16 | Thursday, September 2, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | DAILY LIFE

Photos published in the Chinese edition of Land of Fish and Rice by British author Fuchsia Dunlop (from left): a fisherman in province working on his boat; ham for sale at a store in , province; and a farmer picking gorgon fruit from the water in Jiangsu. photos provided to china daily A writer of good taste

Gourmet chef’s ritish gourmet Fuchsia “When I write a cookbook, I don’t Dunlop’s posts on social want to just rush in, collect material books show media networks, WeChat and write a cookbook. I want to feel how to serve or Instagram, are fun to a sense of connection with the place Bread. You could say they serve up a and make friends there to have a up the best of diet of humor. Most of the posts are real affection for it, and that takes about her experience with food time. You can’t do that instantly.” , from around the world. But since After collecting all the recipes, Yang Yang the COVID-19 pandemic broke out Dunlop tested them at her home in in London last February, she has London to make sure they worked reports. posted more about her cooking, for people in the West. especially Chinese dishes she made “What I want to do is to try, to the in her kitchen. best of my ability, to describe the Now she has become a cook that’s recipes accurately. If I make a better at Chinese dishes than Euro- change, I explain it,” she says. pean ones, and cooking has become The 350-page book is divided a way for her to cope with the “end- mainly into three parts: the intro- less lockdown”. She says she cooks duction of Jiangnan and its regional in a very relaxed way, going to the food culture, the recipes — includ- farmers’ market at the weekend to ing appetizers, meat, poultry and buy seasonal products for everyday eggs, fish and seafood, tofu, vegeta- cooking — a mixture of Jiangnan bles, soups, rice, noodles, dump- (the region south of the Yangtze lings, snacks, sweet desserts and River), , Guangdong, and drinks — and concluding with a dishes. summary of basic recipes, ingredi- “For me, there are so many won- ents, equipment and techniques for derful things about Chinese food. making Jiangnan cuisine. The thing that I find is greatest about In total, there are more than 160 it is that you can eat food that is both British author Fuchsia Dunlop cooks , stir-fried tofu in hot sauce, in the kitchen of a restaurant recipes that cover the typical food and really delicious and incredibly in Fenghuang ancient town in western Hunan province. photos provided to china daily dishes that people in Jiangnan will healthy,” Dunlop says. “The Chinese eat, either at a sumptuous banquet or are experts at cooking vegetables, so at home every day, such as clear-sim- it’s very comfortable, easy and natu- only socially, but also in sacrifice cuisine, both of which are famous mered lion’s head meatballs, eight- ral for me to eat Chinese food a lot. and ritual, so food is a way into for being stimulatingly spicy. But in treasure stuffed calabash duck, Almost every day.” understanding and appreciating Hangzhou and Yangzhou, she Hangzhou breakfast tofu, “green pak Growing up in a household in So if you talk about China and its culture in general.” encountered food that was calm, choy with dried shrimps” or “green Oxford always filled with exotic fla- gastronomy, and not Having studied Chinese food cul- peaceful, soothing and delicate. soybeans with snow vegetable”. vors from Japan, Turkey, Spain, India ture for nearly two decades, she To better understand the context However, because Jiangnan is a and Austria, Dunlop dreamed of just about good food, regards the Jiangnan region as the of the food in Jiangnan, Dunlop large region, it was not easy for her becoming a cook when she was little. then Jiangnan is a heartland of the nation’s gastronomy. started reading Chinese classics to decide which dishes should be However, her dream did not start to “Although you have really interest- like The Dream of the Red Chamber presented in the limited number of materialize until she came to Cheng- really important ing and delicious food all over China, which contained detailed descrip- pages. du, capital of Sichuan province, as a region.” in this region, particularly, people tions of dishes eaten by literati and “In the end, it’s just a matter of per- university student in 1994. That was wrote about it and discussed it. Many aristocratic families in ancient Chi- sonal choice and judgment,” she says, when she began learning local cook- Fuchsia Dunlop, British of the old classic food books came na. Her love for food also drove her adding that she wanted to include as ing skills at the Sichuan Higher Insti- gourmet and cookbook author from this region, for example. So if to museums to see artifacts related many as possible of the really essen- tute of Cuisine, while looking for you talk about gastronomy, and not to the history of food, and also tial famous dishes like Dongpo Pork, delicious food in the city and nearby just about good food, then Jiangnan mansions and gardens in Jiangsu’s Westlake vinegar fish, and lion-head areas. and southern Anhui — the region is a really important region,” she says. Suzhou and Yangzhou. meatballs, “the really classic dishes”. Always keeping a notebook on that is “blessed with a warm and Since 2006 when she visited Yang- “Jiangnan food is connected with “But I also like to include dishes hand wherever she went, she wrote nurturing climate, fertile land, and zhou of Jiangsu province for the first Chinese literature. Lots of dishes that I’ve enjoyed, or that have a par- down the recipes of the dishes she lakes, rivers and coastal waters that time, Dunlop had spent 10 years have quite literary names or stories ticular meaning for me, like maybe a tasted. Based on her knowledge of teem with fish and seafood”. researching the book. behind them,” she says. simple dish that someone cooked for , Dunlop published Now a Chinese version of Land of The decisive moment was in 2008 As a result, when introducing me that I thought was lovely and that her first book, Sichuan Cookery, in Fish and Rice translated by He Yujia when she went to Longjing Cao- food in the book, besides tracing the I want to cook at home. 2001, which was hailed by the is available. In the book, Dunlop dis- tang, or the Dragon Well Manor, a history of the dishes, she also tells “It’s like trying to paint a picture Observer Food Monthly as “one of plays her profound understanding restaurant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang stories like how Su Dongpo, a great of the region and show its many dif- the top 10 cookbooks of all time”. of the food culture that runs deep in province, where the whole approach poet during the Song Dynasty (960- ferent sides, the different dishes Since then, she has published four the blood of Chinese culture. to ingredients, seasoning, cooking 1279), invented Dongpo Pork in the from Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Hang- From top: Cover of the book’s books about Sichuan cuisine. She “Food is a representation of cul- and tradition was so moving and 11th century, or quotes his poem zhou, different regional dishes and Chinese edition. Dishes has also written one on recipes from ture anywhere in general, but in impressive that, at that moment, she that praises delicious sea bass. different levels of dishes, from the inside include stir-fried Hunan province, and Land of Fish China it has a particular impor- decided to write a book about the The countryside was another des- banquet to the street food,” she says. shrimp with Dragon Well tea and Rice in 2016 about recipes from tance,” she says. “China is a place region, she says. tination for her to get a sense of the leaves, and Shanghai red- Jiangnan, which includes Shanghai, where food has been culturally By then, she had published three landscape, atmosphere, culture and Contact the writer at braised pork with eggs. and provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu important since the beginning, not books about Sichuan and Hunan people of the region. [email protected]

