Food ambassadors show off allure of Chengdu cuisine at Expo Milano

A candidate of the "Sichuan food ambassador" poses with a boiling Chengdu hotpot.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The "Sichuan food ambassadors" to be selected from all around the world, along with some acclaimed local chefs, will showcase the sensational and tantalizing taste of the Chengdu cuisine at the Expo Milano 2015 in Milan, Italy, on Aug 6.

As the first Asian city to win the title of a "City of Gastronomy" certificated by UNESCO, Chengdu in Sichuan province makes efforts to spread its food, which is the quintessence of Sichuan food culture, around the world.

The recruitment of the "Sichuan food ambassadors" is therefore open online from July 27 to Aug 2. People over 18 years old in all countries are invited to express their opinion on and love for the Chengdu cuisine and share their most appetizing photos of the food.

The winners will be selected by a jury based on the creativity of their answers, the quality of writing and the popularity among netizens.

The winners will be announced at Expo Milano on Aug 6 to coincide with the opening of a "Top Sichuan Kitchen" stand in the Etihad Airways & Alitalia iconic joint pavilion. In the kitchen, the selected "foodies" and skilled chefs will present 35 different cooking shows for visitors, such as cooking lessons, stories about Chengdu food and free sample tasting, to give people a bite of Chengdu cuisine and possibly hook them on a lifelong gourmet-style food extravaganza.

The global recruitment of the Sichuan food ambassadors is initiated and organized by the Chengdu's bureau of tourism and supported by Chengdu Culture and Tourism Development Group.

"The activity is launched with a view to explain Chengdu cuisine culture from both oriental and occidental points of view, so as to help people better understand the city and its food and attract more 'foodies' to Chengdu," said an official of the bureau of tourism.

The Expo Milano "Top Sichuan Kitchen" show kicks off a six-month-long promotion for Chengdu's food culture. After their stopover in Milan, the "ambassadors" will set foot on a "spicy tour" in September to the cities of Chengdu and Leshan, where they will learn local cooking skills from provincial master chefs. In November, they will go to the Silicon Valley in the United States to hold a "Sichuan Cuisine Culture Week" and show their newly-acquired culinary skills in the eateries of high-tech enterprises such as Facebook, Apple and Tesla.

Boboji is a unique Chengdu dish. It is served in a "bobo", a Chinese word for a big bowl, containing vegetables and meat skewered on bamboo sticks with spicy sauce.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Roast salted duck is a specialty of Chengdu.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Edited by Mevlut Katik