepared it, and the person who received it,
emotion that more than words can describe.
I was in France for a culinary competition
2 years ago. It was a 7-days trip, which flight already took 2 days. I went to
Lyon, famously known as ‘the city of food’. My team was doing preparation in
one of the kitchen, a michelin 2-stars restaurant, located at the middle of a
winery. It was such a great honour to meet the kitchen team, most of them is
about my age, except that they were wearing rolex and driving a GTR. I carried
a homemade curry paste from Macau which I thought I may use it there, and I
have the honour of preparing Malaysian curry chicken for the team of Michelin
chefs. It was December, it was snowing a little, and we were in the middle of a
vinery mountain and eating curry chicken with French bread, and red wine. I realised,
Food, is a communication of cultural exchange.
I developed quick learning skills in
culinary arts. In the first year arriving in Macau, I’ve won the decorative
Gold Pin award, the youngest ever in the company’s history to win this award.
With my achievements recognised, I have the opportunity to join more culinary
activities. For example, last year, I have the pleasure of meeting chef Zhou
Xiaoyan, the godfather of Huiyang cuisine. We discussed the application of
modern cooking on traditional Chinese food. Food, has become our way of passing
of knowledge.
We are surrounded by food as a part of our
daily life, sometimes, people find themselves with abundance of food, they
forgot food has their values. Aside from filling stomach, food talks. Food is a
language by itself. Social distancing cuts down people’s chances to meet over a
good meal. It also makes people to realise the importance of food. Many always
commented that my occupation is long-hour, intensive labour work. For us, this
is what we love doing repeatedly. Thanks to the outbreak, I get to spend time
with my family. Just a few days ago, I prepared the Macanese style hotpot. We
got to sit together and share some precious chat and joy. Food, is my
expression of love and affection.
With that being said, at Macau Toastmasters
club, we are bringing exciting food events in the coming days. Food is emotion,
cultural exchange, passing of knowledge and an expression of love and affection.
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