Li Anyuan, a geisha coffee, visits Panama

Leon has his own experience of eating. Photo / Lin Yuchuan Photography

"in the past, I didn't dare to eat so confidently, but then I thought it was wonderful to treat Li Ang and pay for Chen Wenqian, so I continued."

The first stall was to New York. At Michelin 3-star Restaurant on the first floor of Trump International Hotel, a group of people went to "Meidi" to eat and order champagne for fun. Li Ang said: "in the past, I didn't dare to eat so confidently, but then I thought it was wonderful to treat Li Ang and pay for Chen Wenxi, so I continued."

What about the large amount of royalties? Leon said, "start selling houses."

Not only believe in the Michelin Guide

Having eaten so many top Michelin cuisine, Leon does not only believe in Michelin cuisine guides, but puts forward the idea of "adapting measures to local conditions".

Leon said that Michelin's evaluation of French cuisine is unassailable and can be believed. "it's your business if you don't like it, which is the result of experts or long-accumulated word-of-mouth evaluation." But when Michelin went to Asia and commented on Japan's Kyoto, Tokyo, Hokkaido, as well as Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao and other places, she dared not guarantee that, "there may be a difference between the Chinese's view of their own food and Michelin's evaluation."

There is another situation, such as the "Red Shrimp Review" (GamberoRosso), which has long been used in Italy, which is more accurate than Michelin in judging Italian restaurants in Italy.

"the conclusion is that Michelin is very easy to use when eating French food in Europe, especially in France, and may be challenged in the far East," Leon said. If the local has its own complete food evaluation, it may be better. "

As for places where there is no Michelin evaluation, such as Taiwan, she suggests searching for newspapers, magazines and word-of-mouth. Since there are so many articles in the industry, we should still refer to food critics who have become "experts", such as Wang Xuan-Yi or Zhu Zhenfan of Chinese cuisine.

Leon himself can be regarded as a "family", and he has his own experience. In her eyes, the current trend of exquisite top cuisine in the world should be "cuisine based on French cuisine, with chefs giving full play to their talents." For example, NOMA of Northern Europe, Tairroir of Taiwan, Thomas Keller of Samsung Chef of the United States, and Jiang Zhencheng of Singapore are all French culinary techniques, local features, and personal creativity.

Wild fragrant fish of top Japanese cuisine Longyin restaurant. Photo / provided by deer culture

See the crisis of Chinese food

But Li Ang is also worried that Chinese world food is becoming more and more westernized. Young people have not been trained to appreciate delicious Chinese food since childhood, and they do not like it and do not want to learn. In this way, there will be fewer and fewer good restaurants and good chefs. "when young people accumulate a small fortune to go to great romance, they will choose innovative cuisine and will not want to eat Shanghai food."

The groups of chefs brought by Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan have withered out. She believes that there will be a crisis in Chinese food in Taiwan. Not only in Taiwan, but even though Chinese mainland is being rejuvenated after the Cultural Revolution, young people on the other side do not like Chinese food so much.

Li Ang said that the top Chinese cuisine is actually elegant, meticulous and delicious, and if she recommends it, she likes Yonghe Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine, which is "three percent tacky", expensive but absolutely good.

In contrast, she is not worried about the future of Western food at all. Apart from the fact that French cuisine is already suitable for western food, it is also easier to combine technology with technology, such as how big a piece of mutton, what kind of oven, how much temperature, how long it will have, and what kind of effect it will have. "the decisive impact lies in the chef's upward thinking or creativity, but its SOP is easier to set up."

Li Ang said that this set is difficult to use in Chinese food. "it is also stir-fried in a big fire, but what you stir-fry and what he fried may be different, so it is naturally more difficult to set up a SOP for Chinese food."

If you want to recommend Taiwanese western food, Li Ang also refers to "my favorite little heartless" Tairroir he Shunkai. Li Ang said with a smile that he was initially taken over by a dish of "sand tea beef". "he just has a way to make steak with French exquisite cooking, but the taste of that sand tea is not out of shape at all." Of course it's not cheap, about 3000 yuan.

