ENG-1981 — Page 91

FOOD STREET

食街

WELCOME

いらっしゃいませ

Gourmet Paradise

The phrase 'food for thought' has a unique meaning to the cosmopolitan population

of Hong Kong. For food is relished and given much thought from early morning yum cha' to midnight 'siu yeh with lunches, dinners and banquets throughout the day and night. Restaurants constitute the largest single section of the telephone directory - there are some 5 000 entries, not to mention the thousands of cooked food stalls and factory canteens to cater for the labour force. The United Nations' Food and Agricultural Oragnisation says that Hong Kong is one of the world's highest consumers of protein per head of popula- tion. And more than 60 per cent of all the chicken, marine fish and vegetables and about 20 per cent of pork consumed are produced locally, even though less than 10 per cent of the total land area is available for farming. Gastronomical delights are the order of the day with succulent dishes available to suit every taste the full range of Chinese cuisine (Cantonese, Shanghai, Chiu Chow, Fukien, Hakka, Peking and spicy-hot Szechuen) or the abundance of gourmet delicacies of many other countries such as Mexico, Lebanon, Italy, France Japan, Indonesia and America. Food is reasonably priced and the population spends more than 50 per cent of its house- hold expenditure on food, either eating at home or at a variety of places ranging from plush hotel restaurants to noodle shops and fast food outlets.

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Previous page: Happiness is a bowl of noodles. Left: Restaurants featuring the cuisine of many nations line the sidewalks of Food Street; a buffet banquet for share- holders after a company's annual meeting; a chef goes through the ritual of breaking: the mud pack from a Beggar's chicken.