Lu restaurants have almost disappeared from big cities in China largely because of a poor market strategy. But the three other popular cuisine styles - Sichuan, Cantonese and Huaiyang - continue to attract stable customers with their flashing neon lights downtown.

To revitalize Lu dishes, Yantai, a coastal city in Shandong Province, last week hosted the first China (Yantai) International Food Festival.

Yantai, the hometown of Lu food, began organizing local food festivals in 1999. It went global for the first time this year.

"We wanted to introduce Lu dishes to the whole world," said Hao Fengli, head of the Yantai Tourism Administration.

Food and football

The four-day festival, sponsored by the Yantai local government, featured cuisine contests, cooking masters' demonstrations and cuisine culture forums.

Although it was organized well, planners worried it would not be a success because it opened the same day as the 2002 World Cup.

But the crowds that swarmed the food stands the first day put everyone at ease.

More than 100 exhibition stands filled the largest exhibition hall in Yantai with mouthwatering delicacies, beautiful food sculptures and fragrant wines.

Among the offerings: Sichuan dishes from Sichuan Province, Cantonese dishes from Guangdong Province, Hu dishes from Shanghai, Xiang dishes from Hunan Province, Zhe dishes from Zhejiang Province, Min dishes from Fujian Province, Hui dishes from Anhui Province and Su dishes from Jiangsu Province.

Sushi and sashimi from Japan, pizza from Italy and roast beef from South Korea were the yummy ingredients in the chefs' on-the-spot cooking performances.

A series of "football dishes" by six chefs in Lanhai Hotel in Dongying of Shandong Province best demonstrated their creativity. There was a fried crab holding a tiny "football" made of flour, symbolizing a goalkeeper pulling off an impressive save. There was also a braised lobster carrying a flour "football" on his head, symbolizing a forward heading the ball into the goal.

The "football dishes" quickly became the most popular exhibits, judging by the number of camera flashes.

Welcome to compete

Unlike the variety available at the food exhibition, the cooking contest specialized in Lu dishes, with 70 percent of the competitors haling from Shandong Province.

"The level of the contest was very high," said Wang Yijun, a Beijing-based chef and one of the country's top 10 cooking masters of Lu dishes. "That's because Shandong Province abounds in fish and crabs and famous and talented chefs with a long history and tradition."

Wang himself was born in Yantai and has immersed himself in Lu dishes for 57 years.

Wang, 70, is the chief inspector of cooking skills at Fengzeyuan Restaurant, one of the few old Lu dish restaurants that has survived in Beijing.

Altogether, 240 chefs competed in hot dishes, cold dishes, fruit and vegetable carving, and pastry making.

Competitors had to finish their dishes within an hour. There were 10 national-level judges, including Wang.

Like magicians, the chefs, deft with their small knives, adroitly turned carrots, taros, watermelons and radishes into flying dragons and phoenixes, galloping horses, peacocks, smiling Buddhas and even lanterns.

At 20, Chen Weicheng was the youngest competitor in the fruit and vegetable carving contest. It was his first cuisine contest since he began studying food carving at the Yantai Food Carving Training Centre.

Chen won a silver medal with his work from radish: "Peacock Welcomes Spring."

"Thanks to this festival, I can test what I have learned," he said. "This is a good start for young chefs like me."

Altogether, 59 golden medals were awarded, including 36 for hot dishes, five for cold dishes, eight for fruit and vegetable carving, and seven for pastry.

New era for Lu dishes

Chef masters at the exhibition paid much attention to Lu dishes. Lu food is one of the earliest cuisine styles in China. It is regarded as the sole origin of most local dishes along the Yellow River and dominated kitchens in North China for years.

The origin of Lu dishes can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC).

It quickly developed in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 420-581). During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, Lu dishes were widely recognized as an important cooking style and became the main food of the imperial household.

Lu dishes put more emphasis on fresh ingredients.

"The distinctive flavour of Lu dishes is light and delicate, fresh and tender, soft and fragrant, yet the natural flavour is not overpowered," Wang said.

The masterful cooking techniques in Lu dishes include bao (quick fry), liu (quick fry with corn flour), roast and boiling.

Condiments such as sauce paste, fistulous onion and garlic are freely used. Clear soup and milky soup are masterly used to add freshness to the dishes.

"Most large restaurants in Beijing and Tianjin served Lu dishes in the first half of the 20th century," Wang said. "But as time passed, Cantonese and Sichuan dishes now have become more popular than Lu dishes in North China."

Wang said Lu chefs should change some of the original cooking traditions to fit the new taste of people by absorbing other regional cooking styles.

(China Daily June 10, 2002)