The Inaugural Food Culture Conference, themed
‘Quality and Food: a multifaceted perspective’
marks the great success of
Cross-exchange
between Hong Kong & France
This 1st
edition of Food Culture Conference themed ‘Quality and Food: a multifaceted perspective’
organized by SOPEXA proves out to be a great success with more than 100
participants from professional institutions and F&B industry. Passionate,
captivated audience shared around the topic “Quality and Food: a multifaceted
perspective”, to promote food cultural exchange between France and Hong Kong.
With
support of the French Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, the conference
took place on 8 January, 2013. Bringing together professors from both
University of Tours – UNESCO Chair – and Chinese University of Hong Kong, as
well as professionals from the food and wine industry, the conference explored
the differences and similarities in the two food cultures. 7 speakers plus 1
moderator and more than 100 attendees took part.
Marc de
Ferrière, in charge of the UNESCO chair ‘Protection and promotion of cultural
food heritage’, moderated two discussions involving students from the CUHK,
wine trade professionals or specialists of the food industry.
At the
second, entitled quality, process of exportation and local adaptation,
Jean-Pierre Williot, director of the LÉA Alimentation Department in Tours, spoke
of innovation and quality, added-value, adaptation to local markets and the
existence of ‘a’ quality more than ‘the’ quality. Sylvie Vabre, specialist in
the history of consumption and food industries, then focused on the long path
that French cheese had to pursue to go from being ‘indigestible’ to a ‘cultural
treasure’. She saw this in three major stages: achieving know-how, entering
gastronomy and succeeding in being a farm product transformed by the food
industry. Annabel Jackson, head of the HK Slow Food Convivium, shared her
recent experience in Yunnan surrounded by what she describes as the purest air
there is, in a countryside where farmers wonder what organic farming is as they
can’t imagine any other way. She also described the fascinating interest for
mushrooms of all kind, and the way inhabitants treasure them, from foraging to
cooking. Finally, Peter Cuong Franklin, cooking instructor and chef of his own
Vietnamese restaurant in Hong Kong, expressed his concerns on the difficulty of
finding top quality ingredients suitable for traditional Vietnamese cuisine in
Hong Kong and lack of variety due to the small size of the Vietnamese community.
In conclusion, the key word was deemed to be: ‘adaptation’, whether it is to a
new culture, new techniques or new ingredients.
|
|
|
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2:30-3:00
pm
|
Welcome
speech
Introduction
from Sopexa
Mr.
Sidney Cheung, Anthropology Department CUHK
|
|
3:00-4:15
pm
|
1st
Round table discussion: Evolution of food and beverage quality
Moderator:
Mr. Marc de Ferriere Speakers
Ms.
Isabelle Bianquis
Mr. Eric
Kwok
Mr.
Sidney Cheung
|
|
4:15-4:30
pm
|
Coffee
Break
|
|
4:30-5:45
pm
|
2nd
Round table discussion: Quality, process of exportation and local adaptation
Moderator:
Mr. Marc de Ferrière
Speakers
Mr.
Jean-Pierre Williot
Ms.
Sylvie Vabre
Ms.
Annabel Jackson
Mr.
Peter Cuong Franklin
|
|
6:00-7:00
pm
|
Cocktail
|
APPENDIX II: SPEAKER PROFILE
l Mr. Marc de
Ferrière, Professor
of Contemporary History (exceptional class) in University of Tours since 2004.
In charge of the UNESCO chair "Protection and promotion of cultural food
heritages", Also president of the European Food History and Culture
Institute, as well as an elected member of the Scientist Council of the
University François Rabelais of Tours since 2005. He moderated the debate over
this Food Culture Conference.
l Ms.
Isabelle Bianquis, Lecturer
of Ethnology at University of Strasbourg from 1994 to 2005
and since 2005 as
professor of Anthropology at University François Rabelais of Tours, specializing
in Food Anthropology and Anthropology of Politics.
l Ms.
Annabel Jackson, a food
and wine expert and consultant, who is head of the Hong
Kong Slow Food
Convivium and the author of Macau on a Plate (1994), Street Café Vietnam
(1999), World Food China (2003), Taste of Macau: Portuguese Cuisine on the
China Coast (2004)
and Modern Indian Cooking (2004).
l Mr. Sidney
Cheung, Professor and
anthropologist, who has recently finished a
food-related knowledge transfer
project on developing touristic resources within and for the
local neighborhood
in Sheung Wan.
l Mr. Peter
Cuong Franklin, was born
in Dalat (Vietnam) and educated in the US and Asia.
He was graduated from the
prestigious Le Cordon Bleu with a Grand Diplôme
de Cuisine and Patisserie. He
has trained and worked at some of the best restaurants
including
Michelin starred Caprice in Hong Kong, Alinea and Next in Chicago, and La
Verticale and Madame Hien in Hanoi, Vietnam. He is currently a cooking
instructor, consultant
chef and chef/owner of a Vietnamese restaurant in Hong
Kong.
OUR SPONSORS
l We thank Ô muse de Bordeaux for their kind
participation through supplying precious sparkling and still water from
Bordeaux (Arcachon source).
l De Balman also offers our speakers with their delicious
macarons.
Video of the conference is now available at YouTube: http://youtu.be/wJ4ApvSLBOU
