China will this weekend get a taste of the Eastern Cape when a food and cultural festival extravaganza takes place in the city of Chengdu.
The Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) will be launching their second instalment of the festival tomorrow. The event was first held last year in the Chinese port city of Ningbo.
The food and cultural festival is aimed at expanding the footprint of Eastern Cape exports into China.
In 2013, the ECDC launched a permanent exhibition of Eastern Cape products in Ningbo.
Companies currently on show are Port Elizabeth mohair products producer Momentos of Africa, sanitary hardware manufacturer Mend-A-Bath, pastries, jams and chilli sauces from Sage Kitchen, mohair producer Hinterveld as well as squid and fish producer Talhado Fishing Enterprises.
Other companies include Makana Meadery, Carara, Berrynice and Oceanwise.
The festival will see Port Elizabeth’s Fushin Sushi restaurant chef and owner Mark Oosthuizen and head chef Jason Chen cooking up a storm of Eastern Cape cuisine with a twist of Asian flavour.
There will be live performances, fashion shows and cooking at the event in an open-space exhibition setting.
East London jazz artist Thembelani Batala will be performing and giving the Chinese a taste of African groove.
Batala said he was humbled by the invite from ECDC and could not wait to share his music with a different audience.
“I am proud to be representing my province and happy I will show other nations what we have to offer here in South Africa,” he said.
ECDC head of marketing, Zodwa Kepeyi, said the two chefs would incorporate the products of some of the nine Eastern Cape companies on permanent exhibition in the city of Ningbo.
“The aim of the event is to share Eastern Cape food and culture with the people of China – to give them a feel of our deep-rooted culture, share our cuisine in an effort to integrate our lives with the Chinese.”
Kepeyi said the aim was to share the Eastern Cape and South African culture by exploring economic and cultural diversities to promote investment in the province and in addition to build business relationships for further contacts.
“There will also be a fashion show where we will showcase Eastern Cape craft products and garments from our local entrepreneurs in the industry.
“The intention is to demonstrate the diversity and quality of our cultural and creative goods as well as our heritage to boost sales and tourism into the province,” she said.
The group left for China early this week and will return next week. — poliswap@dispatch.co.za
Taste of EC culture in China
The Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) will be launching their second instalment of the festival tomorrow. The event was first held last year in the Chinese port city of Ningbo.
The food and cultural festival is aimed at expanding the footprint of Eastern Cape exports into China.
In 2013, the ECDC launched a permanent exhibition of Eastern Cape products in Ningbo.
Companies currently on show are Port Elizabeth mohair products producer Momentos of Africa, sanitary hardware manufacturer Mend-A-Bath, pastries, jams and chilli sauces from Sage Kitchen, mohair producer Hinterveld as well as squid and fish producer Talhado Fishing Enterprises.
Other companies include Makana Meadery, Carara, Berrynice and Oceanwise.
The festival will see Port Elizabeth’s Fushin Sushi restaurant chef and owner Mark Oosthuizen and head chef Jason Chen cooking up a storm of Eastern Cape cuisine with a twist of Asian flavour.
There will be live performances, fashion shows and cooking at the event in an open-space exhibition setting.
East London jazz artist Thembelani Batala will be performing and giving the Chinese a taste of African groove.
Batala said he was humbled by the invite from ECDC and could not wait to share his music with a different audience.
“I am proud to be representing my province and happy I will show other nations what we have to offer here in South Africa,” he said.
ECDC head of marketing, Zodwa Kepeyi, said the two chefs would incorporate the products of some of the nine Eastern Cape companies on permanent exhibition in the city of Ningbo.
“The aim of the event is to share Eastern Cape food and culture with the people of China – to give them a feel of our deep-rooted culture, share our cuisine in an effort to integrate our lives with the Chinese.”
Kepeyi said the aim was to share the Eastern Cape and South African culture by exploring economic and cultural diversities to promote investment in the province and in addition to build business relationships for further contacts.
“There will also be a fashion show where we will showcase Eastern Cape craft products and garments from our local entrepreneurs in the industry.
“The intention is to demonstrate the diversity and quality of our cultural and creative goods as well as our heritage to boost sales and tourism into the province,” she said.
The group left for China early this week and will return next week. — poliswap@dispatch.co.za
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