The 14th Episode : Gourmet begins at Guangzhou
[November, 1982 Hong Kong]
We travelled Guilin and Guangzhou, and returned Hong Kong. During the tour we had the local foods, i.e. Chinese food, then I’d felt uncomfortable since I had it at first in Hong Kong.
Actually I had ate Chinese food in Japan in small Chinese restaurants at low prices that were managed by family or so not in famous fine restaurants. Most of the foods taste a little sweet at such small restaurants. But the real Chinese food were not sweet.
Chinese food is divided into 4 main categories, Sichuan cuisine, Beijing cuisine, Shanghai cuisine and Cantonese cuisine. Around the south of China like Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, they have Cantonese cuisine that isn’t sweet at all but with a little salt (?) bringing out the best of the ingredients. I don’t think it’s bad. I may originally don’t have taste buds very much but I usually feel this is its taste for the first eating food. My concept on Chinese food was changed. I liked Cantonese cuisine very much.
The other 3 cuisines have their own characteristic tastes and Cantonese cuisine tastes simple. Is that why they say “Gourmet begins at Guangzhou”? This is the Chinese Proverb.