directed a film version — in which he played the role of Basilio — that company to have another tilt at old favorite is still widely regarded as a classic example of its genre. In 2013, when the National Ballet By Chen Nan “ showcased his pas- of China restaged , [email protected] sion for dancing, which was very Manuel Legris was invited to be the inspiring for us.” production’s artistic consultant. In 1985, the National Ballet of Feng, a ballerina at that time, Legris was trained at the ballet China premiered its production played the role of Kitri in the 1985 school of the Paris Ballet, Don Quixote at Tianqiao Theater in production. In the ballet, Kitri is in which he later joined. He was Beijing. love with the town barber Basilio appointed Danseur Etoile (star It was choreographed by Rudolf and she captures the attention of dancer) by Nureyev, then artistic Nureyev (1938–93), then artistic those around her, including Don director of the troupe. Now, Legris is director of the . Quixote, who mistakes her for his the head of La Scala Ballet in Milan, He worked with dancers of the Dulcinea and pursues her with fer- Italy. National Ballet of China on the vor. Ma Xiaodong, principal dancer of piece under the invitation of Trini- “Don Quixote is one of the true the National Ballet of China, played dad-born, Chinese dancer-chore- signature pieces of Rudolf Nureyev. the role of Basilio in the company’s ographer Dai Ailian (1916-2006), It takes audiences to a bright and production of Don Quixote in 2013. the first president of the National enchanting Spain,” says Feng. “For He joined the company in 2009 after Ballet of China. Since then, Don ballet dancers, it’s a very challeng- graduating from Beijing Dance Quixote has become a classic piece ing piece. It’s definitely a test for our Academy that year. for the company. younger performers.” “It’s a ballet piece full of cheerful- From Sept 9 to 12, the National Considered as one of the greatest Left: Feng Ying (right), president of the National Ballet of China, coaches ballerina Qiu Yunting in a ness,” says Ma, who will once again Ballet of China will restage Don Qui- ballet dancers of all time, Nureyev rehearsal for the ballet Don Quixote in Beijing. Right: A scene from the 2015 production of Don Quixote play the role of Basilio in this latest xote at Tianqiao Theater, featuring was trained at the world-famous being performed by the troupe in Beijing. photos provided to china daily production. the company’s young dancers, Kirov Theatre, now known as the “Nureyev’s choreography is very including Qiu Yunting, Ma Xiao- . Later he worked expressive. There is a rich variety of dong and Wu Sicong. with and was With Russian choreographer Miguel de Cervantes’ classic novel In 1966, as a choreographer, Nur- dance in it, like Spanish and Gypsy “I can still recall the rehearsals for appointed as artistic director of the Marius Petipa and composer Lud- Don Quixote, premiered in 1869 at eyev created a new version of Don dances as well as classical ballet. Don Quixote,” says Feng Ying, presi- Paris Opera Ballet in 1983, a position wig Minkus, Don Quixote, based on the in Moscow, Quixote, which was staged at the The music is sparkling and inspires dent of the National Ballet of China. he held until 1989. episodes of Spanish novelist Russia. Vienna Opera Ballet. In 1973, he me to dance.”