If Asia's top diplomats can cook up solutions to regional disputes at a major conference this week, Russian chef Sergey Lipin hopes his blini with caviar will have helped.
Lipin, who has cooked for former US president George Bush and former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, whipped up a mouthwatering smorgasbord of traditional Russian dishes late on Wednesday for delegates at a key regional security conference that ends today.
"Good food has the ability to bring people together," said Lipin, the star of the Russian Food Festival at a hotel restaurant.
PHOTO: AP
"I am only a chef, but if my cuisine can help the ministers put their differences aside and discuss how to unite, then I will be very happy," he said.
Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win, whose military-ruled country has been under fire for its failure to implement democratic reforms, was among dignitaries who chatted and snacked on finger food at the launch of the food festival to mark the 10th anniversary of the ASEAN-Russian Dialogue meetings.
Delicacies included blini (thin pancakes topped with caviar), pelmini (dumplings stuffed with minced beef) and pirokhzi (small buns filled with cabbage and hard-boiled chopped eggs).
Officials such as East Timorese Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon relaxed while Frank Sinatra's classic song Misty played in the background. Non-Muslim delegates drank vodka and kvass, a mixture of fermented malt, honey and grape juice, while Muslims sipped nonalcoholic fruit beverages.
Lipin, a chef with Russia's Foreign Ministry who flew from Moscow for the three-day food festival, claimed the secret behind Russian food was meticulous preparation.
"It's not like Chinese food, which you can cook very fast," Lipin said, speaking through a translator. "Compared to other cuisine, there's a lot of thinking and planning in the ingredients and the method," he said.
"I'm not an expert on Russian cuisine, but what I've tasted and liked is caviar," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said in a speech.
Syed Hamid said food could bridge cultural and geographic divisions, adding that the 10-member ASEAN hopes to stage its own regional food festival in Moscow soon.
ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong, however, had little time to sample the food, as reporters besieged him with questions about the meeting.
Asked later whether he was a fan of Russian food, Ong, a Singaporean, quipped, "I like rice."
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