China and Hong Kong food culture explored at “Asian Foodprints” Conference in Toronto

　　The Asian Institute of the University of Toronto will present “Asian Foodprints: China & Hong Kong”, an international conference on Chinese society through food, on May 1 at its Munk Centre for International Studies, as the opening event of this year’s Asian Heritage Month.

　　The highlight of “Asian Foodprints” will be a special dinner featuring the latest trend of Hong Kong-style cooking, with a touch of creativity from a team of chefs originally from Hong Kong. The gourmet dinner is to be held at the Metropolitan Hotel in downtown Toronto near the conference venue. It will also be an occasion to launch the publicity of the Hong Kong Food & Wine Year in Canada.

　　The main components of the one-day event will include a conference, a dim-sum demonstration, a luncheon, panel discussions, and an end-of-the-day reception called “Happy Hour Lan Kwai Fong”.

　　The “Asian Foodprints” is co-presented by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), Metropolitan Hotels and Lai Wah Heen Restaurant, and Humber Canadian Centre of Culinary Arts & Science. It is supported by Inniskillin Wines.

　　The conference will gather international scholars, chefs, culinary experts and critics, as well as filmmakers to discuss how Chinese society - its culture, economy and global identity - have been evolving and transforming over the last several decades. Using food as a social identity, the conference will focus on historical evolution of food, and changing social construction of culinary practice and art in Hong Kong and China, as well as Chinese food and the political economy of the global food system, etc.

　　At the press conference to announce details of the event, HKETO Director Ms Maureen Siu said, “Hong Kong is the culinary capital of Asia. It is famous for its wide variety of culinary delights and for the exotic fusion of Eastern and Western cuisine. I’m delighted that the Asian Institute has picked the Chinese cuisine and Hong Kong as the first to be featured in this international conference series. Apart from learning about the culture and social identity of Chinese food, I’m quite sure the participants will appreciate the creativity of the current Hong Kong’s culinary culture.”

　　Mr Michael Lim, HKTB’s Director of Canada, Central & South Americas, said that Hong Kong has long been famous for its culinary strength. “Leveraging on the government’s exemption of wine duty, which enables visitor to enjoy a wide selection of wine at highly attractive prices, the HKTB will promote Hong Kong as a wine and dine hub with special privileges, food guides and organize food events in the coming months.”

　　He added that “Asian Foodprints” is the most appropriate occasion to introduce “Hong Kong Food & Wine Year” to Canadian food lovers.

　　Professor Sidney C.H. Cheng, Chairman of the Department of Anthropology of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, will be one of the keynote speakers at the conference. He will be giving a presentation on “A Taste of Low Cuisine in Hong Kong”.