陳曉卿：“中國會出現越來越多米其林小店”

Text by Yan Junling Translation by Tao Wenjia & Bian Jiajing

陳曉卿：“中國會出現越來越多米其林小店”

Text by Yan Junling Translation by Tao Wenjia & Bian Jiajing

CHEN XIAOQIN MORE SMALL CHINESE SHOPS WILL HAS A MICHELIN'S QUALITY

N=NIHAO

C=CHEN

N: What do you think is the first and foremost problem to solve in introducing Chinese cuisine and culture to international audience?

C：I think the most important thing is to have an appropriate attitude. It's true that Chinese love food, and they have a long history of making delicious dishes. However, Chinese cuisine is only one part of the world's various cuisines, just like how China is only one part of the world. So in telling our stories about food, you should never consider our food as the “centre” of the world's food map, nor should you try to “sell” anything. We are not shooting the film to teach people, but to put what the audience want to watch on TV. You will find that different countries share the same food. For instance, Chinese have ham, so do the Italians and Spanish. Though different cuisines have different ways to process it, the essential idea is similar. From the first episode, “A Bite of China” considers its audience to be people from the world, and we facilitated how foreigners shoot their documentaries. Foreign audience enjoyed the first two episodes very much. I believe this shows that culture, where wisdom and labour are embedded, is the creation of human beings, and can be shared by all.

N：How do you think you can avoid misunderstandings of Chinese food because of cultural differences?

C: I know many foreign friends. They love Chinese food, especially anything with gravy, which formed part of their impression of Chinese food. It is also because in early times, overseas Chinese opened restaurants to sell cheap fast food. Let's take Japanese food for example. During the 1970s-1980s, Japanese food in the US tried to accommodate local taste, however, now most high-end Japanese restaurants sell dishes that are more authentically Japanese. Even more, in the 1970s, Japanese restaurants in Los Angeles invented the “California Roll”, which has now became a dish that is recognised back in Japan. With our economic development, I believe the world will have a better understanding of Chinese food. I don't think there are necessarily any misunderstandings, but only the first few steps to know a new cuisine.

N：Do you think China needs its own Michelin rating system？

C：Michelin may not be the best system, but at least it's not bad. Most restaurants with Michelin stars have good quality. Even though taste is relative for different people, the Michelin standard includes some factors such as sanitation. I'm not going to say whether Chinese food should also use the same standard, but I think it is necessary to let the market decide. We don't have to prolong the life of some so-called “old establishment”∶the ancient techniques are only meaningful for show, not for ordinary people. I respect those Mom and Dad's in Japan and Europe. For generations, they don't want to expand, but just want to make the best noodles, or the best coffee. I believe in China, more and more such shops will appear, and their high quality will help them gain their Michelin stars.

N: 在向國際觀眾闡釋中華美食文化時，首先需要解決什么問題？

陳：我覺得首要解決的問題是擺正自己的心態。中國人熱愛美食且有悠久豐富的飲食歷史，但中國美食只是世界美食的一部分，就像中國是世界的一分子。切忌以“天下的中心”為出發點，或者揣著“傳播什么”的目的講故事。我覺得先把這個心態捋清楚了，很多東西就會清楚很多。然后，你會發現同樣一種食物，比如“火腿”，在中國有，在西班牙、意大利也有，大家都有自己的處理方式，但背后的道理都是一致的，從理解上并沒有本質的障礙。而在闡述方式上來看，《舌尖》系列從第一集開始，就是以世界觀眾為主體受眾，一開始就是采用國外紀錄片的拍法。從前兩季的反饋來看，在國外的反響非常好，理解上沒有問題。

N：怎么避免因文化差異而產生對中國美食的誤讀？

陳：我認識很多外國朋友，他們很喜歡吃中國菜，尤其喜歡澆汁。這跟早期華人在海外開餐館以低價快餐為主有關。我覺得這都有個過程。就像七八十年代的日本菜，最開始在美國也是走適合當地人口味為主。但現在，美國高檔日餐廳的出品，已經跟本土日餐沒有區別。70年代在洛杉磯還出現了以“飛魚籽”和“牛油果”創出的壽司品種“加州卷”，現在已經回售到本土和世界各地。我覺得這是一個必經的過程。世界對中國美食的理解會有一步步的變化。我不認為這是誤讀，就是一個認識、了解發展過程。

N：中國需要自己的“米其林”嗎？

陳：“米其林”未必是一種最好的制度，但至少是一種不壞的制度。大部分被評為“米其林”星級的餐廳，都有基本的口碑和素質在，并對影響就餐的因素有一些標準化的要求，比如環境衛生，上餐時盤子的熱度等。中餐是否要借鑒這些評價標準我不作評論，但我覺得讓市場去物競天擇是非常必要的。我們不需要用人為的手段去打福爾馬林，喂養某些不稱職的“老店”，因為它們的傳統技術現在只用于給嘉賓和媒體表演，老百姓平時根本接觸不到。在日本、在歐洲，有很多世代經營的小店，他們不想去擴充門店，就是兢兢業業地做好自己的手藝——一碗面，一杯咖啡，世代相傳。這種精神特別讓人尊重。我相信，未來的中國肯定會出現越來越多這樣的小店，堅守品質成為“米其林”。