Greater Taichung chef Chen Lan-shu (陳嵐舒) was named this year’s “Asia’s Best Female Chef” in Singapore on Monday at an event organized by William Reed Business Media.
“This award recognizes the commitment, creativity and talent of women in Asia’s restaurant industry and [Chen] is a hugely worthy recipient,” said Jean Marc Lacave, president and chief executive of the award’s corporate sponsor, Veuve Clicquot.
In her speech upon receiving the award at the ceremony — part of the “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” program — Chen said she felt very honored and was proud to share the award with her team.
Photo: CNA
“I could not believe it when I learned I had won the title. I thought I would get it at a later time,” Chen said.
Chen is the head chef at French restaurant Le Mout, which she opened in the then-Taichung in 2008.
Her restaurant serves a menu inspired by Chen’s extensive culinary training in France as well as local ingredients, and she stressed that she would continue to use homegrown ingredients to create unique French cuisine for her patrons.
“Taiwanese ingredients have a lot of potential and variations, which can be highlighted in French cuisine. It’s amazing and quite fun to create [new dishes],” she said.
“It has become a trend in recent years for chefs to use local ingredients in their dishes and doing so helps us reflect on how to better interact with our environment. It shows respect for the land, and is a sign of sustainable thinking on the part of chefs,” she said.
The 33-year-old received a classical food education in France at the Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts and earned a diploma in pastry at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, before moving on to work with culinary heavyweights such as Pierre Herme and Thomas Keller.
She once described her work producing new dishes as an extension of every step in her life, adding that she feels she is “creating a culinary map belonging to myself and this land.”
The “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” program, launched in February last year, is an offshoot of the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” competition launched by William Reed Business Media in 2002.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he