Beijing International Book Fair 2016 (RO/EN)

Salutari din Beijing! Am ajuns bine, dupa 1000 de ore de zbor 😊, obosita, dar fericita! Cum am pasit pe taram chinezesc, am intrat direct in “orez”, cum se spune. Am ajuns la targ, ne-am instalat standul, l-am amenajat cu spidere, afise si un ecran pe care rula filmuletul meu de prezentare! Nici nu ne-am dezmeticit bine, ca la standul nostru au venit publisherii interesati de “Ramai la masa?”, dar si de serialul online Vertical Taste, pe care il poti urmari pe YouTube!
Am cunoscut o multime de oameni deosebiti, super profesionisti in domeniul culinar, dar m-am reintalnit si cu prietenii mei de anul trecut, de la Gourmand Awards (unde “Ramai la masa?” a castigat premiul Best in the World la categoria Best Tv Chef Book Europe) si cu cei de la Frankfurt!
Asadar, am fost speaker la conferinta „Cookbook Publishing in Eastern Europe”, moderata de fondatorul Gourmand International, Edouard Cointreau, am avut multe intalniri si, mai presus de orice, am gatit! Am avut primul show de cooking live, in China, din viata mea si a fost incredibila energia celor din public! Am preparat 4 feluri de mancare in 40 de minute, iar ingredientele aduse din Romania au impresionat!
I-am servit cu ciorba de loboda, preferata mea, salata de sparanghel crud, ciocanele de pui cu bere neagra (retete care se afla in volumul „Ramai la masa?”), dar le-am facut si o surpriza, preparand si… mamaliga!
Am facut intreg ritualul, am amestecat mamaliga in poala, cu facaletul (asa cum mai fac si azi gospodinele in Ardeal), le-am povestit despre cat de populara este mamaliga la noi si cum se prepara folosind diferite tehnici, cum se mixeaza cu alte ingrediente si i-am imbiat sa o guste amestecata cu branza de burduf! Evident ca si taiatul cu ata i-a cucerit, pentru ca nu mai vazusere aceasta procedura!
Pe langa macarurile preparate pe loc i-am servit cu ciocolata de casa si biscuiti facuti in cuptor cu lemne! A fost o nebunie totala, am ras mult, oamenii s-au simtit bine si am mai primit ajutor din cand in cand de la sotul meu, dar si de la renumitii chef Wan (Malaezia), Cyril Rouquet Prefost (primul castigator si World amasador al „Masterchef”) si renumitul James McIntosh din Marea Britanie! M-am bucurat sa-l am alaturi de mine in toata aceasta experienta pe Grigore Lese, cunoscutul interpret de muzica populara din zona Tarii Lapusului. A adus cu el ceva din atmosfera de acasa, optimism si bucurie de viata, ceea ce m-a facut sa ma simt si mai inspirata! Au fost momente foarte placute si gatitul, o distractie desavarsita!

De-abia astept sa va povestesc cine m-a invitat sa gatesc la studioul lui de aici, din Beijing!
Chiar acum pornesc spre el, asa ca va las pentru moment! 😊 Revin!

– EN –

Greetings from Beijing! I’m finally here, after 1,000 hours of flight, tired, but happy! As soon as I set foot on Chinese ground, I got cooking… “rice”, so to speak! We got to the fair, put up our stand, equipped it with pop up banners, posters and a screen that showed my presentation video. We didn’t even have time to recover our senses when publishers started flowing in, showing interest in the “Will You Stay for Dinner?” cookbook, but also in the online series Vertical Taste, available on YouTube!
We have met many remarkable people, true professionals in the culinary field, and I have also had the chance to rekindle with some friends I had made at last year’s edition of the Gourmand Awards (when Will You Stay for Dinner? won the Best in the World award in the Best Tv Chef Book Europe category), and also with some friends from Frankfurt!
Thus, I was a speaker at the “Cookbook Publishing in Eastern Europe” conference, moderated by the founder of Gourmand International, Edouard Cointreau, had many meetings and, what is most important, I cooked! I had my first ever live cooking show in China and the energy from the audience was incredible! I made four different courses in 40 minutes’ time, and the ingredients I had brought from Romania made a strong impression!
I served red orach soup, my personal favourite, raw asparagus salad, chicken drumsticks in dark beer (recipes from Will You Stay for Dinner?), and also cooked up a surprise: I prepared polenta!
I enacted the whole ritual, stirring the mixture in my lap with a rolling pin (just like the good housekeepers still do it in Ardeal), told them about how popular polenta is back home and how you can prepare it by using various techniques, how you can add different ingredients to the mixture, and then lured them to have a taste of polenta with traditional burduf cheese! Obviously, cutting the polenta with a piece of thread added to the charm, since it was the first time they had ever witnessed this method!
Besides the four courses that I prepared on the spot, I also served homemade chocolate and biscuits cooked in a wood-fired oven. It was absolute madness, we shared many laughs, people had a great time and I also got some help from my husband, as well as from well-known chefs like chef Wan (Malaysia), Cyril Rouquet Prefost (first winner and World ambassador of “MasterChef”) and the renowned James McIntosh from Great Britain! I was glad to have by my side, throughout this whole experience, Grigore Lese, the famed Romanian traditional music interpreter, from the Lapus Country. He brought with him that special something from back home, lots of optimism and joy of living, which inspired me even more! We had a wonderful time and the cooking was absolute fun!

I can hardly wait to tell you who invited me to cook at his studio here in Beijing!
I’m on my way there right now, so I must leave you for now! Be right back!