Serving up a taste of China

After finishing a presentation and training session in Cantonese cuisine on the afternoon of Feb 17 in Panama City, Lin and the other chefs continued to prepare a special New Year's dinner for the evening.

With local Chinese chefs helping to prepare the food, the preparations also served as a show-and-tell session for the chefs from Shunde - an opportunity to demonstrate how they make each dish while taking questions as they cooked them.

Lin described every aspect of the dish, from how to cook the individual ingredients down to how many grams of each condiment should be used.

More than 600 guests joined the dinner, including members of the Panamanian government. Lin's cutting skills wowed the audience as each chef brought out their signature dishes for all to sample.

The 10-course dinner included deep-fried sesame balls, chicken in four seasonings, and homestyle stuffed mud carp - all signature Cantonese dishes showcasing authentic flavors.

Each dish the chefs picked also has auspicious meanings - the deep-fried sesame balls resembled golden orbs, signifying good fortune, while the ginger milk curd implied blessings.

Lu Linlin, secretary-general of the delegation, says the overseas Chinese at the dinner were very impressed. "One overseas Chinese said to me that he hadn't felt such an atmosphere at Chinese New Year since he left China over 30 years ago," says Lu.

The dinner was held at the largest Chinese restaurant in Panama City, Fumanlou, where Lu noticed that 70 percent of the customers were local Panamanians.