FROM THE KITCHENS OF THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD
Festival of National Cuisine in Malaysia
The Ministry of Culture of Malaysia has decided to hold an annual Festival of Malaysian Cuisine, which will feature all kinds of national dishes. In this way, the authorities hope to spark young people's interest in national cuisine and traditional cooking methods, as well as attract as many tourists as possible to the festival.
The festival will be held twice a year: once with state-wide scope, when each state or ethnic community presents their national dishes for tasting and sale, and the second as a cultural program from various Malaysian provinces.
The basis of Malaysian cuisine is rice ('nasi'). Most often it is cooked completely bland, only as a side dish that shades and emphasizes the taste of the dish. Sometimes rice is colored during cooking, boiled in broth or steamed, fried with spices and vegetables, stewed with water or coconut milk, for desserts it is boiled in coconut milk and mixed with bananas and other fruits, and also made into rice chips, rice noodles, various pastries from rice flour and rice puddings, simply fried with various ingredients or served with vegetables generously seasoned with sauce.
Vegetables, bamboo shoots, soy, coconut milk and even fruits find the widest application. In the use of fruits in cooking, Malaysia undoubtedly surpasses even such famous 'specialists' in this matter as the Indians. However, beef and pork are used sparingly. These are more festive and ceremonial dishes than everyday ones.
Europeans fight for culinary culture
Famous chefs and cookbook authors of Great Britain asked Prime Minister Tony Blair to ban the advertising of surrogate food. In their opinion, as reported by "Novye Izvestia", the constant mention of hamburgers and chips in children's TV shows leads to young Britons refusing to eat normal healthy food.
In response, the government is proposed to start promoting healthy eating and improve food education. In particular, it is planned to introduce practical cooking lessons into the school curriculum and increase the number of cooking shows on television.
Campaigners for tasty and healthy food in the kingdom have already achieved a certain victory. In Britain, the school meal system has been reformed: in September it was announced that students will not be fed fast food, and standards for fat, salt and sugar content in dishes served in school canteens will be reviewed.
The French government is also concerned about the consumer preferences of its citizens. The nation's culinary culture is again in danger. But this time, it is not children who are at fault, but adults who have stopped drinking wine. Its consumption volumes have halved over the past 20 years. Such is the result of an effective campaign against alcoholism. And although it was aimed not so much against wine as against strong alcohol, many of the country's vineyards suffered, falling into decline or even bankruptcy. Now French winemakers are asking the government to launch another campaign promoting the healing qualities of wines. To do this, they need to expand their advertising, which has been severely hit by the fight for sobriety. For a successful dialogue between business and government, a Mediation Council for Wine was created in France, which will operate under the French government.