Macau Field Trip- Post-colonial Food and Sounvenir

112006 Kwok Chun Lok Alicia

Background of the Macanese food

• Mixture of Portuguese and Mediterranean cooking with some Indian and African influence (as people from Portugal's African colonies also came to Macau)

• As Macanese food (comida de Macau) was created when Portuguese and Chinese influences were mixed together with spices brought from Africa and South-East Asia by traders

• Chinese influence was not pervasive• Macanese cuisine is popular among the Chinese

population, and also outside Macau's boundaries, such as in Hong Kong

("Countries and Their Culture" )("Macau" )

Take a glimpse of what Macanese food is about…

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZc1aSGoSw4

Some examples of Macanese Post-colonial dish

African chicken

Custard tarts (natas)

Roasted meat

Galinha à portuguesa (Portuguese-style chicken)

History behind the Colonial Dishes

• Many unique dishes resulted from the spice blends that the wives of Portuguese sailors used in an attempt to replicate European dishes

• Portuguese influence is seen in the flavoring, with plenty of turmeric, cinnamon, chili and coconut

("Macanese Cuisine" )(Whitehead, 2013)

Macanese Cuisine• Directly refers to its diverse ethnic &

geographical origins => represents the local culinary culture

• The Macanese try to affirm the ethnic specificity through the preparation of food, which changes in “civilization” to a creolisation of Portugese, Goan, Malay, African & Chinese cuisine

(Cheng)

More about Macanese Cuisine

• As food is not just invested with a cultural register of a unique form=> also reproduce cultural practices and values that provide the Macanese community with means of self-definition & survival

• Bringing together the East & the West, Macanese cuisine is another word for a creole ethnic identity & self assertion in the cultural sphere

• It reveals the internal processes of a creolising continuum

(Cheng)

Which one has stronger influence?• Most of the famous Macanese dishes are not from

Chinese cuisine• Mainly influenced by Portuguese and the West• Like HK, Macanese are more proud of their colonial

history than the influence of Chinese• Detached from China

References:

• Countries and Their Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Macau.html

• Cheng, C. M. B. (n.d.). Cultural significance:the identity of macau. Retrieved from http://www.macauheritage.net/en/knowledge/vision/vision_053.pdf

• Macanese Cuisine. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macanese_cuisine

• Macau. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wikitravel.org/en/Macau

• Whitehead, K. (2013, Oct 3). 10 things to know before visiting macau. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/02/travel/10-things-macau/