A bite-sized piece of culinary culture

How do you make 10 dishes in a courtyard for a dozen tables of guests at a wedding dinner and serve it on time?

Xue Huiming aims to solve this problem by building a long cooking bench with seven ovens in a row that can fry, steam, stew, or boil seven dishes at the same time.

The story is in the first episode of A Bite of China III, the third season of the popular food documentary series produced by China Central Television, which started airing over the Spring Festival on Feb 19.

Following the successful previous seasons in 2012 and 2014, A Bite of China III focuses on the relationship between food, people and culture, according to the new chief director Liu Hongyan.

"Food is the carrier of people's stories, and the stories attached to cultural inheritance. We want to discover how Chinese people have changed their eating habits," says Liu.

With eight episodes each lasting 50 minutes, this season focuses on topics like cooking tools, banquets, snacks, seasoning and fusion foods. Each episode is named after a Chinese character.

The first episode is named Qi (tool) and tells stories like Xue Huiming's oven and a handmade iron pot from Zhangqiu in Shandong province.

"The previous season focuses more on the food itself, not on the vessels or containers," says Liu. "So, in the third season, we made an episode about the cooking tools and containers people use, such as ovens, knives, pots and bowls."

Qiu Pangtong, professor at Yangzhou University's school of travel and cookery says the tools chosen for the documentary were typical, and the process of making and using the tools demonstrates the inherited wisdom of Chinese over the centuries.