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Eco-chefs step out of the kitchen to the source, supporting farmers in returning to the original spirit of cooking

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Eco State Banquet 01"A group of chefs supporting a group of farmers! Stepping out of the kitchen to the source, eco-chefs return to the original spirit of cooking

The Eco State Banquet New Year dishes are unveiled, letting people across Taiwan eat back the good of Taiwan bite by bite! The "Taiwan Eco-Chef Program," initiated by Wu Hsiu-chuan and Ma Ai-yun, has been running for 3 years now, with more than 150 participating chefs. It calls on chefs across Taiwan to go to the countryside and into the places of production, to learn about crops grown with eco-friendly methods, livestock and fishery products, and to connect with local residents, and to use local ingredients combined with local culture and environmental elements to design menus, so that the general public can support eco-friendly crops through "eating."

This time, the eco-chefs designed state banquet dishes themed around 6 counties and cities in Taiwan, among which 3 counties and cities, Yunlin, Nantou and Changhua, also launched New Year dishes, made respectively by Hsiao Chih-yu of Shan Xin Folk Creative Cuisine, a Michelin-recommended restaurant, Hsieh Yi-hsin and Hsieh Yi-te of Chi Mu TAIKO Japanese-Western Robatayaki, and Li Yi-yen of No.1 Island Kitchen. The three chefs who took part in the eco-chef course all said that being able to cook with crops grown on friendly land and do their part for agriculture makes cooking especially meaningful.

Eco State Banquet New Year dishes launch event (photo / Lin Yi-chun)

Chefs step out of the kitchen, eating back the good of Taiwan bite by bite

The Taiwan Eco-Chef Program was initiated by Wu Hsiu-chuan and Ma Ai-yun. The program originated in 2016 when Typhoon Nepartak severely hit Taitung. To help organic coffee farmers affected by the disaster, Wu Hsiu-chuan made the documentary "Abi, Learning from the Pacific Sunrise." During filming, she saw the local practice of "multi-layered economic crop cultivation under forest canopy," an farming method that can protect hillside land while also allowing farmers to harvest. Wu Hsiu-chuan later invited Ma Ai-yun to bring wild vegetables grown with this farming method on a round-island tour, explaining the importance of these wild vegetables to 18 schools.

During their round-island tour, Wu Hsiu-chuan and Ma Ai-yun discovered that eco-friendly farming methods can keep farmers healthy during cultivation while also ensuring environmental sustainability. And the people who build a bridge between the land, farmers and the general public through food are "chefs." Therefore the two raised funds and formally launched the "Taiwan Eco-Chef" program in 2018.

The program turns "ecology, environmental protection, agriculture, humanities" into courses, recruiting chefs willing to learn about sustainable eating. After screening, it begins training "Taiwan Eco-Chefs" in groups of 12 to 20 people per term. The courses are completely free, but eco-chefs must participate for life in promoting sustainable eating in Taiwan, through three major areas: "business, public welfare, education."

To date, "Taiwan Eco-Chef" has completed 10 terms of courses, with more than 150 participating chefs, 39 of whom come from Indigenous communities. The chefs' backgrounds span small and medium-sized restaurants, chain restaurants, one-person dessert studios, private kitchen studios, five-star hotels and more; their cooking styles cover Chinese, Western and Japanese cuisine, handmade fermentation and brewing, catering, and bento design and development. To fully put the philosophy into practice, during the courses all utensils, bowls and chopsticks are "carried with them" by Wu Hsiu-chuan and Ma Ai-yun, with no single-use tableware used at all.

Eco-chef outdoor course, applying what is learned with on-site ingredients (photo source / Wu Hsiu-chuan)

The course does not teach cooking, what is learned is the "spirit of cuisine"

The content of the eco-chef course is quite different from that of culinary schools. Li Yi-yen, head chef of the operator of No.1 Island Kitchen, said that the course does not teach any culinary skills, but each session has a specific theme and is held on a farm or in a community. "Entering the place of production, you see many ingredients you normally cannot see in the vegetable market, and local people also teach us how to use them." After learning, the chefs also think about how to apply it to dishes at their own restaurants, and this is "promotion in business."

If no culinary skills are taught, then what exactly is taught in class? Hsiao Chih-yu, executive chef of Shan Xin Folk Creative Cuisine, said that the course explores current issues of agriculture, ecology, environmental protection and humanities, such as the differences between conventional farming and organic or natural farming. What was most impressive was the interaction between people. "Using on-site ingredients to cook for local people feels very different from working in the kitchen normally. Seeing the dishes you made eaten up is a huge affirmation for a chef."

Besides participating in the course himself, Hsiao Chih-yu also brings colleagues from the restaurant to the countryside, to elementary schools or communities to cook as charity. "Simply cooking is easy, but you need the spirit of an eco-chef." The charity cooking process uses local ingredients and develops dishes based on local characteristics, letting companions gain a sense of achievement from cooking and find the meaning of being a chef. This belongs to "promotion in public welfare."

Interaction with the place of production has a profound influence on chefs. Hsieh Yi-hsin and Hsieh Yi-te of Chi Mu TAIKO Japanese-Western Robatayaki recalled that when they were taking a course in a community in Nantou, a group of chefs followed Atayal people in the mountains learning to gather, which really opened their eyes. "As you walk, you keep stopping to identify plants. Some look like weeds, yet they are actually edible." Later they also brought colleagues from the restaurant to the course to experience the farmers' production process. "Later, in the restaurant, I once heard colleagues reminding each other: 'You have to scrape the rice clean, you can't waste it, farming is really hard for farmers!'"

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