Taiwanese shrimp rolls (蝦捲) and squid balls (花枝丸) won the hearts of gourmets at this year’s Taiwan Culinary Exhibition this year, with a large majority naming either of the two dishes among their favorite Taiwanese delicacies.
The 46 Taiwanese dishes under review on Sunday evening were recommended by 50 food experts and academics from around the country and were collectively prepared by five head chefs from different restaurants.
REVIEWS
Each dish was reviewed by 10 culinary experts from France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Before sampling the food, the judges were apprised of the ingredients in each dish and how it was prepared.
The entire review took about three hours, with the results issued yesterday morning.
Aside from shrimp and squid dishes, other favorite Taiwanese delicacies included green bamboo shoots from Bali (八里綠竹筍), Taipei County, and pumpkin with rice noodles (金瓜米粉).
Meanwhile, the organizers hosted a similar review of 26 other traditional Taiwanese snacks and desserts on Saturday afternoon.
Among the traditional favorites, braised pork rice (滷肉飯) was the most popular choice, followed by beef noodle soup (牛肉麵) and tan zi noodles from Tainan.
In the Taiwanese desserts category, most experts chose taro ice from Dali (大里), Taichung County, shaved ice with mango and milk, as well as fruity ice cream as their favorites.
BENEFITS
Tourism Bureau director-general Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) said yesterday that the purpose the two reviews was to learn more about how Taiwanese dishes were received by the international community.
“We hope to find the dishes that can best represent Taiwan through the reviews by the experts,” Lai said.
The bureau could also use the results of the weekend’s activity as selling points to attract overseas visitors, she said.
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