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Hi! I'm Bei.
My fusion life started 20+ years ago when I left China for France, initially for study then to live. Both countries boast a long culinary history, which have had a big impact on the rest of the world. Raised in a country where people greet each other by asking “have you eaten yet?” instead of “how are you?”, my interest in gastronomy only grew during my time in France where “l’appétit vient en mangeant” - meaning appetite comes with eating.
Throughout all these years, I have been an ambassadress of food in my two beloved countries. Whether in France or China I’m always asked about the other country’s food and whether a particular food or dish exists in the other. They may be simple questions especially in our “googlised” world. But they reveal a genuine interest and curiosity.
Sometimes I can see a feeling of ease on their faces when I confirm we also have rice in France or (steamed) wheat flour bread in China, probably because they think they are not so different after all. Sometimes when I say the French have grape wine vinegar and the Chinese have multiple cereal vinegar, they look surprised that it is the same secret of nature mastered by our ancestors - using the fermentation to obtain a similar condiment. Sometimes my answer is a “non”, for example when I’m asked if France has tofu or China has cheese. When I explain that the French have endless types of cheese and various ways to eat it, the Chinese reply with some joy and pride, saying “yes, we also have aged tofu and we have it raw, steamed and fried!”
Being a food and cooking enthusiast myself, I can only find my sino-french culture inexhaustible as a source of pleasant discovery and a wellspring of inspiration. Grilled scallops served with deglazed sauce from a mix of soy sauce, rice wine and vinegar with some sprinkled toasted sesame grains are one of the favourites of my friends. “Poulet rôti” (roasted chicken) in a cast iron casserole, pre-marinated with oyster sauce, five spice and stuffed with shitake and sticky rice is my version of French traditional sunday lunch. Of course, all the happiness multiplies when it is shared, not to mention the happy gathering around delicious food. I’ve been enjoying my role as a food ambassadress in France and China.
French cuisine and Chinese cuisine are so different in many regards, yet we can find common ground to know and enrich each other. In a world with seemingly so many fractures, food offers a perfect illustration of how similarity unites us and how difference inspires us. This is what this blog is about.
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Bei