Our Desk | A call for an ‘honest’ food guide

At times, we praise the acknowledgment by UNESCO of Macau in the gastronomic field, which resulted in the designation of the region as a “Creative City of Gastronomy” last November. The recognition was followed by nominations for the world-famous Michelin Guide at the end of the same month. These two things made food a trending topic connecting 2017 to 2018.

As usual, there are many comments on the subject, and while some raise the new titles as trophies, others complain about the lack of fairness on these and other awards and recognitions.

The listing of Macau as a UNESCO “Creative City of Gastronomy” generated countless number of immediate ideas on ways to take advantage from the new designation, and to “develop” on that title.

Proposals for culinary schools, training and management pop-ups, were raised by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam, an apt spokesperson, which is a position that he is well used to.

In my corner and as usual, away from the “trend followers”, I started to think what does it mean to be a “Creative City of Gastronomy”?

Were we given this title because it was here that the Asian famous “Portuguese Chicken” was invented (a dish that few in Portugal have ever heard of)? Or is it because of the wide range of influences from Europe to India and Southeast Asia, brought to Macau by the presence of the Portuguese for over (almost) 500 years?

I really cannot find an exact answer to this but I know I am not alone in liking to eat honest food! And honest food can be Portuguese, Chinese, Italian, French or Mexican, as long as it is honest.

I think it is important to examine “dishonest food”. To me,  dishonest food is a minchi that has nothing Macanese within it; a Bacalhau com Grão, or a Cozido “à Portuguesa” that has nothing Portuguese within it, a pizza or pasta that has no Italian ingredients, a Beijing Duck that has not been cooked according to the Chinese method and so on…

Having said that, an idea aroused in my mind, prompting a question: how to start such categorization then.

I looked around and I saw in a lane a couple of so-called “Portuguese” restaurants that have nothing Portuguese about them and I thought, well, there are a lot of Asians, namely Chinese, that come to Macau to taste “Portuguese” food. Why do we do not give them the “real thing” instead of “adaptations,” “influences,” and “marketing”?

My suggestion as a first step to boost the “Creative City of Gastronomy” is for an Honest Food Guide on Portuguese food in Macau. A kind of certification that restaurant A or B serves “genuine Portuguese cuisine” on the plate and not just on signboards and leaflets.

This might not sound very “Creative” to many, but hey, for me it sounds “honest.”

So more than creative, we should be honest.

This authentic Portuguese cuisine certification would be done based on recipes, ingredients, and cooking methods. And, by the way, we could also note “as an extra” who cooks, rather than who owns the restaurant, because saying that a restaurant owned by Portuguese makes it a “Portuguese Restaurant” is as valid as saying that Michelin sells mostly tyres.