BEIJING, July 22 -- British athletes and officials
should seize the opportunity of staying in the Olympic Village and other
visitors from the UK use their stay in China to gorge on the Peking Duck.
And
it's very important that they do so, for back home in the UK the dish could be
off restaurants' menu owing to a European Union (EU) ban on the ovens
traditionally used to make it, the London-based Daily Mail has reported.
UK officials are busy inspecting restaurants and
sealing the ovens because they do not carry a CE (Conformit Europenne) mark to
meet the standards on carbon-monoxide emission.
The newspaper said the clampdown comes despite
officials conceding that no health problems linked to the ovens made in China
have been reported.
Qiao Jie, general secretary of the Beijing-based
China Cuisine Association, said Monday that the British move was a
misunderstanding of the Chinese art of cooking.
"Chinese dishes have been subject to a lot of
misunderstandings in terms of quality and nutrition Cooking is not only about
science and nutrition, but also art."
China
should set up its own standards for traditional cooking equipment to protect the
reputation of Chinese dishes across the world, Qiao said.
The Peking Duck has a history of more than 600 years.
It is usually cooked in a 6-foot-high drum-shaped
oven, which is much larger than a conventional commercial oven and can roast up
to 24 ducks and four suckling pigs at a time.
All the ovens used in UK restaurants have been
imported from China because there are no European manufacturers for them.
The ban on Peking Duck has angered many Chinese cooks
in the UK because many restaurants in London, including some in the famous
Chinatown district, have lost business, the Daily Mail said. And scores of
others could suffer the same fate.
The newspaper quoted celebrity chef Ken Hom as
saying: "It's absurd. What do the Europeans know about making Peking Duck?"
Victor Hor, front manager of Phoenix Palace in
Marylebone, central London, was quoted as saying: "It has tied our hands but
there's nothing we can do about it, except make an apology for a mistake we
didn't make."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his predecessor Tony
Blair and his wife Cherie are among the high-profile clientele of Phoenix
Palace.
Chinese living in the UK said the ban was a kind of
"cultural discrimination".
"Peking Duck represents Chinese culture," Ge Nan, a
Chinese living in the UK for more than eight years, said over the phone. "What
would the Britons think if fish and chips were banned somewhere in the world."
Mu Dongliang, of the World Association of Chinese
Cuisine, said: "No matter what happens, I don't think Peking Duck will lose its
international market. Traditional Peking Duck is delicious and healthy
food."
(Source: China Daily)
