It’s all thanks to Marco Polo

The first Chinese-Taiwanese cooking and pastry demo held on Wednesday 22nd of June at ICIF in Costigliole d’Asti, organized by Shih Chien University in Taipei, put together smiles, cultures, palates and flavors.

Restaurateurs, journalists, students, good food lovers: here’s the colorful audience who attended the event on traditional Chinese gastronomy with a final tasting of small steamed bun filling with juicy pork “Xiao Long Bao”, barbecued pork puff (puff dough) and the Taiwanese pineapple cake. All made by the popular chef Sung Chiung-Hung, directly from Taiwan, who entertained, invited to participate at the preparations and informed the curious spectators, many of whom have already booked a seat for the next demo. How can you replace some ingredients inside recipes and not available in Italy? It’s amazing to see how many techniques are so similar to the Italian ones: was it Marco Polo who imported them? These are only some of the most popular questions asked during the culinary experience of a real Chinese cuisine, hard to find at mandarin restaurants in Italy.

The leitmotif of the demonstration: surprise, taste, fun, tradition and conviviality. The Shih Chien University of Taiwan has broken down cultural borders, welcomed the Italian public in a warm hug (as precious as the water in the desert after years of closure and distancing) and gave birth to the first of a series of culinary events that will go to get stronger the connection between Taiwan and Italy, Shih Chien and ICIF, enriching the already fruitful and multi-year partnership. Among the ranks of the spectators, a big group of Taiwanese students from their university who eagerly celebrated the presence of chef Sung and their professor Ms Kao, director of the food & beverage department: yes, they really felt “at home”.