Taiwan’s first Michelin star chef Andre Chiang (江振誠) yesterday said that the nation needs to examine the status of Taiwanese cuisine from an international perspective, adding that it needs to consider the next step after an increased emphasis on the use of local ingredients.
“Through the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition, we can think about if we should advance Taiwanese cuisine to the next level, or if we should stick to same cooking methods and concept,” Chiang said. “I hope we can all digest the message of the culinary exhibition this year and try to represent them in culinary exhibitions in the future.”
Based in Singapore, Chiang’s restaurant is lauded by the New York Times as a “top 10 restaurant in the world worth a plane ride,” and Wallpaper recognizes Chiang as one of the world’s best chefs.
He attended the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition this year at the invitation of the Taiwan Visitors Association. Aside from giving a lecture on cooking, he was also asked to be a judge for the young chefs culinary competition.
Though Chiang said he believed that there should not be any competition in cooking, he said the competition serves as platform to demonstrate the skills and ideas of young chefs.
Chiang stressed that the definition of Taiwanese cuisine should not solely refer to dishes made using local ingredients, adding that people should understand local cuisine by understanding the history and way of life of Taiwanese.
Seeing the food at the exhibition, Chiang said that he was particularly impressed by the dishes made by Aborigines.
“They show an understanding of the ingredients, like they are living with these ingredients every second of their life. They are not trying to tell a story about the dish. Their response was honest and direct, which is what really moves people,” he said, adding that people should consider what Taiwanese cuisine is really about.
He said that the nation should strive to make the quality of the food its strong suit, such as creating cuisine based on the 24 solar terms on the Chinese lunar calendar.
“I think foreigners will envy what we have [24 solar terms], but are we really proud of it ourselves?” he asked.
Chiang also noted that the nation should first overcome the culture of doing things quickly.
“Compared with other Asian countries, we have neither the advantage of making food in a quick manner nor the advantage of quantity. We can only compete when we take time to do one thing perfectly, which is one thing we never learn,” he said.
“If a young person comes and says he wants to work for you, and you ask him to first sign an eight-year contract, he would probably run away. This is what happens when you focus on doing everything quickly, because the person does not see the value of spending time learning to do one thing perfectly.”
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