A taste of the simple life

Classical music is used for the series soundtrack. "Many people think that cooking is always about being busy in the kitchen, but for a good home cook, his or her kitchen is organized. The pots and pans are placed in an orderly way, so is the salt and soy sauce," Wang says.

"Their moves flow like a dance, so I chose to use classical music, especially waltzes, to pair with the rhythm of their cooking," he says.

Wang did the same thing with the video editing-even though each family's story is told in less than 10 minutes, all the clips he used are at least 30 seconds long.

"When cooking in a home kitchen, it's not usual to see fancy skills like tossing of the wok, so my clips are also slow and unhurried," he says.

At the end of each episode, he poses a question, which the locals then answer for the viewer, usually about their dialects or customs. Wang says that the goal of the segment is to take the audience on a trip back to their hometown.

Wang recalls being inspired when visiting a market after he noticed there was a vendor with an accent from Fuqing in Fujian province. He was selling pancakes. "He is only calling to, and attracting, the people who can understand his accent. I'm from Fuqing, so I immediately recognized his hawking against the noise of the busy market-it's a connection with your hometown," he says.

Hong Lei, the documentary's chief planner, thinks people talking in the same accent will have a special sense of identity. "We want to present the diversity of regional culture and we hope the audience will see their hometown in this series," he says.

Taste of Home was planned last year, Hong says, and it is not just about food, but is also a bridge to people's sincere feelings.

"There are no conflicts in the documentary. Instead, it's showcasing a feeling of family," he says. "The theme of the documentary is not about heroes but ordinary people."

The show plans to record 100 dishes, 40 percent of which have already been filmed. The whole series aims to record signature family dishes all over China. "You will never know where the next episode will lead you," Hong says.