A bite of the past a feast for the senses

Ruyi Gastronomy recreates the tradition of marrying the tableware to the food to enhance the experience of eating

The ancient Chinese book The Book of Rites states: "The manner of a gentleman can be depicted from his eating habits."

The book is a compilation of texts describing the ceremonial rituals and social forms, including clothing, music, horticulture, and even exotic recipes, during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) to the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-220 AD).

Ancient China had a sophisticated dining etiquette that can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (BC 1046-771); it emphasized the desirability of serving individual portions and eating with little noises. And, to display the aesthetics of food, the tableware was paired with the dishes.

But over the centuries, Chinese dining culture has changed from serving individual portions to shared plates, from eating with little noises to many noises, and the pairing of tableware with the food is rare.

Now, a gastronomic event is being held in Beijing, which adopts these old traditions and dining etiquette, reinterpreting the ancestral ideals of the relationships between different foods and the tableware to delight the senses.

Beijing Ruyi Gastronomy is being hosted through December 31 in the Ming Dynasty-style Hutong Villa at the Waldorf Astoria Beijing.

It's named after Ruyi, a Buddhist scepter, which symbolizes power and harmony, and which is believed to bestow good wishes and prosperity.

Desmond Chang, the founder of Ruyi Gastronomy and managing director of the French porcelain brand Legle France says: "The dining experience restores what the Chinese table setup was like when they had individual servings, and shows the essence of traditional Chinese dining cultures, which are mostly neglected nowadays."

But how to interpret the essence of Beijing cuisine? Desmond Chang and Chef Menex Cheung of the Waldorf Astoria Beijing went on for the hunt for half a year, visiting food gurus for their opinions, to get to the bottom of what is Beijing cuisine.

They then reached an agreement: Beijing cuisine is an integration of culinary influences from Shandong, Manchuria, and Chinese imperial cuisines.

In Ruyi Gastronomy, nine dishes of Beijing cuisine with a selection of Chinese spirits and teas are all served on Legle France's Ruyi tableware, a porcelain collection designed only for pairing with Chinese food.

The appetizer Jiu Gong Ge immediately creates a "wow factor" to start the whole gastronomic experience.

The nine-in-one starter is presented on nine colorful small round plates in three rows and columns on a platinum rim square platter.

The dish forms a pattern reminiscent of the nine-square grid that was the basis of urban planning in ancient China.

It comprises little bites of traditional Beijing delicacies including duck web with mustard, jellyfish with vintage vinegar, and pear and hawthorn with osmanthus syrup.

Each of the delicacies is presented on a plate of contrasting color with a pattern representing a characteristic historical cultural element, for example, the Ming Dynasty's (1369-1644) blue and white porcelain and the Song Dynasty's (960-1279) pea green clouds.

The first course is followed by chicken soup with braised fish maw, a classic soup of Tan Family Cuisine, which dates back to Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and which is now a representative of China's imperial cuisines.

It's a rich nourishing soup made by boiling a combination of three types of free-range, mature chickens; while some pumpkin juice is added to the soup to enhance the texture. The fish maw adds a satisfying crunch .

Interestingly, the drink paired with the soup is also a chicken soup, but this one is much lighter, like clear water, yet aromatic. So the drink dilutes the rich flavor of the main soup while providing a subtle, yet slightly sweet aftertaste.

The main soup is served in a wide-rimmed gold-colored bowl with a pattern reminiscent of Ming Dynasty furniture on the outside rim. Diners will discover the indigo-blue glazed porcelain inside as they gradually eat up the soup. It reproduces a characteristic color of the famous Jun Kiln of the Song Dynasty.

Another dish - tender lobster balls with a secret sauce - is served with four layers of white plates stacked up incrementally in size; the largest at the bottom. Seen from the top, the plates glazed with thin gold lines form a concentric arrangement.

When you open the lid of the container, the white lobster balls with a golden yellow sauce are revealed, this time, echoing the color of the tableware.

Chang's idea of Ruyi Gastronomy came from a simple conversation he had when he was dining with his friend Peter Ting, a British Chinese porcelain designer in Paris in 2010.

"It turned out we two foodies both love Chinese food the most. But we wondered what had happened to Chinese tableware? There were no complete sets of tableware that could present the beauty of gorgeous Chinese food," he says.

Chang and Ting began working to change this sad state of affairs. After two years, the Ruyi collection designed by Ting was launched for contemporary Chinese fine dining.

After the launch of the Ruyi collection, Chang couldn't help imagining what kind of food could be paired with this amazing tableware, so he designed a series of Ruyi Gastronomy to pairing Chinese dishes with the tableware.

Before the Beijing event, the Ruyi journey began in Hong Kong and Shanghai, interpreting Cantonese cuisine and private kitchens, and Huaiyang cuisine.

dongfangyu@chinadaily.com.cn