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Students and
faculty members of the American Hospitality Academy (AHA),
Philippines, led by AHA president, Chef Gene Cordova, savored the
rich culinary culture offered by Beijing, China, last March 25
to 30, 2007. This trip marked the second of a series of AHA
culinary tours , under AHA’s "Traveling Classroom: Cultural
Culinary Program”.
The program was
jointly organized by AHA through its International Linkages
Division, the International Tourism Training Institute based in
Vancouver, Canada, through its president, Roxanne Ang, and the
China Education Development International Technology and Training.
Inspired by the success of the first course on Vietnam Culinary
Experience held last October, 2006 at Ho Chi Minh City, students
and faculty continued to explore the food and culinary culture of
neighboring countries. Hence, immediately after the final
examinations, and before going on local internship, everyone took
a well deserved breather to learn and enjoy China's culinary and
cultural offerings.
The one week program offered an interesting and unforgettable mix
of activities, satisfying one’s palate and craving for the
authentic Chinese culinary experience.
In between historical and cultural tours to the Great Wall, the
Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, and much
awaited shopping at the Silk Street and Pearl market, the group
hopped from one restaurant to another for lunch and dinner.
Each participating restaurant featured carefully chosen menus
intended to showcase Chinese regional cuisine. The outcome was a
first hand learning experience that no amount of readings can
equal.
Worth mentioning is the famous “barbecue alley” towards the end of
Wang Fu Jing, also called the pedestrian mall. A feast in itself
and a delightful treat to tourists with adventurous palates, the
alley opens from 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M., and presents a row of
food stalls with red and white awning, manned by vendors clad in
white long sleeved uniforms suggestive of the chef’s jacket.
Stalls featured a wide array of barbecued delicacies such as emu,
kidney, testicles, snake, scorpion, pork, chicken, fish balls, and
tofu, along with bowls of hot noodles, or sticks of crunchy deep
fried crabs. Capping the barbecue adventure is a stick of juicy
strawberries coated with caramel.
Highlight of
the one week trip is a short course on authentic Chinese cooking
at the Training Center for Foreign Affairs Service in Beijing,
where students and faculty watched in awe at the cooking
demonstration and display of culinary skills by the Chinese chef
instructor. After tasting the delicious recipes prepared, the AHA
students took their turn in cooking the same dishes in the
school’s well equipped food laboratory, after which they earned a
certificate for hurdling the day’s course.
Inspired by the success of these culinary adventures, the cultural
and historical enrichment they provide, and the value of
“experiential learning”, plans are underway
for more culinary adventures in the coming months. |
