Acting Mayor Li Men-yen, Tainan City Government Tourism Bureau Director-General Wang Shi-si, Master Chef A-Yong and other guests announced a series of events and activities for the seventh Tainan Food Festival, which will be held between October 21 and December 2 this year, at the press conference today (Oct. 13). Acting Mayor Li expressed that this festival is a good opportunity to promote the food culture and wonderful delicacies of Tainan nationally and show that Tainan is indeed the capitol of delicacies.
This year’s Food Festival presents the theme “Returning to the Roots” and focuses on Taiwanese cuisine. Bringing visitors on a journey back to the basics of Taiwanese dishes, the festival also invited senior Master Chefs to share their past experiences and what they have learnt from their predecessors.
Acting Mayor Li recalled that when he first came to Tainan seven years ago, he bought many tourism books on Tainan, two of which focused on the local cuisine. Whenever he has free time, Li flips through the books to look for the next food destination he and his wife will try out during weekends and holidays. With seven years of local delicacy hunting experience under his belt, Li now knows how to appreciate the meticulous dedication chefs put into their dishes and the uniqueness of different ingredients.
The Acting Mayor further pointed out that Tainan offers an array of unique delicacies that cannot be found anywhere else. Many international media, including CNN, describe Tainan as the capitol or museum of delicacies of Taiwan. Indeed, Tainan is home to plenty of diverse delicacies. One of the reasons is that during the Qing and later Japanese Occupation Period, Tainan was the capital of Taiwan and thus many aristocrats resided here. The chefs of these noble houses gradually passed on their skills and recipes to the commoners. Tainan cuisine is, in general, a bit on the sweet side, mainly due to the fact that in the past only affluent families and households of government officials could afford sugar or sweet foods. This shows that a long and solid historical background is essential for a city to create such a rich food culture and have residents so scrupulous about food.
Master Chef A-Yong, who was also here last year, was invited to collaborate with the Festival again, announced Acting Mayor Li, therefore it can be expected that the event reservation slots will fill up quickly as they did last year.
The Tourism Bureau then introduced the major events for this year’s Food Festival: “Master Chef’s Traditional Outdoor Banquet”, which serves an array of traditional dishes; “ ‘Lead the Way, Chef!’ Mini-Tour”, which takes participants on a private journey to learn more about ingredients; “Tainan Sweets Media Promotion Event”, which will announce a list of shops that serve local sweets and desserts; and “The Food Mystery”, a treasure hunt game that leads visitors through various traditional markets. The Bureau also published a booklet, Eating in Tainan – the Traditional Way, which is a record of the delicate tastes of Tainan.
The Tourism Bureau also reminded the public that there is a maximum participant number for every event, so “sign up quickly or you will have to wait until next year!”. Eating in Tainan – the Traditional Way booklets can be found at Tainan City Government (Citizen Service Center at the first floor of Yonghua or MinJhih Civic Center, and the Tourism Bureau office) or at any Tainan Tourist Center. Come get one before they are all gone!
For more information or if you wish to get a digital copy of the booklet, please visit the 2017 Tainan Food Festival website (http://tnyummy.tw/). We invite everyone to come to Tainan and taste the freshest, most genuine and mouth-watering delicacies. Come rediscover the roots of our food culture!