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Anthropologist Annabel Jackson gave a talk titled “Gastronomy Tourism in Macau: Economic Impacts and Opportunities” at Sofitel Ponte 16 today. The author highlighted to HM the “tensions between luxury hotels and casinos and the local gastronomic panorama”, especially when it comes to human resources.
“Gastronomy Tourism in Macau: Economic Impact and Opportunities” is the title of the lecture given today by Annabel Jackson, an anthropologist in the field of food and author of several books on gastronomy, especially Macanese cuisine. The event is scheduled to take place at 9 am at the Sofitel Ponte 16 and is promoted by the French Macau Chamber of Commerce as part of the “FMCC Breakfast Lectures Rendez-Vous” lecture cycle.
Annabel Jackson, who has lived between Hong Kong and Macau for decades, stressed in an interview with Her Majesty the Queen that there is currently “tension between Macau’s luxury hotel and casino industry and the local gastronomy community” given the difficulty of competing with Hong Kong and Macau. For example, with regard to gaming concessionaires, in terms of human resources.
“There is no doubt that Macau is already a gastronomic destination, as Gordon Ramsay himself stated earlier this year, and it now has 17 Michelin-starred restaurants, including two with three stars. There are renowned chefs in the country, including Portuguese ones. However, there is tension between the luxury hotel and casino industry and the local gastronomy scene. How can local restaurants compete in terms of attracting good staff, economies of scale or good locations?” he asked.
Annabell Jackson also warned that there were reports of “month-on-month declines in revenue for all kitchens” and that there were “other issues such as Macau residents shopping and dining across the border, although Hong Kong is facing the same problem,” he said.
Regarding her speech today, Annabell Jackson said, “Food tourism benefits local businesses and boosts the economy because it focuses on local products and farms”.
Furthermore, the sector “creates jobs and encourages the preservation of local traditions through a multiplier effect”. Gastronomy can also encourage “innovation, reinventing these traditions according to the needs and tastes of today’s tourists”.
“Eating local food, going to a food market or taking a cooking class provides a unique cultural interaction, is very experiential and gives a sense of authenticity. Food tourism provides a way for those beautiful destinations to promote themselves,” he explains.
Annabel Jackson has written more than a dozen books on various Asian cuisines, and about Macau, she already has in her CV: “Flavors of Macau: Portuguese cuisine on the China Coast” or “The Making of Macau Fusion Cuisine”. The author also writes articles about gastronomy in newspapers.
Blind shopping
Another point the anthropologist highlighted is the lack of a clear definition of what Macanese food really is. “Obviously, Macau is the big three of Portuguese, Macanese and Cantonese cuisine. However, the problem is understanding and communicating the differences between them and other forms of interaction. Macanese and Portuguese food are localised, but as a food anthropologist I find this interesting, especially about the way dishes or cooking styles are not set in stone. However, this can cause confusion.”
Annabell Jackson added that “academic research shows that even if tourists from the mainland attend a traveling exhibition about Macau in their own city, they have no idea what they are eating when they arrive in Macau.”
One of the examples pointed out to HM was that “a tourist ordered Galinha à Portuguesa, thinking it was the most typically Portuguese dish she could taste. I couldn’t understand why the dish tasted like curry and coconut milk.” “As far as we know, Portuguese Chicken is actually a Macanese dish, although other research suggests it is actually a Cantonese dish, Po Kok Gai,” he added.
In another example, at one hotel, “the menu had an option called ‘Portuguese and Macanese specialties’ which might include fried Macanese shrimp, bacalhau and Caldo Verde, but there was no indication that the last two dishes were Portuguese.”
“On the menu, I saw the dish Galinha Piri Piri translated into English as African Chicken. Obviously, the two dishes are not the same,” he pointed out.
Annabel Jackson recently touched on similar themes in Fundação Rui Cunha’s (FRC) “Macau and the Malay World: Gastronomic Perspectives”, where she described the huge influence of Southeast Asian cuisine on Macanese cuisine and how it “restores” our view that Macanese cuisine is a fusion of Portuguese and Chinese cuisine.
“[A gastronomia macaense] It represents not only the whole of Southeast Asia, but also as far as some islands in the Indian Ocean and parts of East Africa. We must not forget that Macanese food is based to some extent on native Chinese ingredients, such as chicken, pork, eggs, garlic, onions, olive oil, but it is much more than that,” he said.
The author also mentioned that although Macau is now a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding the nature of each dish. “I feel that with Macau being a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, there has been a rise in recognition of Macau, but despite all the efforts of the Macau government, the message is not getting through and tourists don’t know what Macanese cuisine is. If we talk to local Chinese, they don’t know what it is either. When people go to Macau, we feel a disconnect because there are so few Macanese restaurants.”
In this sense, the author calls for more public support so that these restaurants can remain open. One of the recent examples of the closure of a historic Macanese restaurant is the “Cozinha Aida”, which was founded by Aida de Jesus and was a meeting point for the local community and lovers of typical Macanese cuisine.
“In the last eight months, we’ve seen two local Macanese restaurants close down. These places served authentic food, only some Portuguese dishes, but mostly Macanese. I wonder how these restaurants could have closed down. In the case of Aida de Jesus, she is the godmother of Macanese cuisine. Why doesn’t the government support local Macanese restaurants, help them survive, give them more resources?” the author asks.
Annabel Jackson holds an MA in Food Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and is currently pursuing a PhD. In 2020, he published a book by Hong Kong Free Press titled The Making of Macau Fusion Cuisine – From the Family Table to the World Stage, which concluded that the Macanese living in Macau feel closer to their cuisine than those living abroad. The work analyses the community’s relationship with its own cuisine, and the influence of Malacca on various recipes.
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