The Taipei City Government yesterday prepared and dished out more than 1,000 bowls of braised pork on rice free of charge in an attempt to set the record straight about the Taiwanese delicacy after the dish’s origins were mistakenly attributed to China in Michelin’s Green Guide Taiwan.
Known as luroufan, the Michelin guide labeled the dish as an “elemental staple of Shandong [Province] cuisine.”
“Today we’re here to let everyone know that luroufan is genuine Taiwanese cuisine, a national delicacy, not a ‘Shandong-style’ dish,” Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said during a press conference to defend the honor of the dish.
Photo: CNA
After finding out Michelin listed the dish as originating from Shandong Province in China, Hau wrote to the group’s editorial manager Jonathan Gilbert and requested a revision.
Hau wants to have the original text replaced with: “Braised Pork Rice, a true classic Taiwanese street delicacy.”
“This satisfying, yet inexpensive Taiwanese traditional savory dish is a meal in itself,” Hau wrote in an e-mail dated July 6, along with a short introduction to the Taiwanese dish.
Florent Bonnefoy, Michelin travel guides manager, answered in an e-mail that the group conducts regular updates and revisions to provide accurate information.
“As we hope to have reprints and further editions of our Taiwan Green Guide, we will naturally input the necessary changes and updates,” Bonnefoy said in response.
He did not say whether Michelin would change the description.
Liang Yu-hsiang (梁幼祥), a gourmet reviewer in Taiwan, also presented written proof from the Beijing-based Chinese Food Culture Research Association at the press conference, which said “there is no such food item in Shandong.”
“It is definitely a local delicacy,” Liang said. “Maybe there are nuances [in names] between northern and southern Taiwan, but it has nothing to do with Shandong.”
The Taiwanese public also found it hard to accept that China was given credit for a Taiwanese dish.
“I have been enjoying this traditional snack food all my life, and it’s very Taiwanese to me,” a woman standing in line for the free luroufan said.
The city blamed the mix-up on the first character in the Chinese name of the dish, lu (魯), which is also an alternate name for Shandong Province, where the State of Lu reigned about 2,200 years ago. The city is now urging the public to start using a homonym which means braising (滷), to avoid confusion.
The organizers added that several restaurants and vendors are scheduled to host daylong promotional campaigns.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by