Li Ang also recommends two of Wang Jiaping's restaurants, solo pasta and solo trattoria, which feature that he often serves food in a certain part of Italy. He may serve 25 dishes a night, but charge less than 2000 yuan. If you pay attention to Wang Jiaping, it is possible to eat complete Italian cuisine at a more affordable price.

As for Japanese food, "I'm not worried at all." "Japanese and French cuisine are easy to combine, and the Japanese are very careful to keep the tradition," Leon said. "

According to Leon's analysis, the previous mainstream trend of Western food was the "collection" brought by NOMA Chef Rene, that is, to expand the scope of edible ingredients and explore unused and new ingredients. Next, Leon believes that it should be an era of "organic, non-toxic and species conservation".

Organic and non-toxic are already very common concepts. Li Ang also promotes "conservation", which refers to the use of local special ingredients into dishes, such as Taiwan Horse News. In addition, she believes that the influence of a region can be promoted through chefs or capable countries, which will also be a trend, such as Bangkok promoting Thai food.

I don't want to eat vegetables without meat.

As for the sky-high price of vegetarianism, people like Leon who think that "there is no meat is not happy" are not sensitive to it. "because of the problem of an aging population, food will become lighter and lighter, and vegetable food will become more and more obvious, but it cannot be completely replaced. How is it possible for me not to eat oysters, pheasants, and cattle? "

But Li Ang laments that many of her friends in the food industry now say that they want to quit the food industry for the sake of their health. "even Mr. Shi Zhenrong has become a vegetarian, so it is really difficult for me to find a food partner. The young can't afford to eat, and the old don't want to risk their lives."

Writing is to earn money for meals.

As a matter of fact, Leon has hereditary cardiovascular problems, so she still needs to pay attention to her health, that is, "eat everything, but don't eat much." so her food partner can eat half of the food, and when she doesn't travel, she buys organic and non-toxic ingredients, cooks and eats simply, and goes to the gym three times a week.

Leon said with a smile: "the most important thing is to write when you come back from your trip and earn back your meals." She wrote the first novel in the Chinese language world, "Yuanyang Spring meal," which was written entirely on food.

The next plan for eaters.

"Cruises!" Leon is in high spirits and only returned from her cruise trip early next year, but she plans to take part in small and medium-sized cruise ships with about 200 to 500 people, such as only 8 or 90 people who go to Galapagos.

Li Ang said that on the cruise ship is not boring at all, the activity arrangement is very wonderful, watching giant turtles, lizards, a variety of unique animals and plants and geographical scenery, as well as snorkeling, deep diving, canoeing, swimming and other water activities, almost all of her participation. The food on the cruise is natural, and she can't forget eating local lobster and fish in the national park.

How much is the 1 million dollars left for selling the house? No, but Leon's manifesto is: "eat until you can't walk, of course!" I want good food for the rest of my life. "

Travel thousands of miles for geisha coffee

First of all, this coffee has nothing to do with a white-faced geisha full of amorous feelings, but Geisha, a small village in Ethiopia where it was originally produced, which is pronounced as a Japanese geisha.

Geisha coffee is great. A pound of roasted coffee shop can sell for $500 in Tokyo. It is really boutique coffee.

How could gourmet Leon miss it? Now that she had arrived in the United States to give a speech, she flew to Panama and made a painstaking trip to visit the Esmeralda estate when geisha coffee became popular.

Li Ang described the experience of drinking the first sip of geisha coffee on the manor. "it is so beautiful and elegant, with clear aromas of flowers, fruit, and caramel chocolate. It has wonderful acidity and is suitable for low-grade baking to leave the subtle fragrance in the beans." The owner of the manor, Peterson, had a good chat with Leon and gave her 6 pounds of raw beans. Very precious.

Li Ang also stressed that the experience of this coffee or other delicacies is also more popular because she has come to the place of origin and saw it with her own eyes. "whether it is wine, coffee, or food, I encourage readers to enjoy not only the food itself." it should include the overall atmosphere, as well as the cultural meaning behind it, to understand its cultural connotation. "

Leon said: "if you just enjoy the appetite, I think it is lacking." If you want to have such a cultural heritage, you can have a better understanding of what you eat and drink. I hope Taiwanese can learn this next step. " In other words, to be a deep eater, "this constructs taste."