In Part 2 of our interview with Jeannie Cho Lee, founder of Asian Palate in Hong Kong, we continue our conversation of the role of wine and food in Asia, as we focus on Cho Lee’s first book Asian Palate, and then delve into the important role of alcoholic beverages in East Asian drinking culture. As Cho Lee informs us, alcohol, and increasingly wines are not just accompaniment to food. They play an important role in breaking down barriers between people in Chinese and other Asian cultures, where hierarchy and propriety still reign supreme.
AsianTalks: Jeannie, tell us about your first book, Asian Palate.
Jeannie: That book was written in more of a structured format, in which wine is introduced in the context of ten different cities. So the whole book is about pairing Asian food and wine. As far as I know there really wasn’t much at all in terms of similar content by other authors. It’s a new subject after all, and also there aren’t many people who know both the cuisine side as well as the wine side.
I wouldn’t say I’m an expert of Asian cuisines overall, but definitely I am in wine. Plus with my background in cooking, my degree at Cordon Bleu, and living in Hong Kong, leading a life that really combines food and wine together, I felt with enough research I could really give people some guidance, some structure, how to approach Thai cuisine with wine, or Japanese, or Korean.
So it wasn’t just a focus on one particular country, I mean I could have done Cantonese, — I’ve lived here for almost 20 years — so it would have been very easy for me.
But you know I do think that what was missing was the broader perspective on Asian cuisine, and how it pairs with wine. So I took the harder road and decided to tackle ten different cuisines, ten different cities, and how those cuisines pair with wine.
AsianTalks: As you wrote the book, you must have come across a region or city you really liked. Any favorites?
Jeannie: You know it’s hard to have just one! Japan was a real joy to write about and the pairing of wine with Japanese cuisine is another area I love because Japanese cuisine itself is so refined. Finding wine that pair with very refined nuanced flavors was a lot of fun for me. But writing the Mumbai chapter and discovering a previously unexplored city was a lot of fun for me as well.
AsianTalks: Tell us a few things about East Asian drinking culture, and why it’s different from the social drinking culture of the West.
Jeannie: One of the key differences is the way alcohol is often enjoyed. In Asia we do often enjoy it with our meal, that’s true if you look at a Chinese banquet, or a Korean or Japanese formal dinner. We have either baijiu in China, or sake and shochu in Japan, or soju in Korea, so alcohol has been part of the dining experience.
But the main difference is that Asians have a cheer for drinking which is after the dinner. So there are two cheers, the first is when you’re actually having it with the food and second is actually on its own.
If you’ve ever been to karaoke clubs, or a similar venue after the main dinner, then you’ll notice a whole platter or tray of beverages come out. And often now, it often includes wine as an option.
The other difference is we often use alcohol here as more of a social lubricant, and I’m sure it’s the same in America, but the structure and hierarchy of the culture of Far Eastern societies — even if China is communist, there’s still a hierarchy of seniority which is much more structured than in the United States. There are all these social stratifications, and alcohol is often used to soften all those layers.
And social stratification is something we have to adhere to on a regular basis. And (alcohol) really relaxes people. In extreme cases people start to really change in personality, but I think the reason for that is they’re told to behave in a certain way, and there isn’t as much freedom of expression. Part of what alcohol helps to do in that kind of context is really allow people to know each other better, on a more personal level. And I’m sure it’s the same in America. It’s a little more so because Asian culture really plays a huge emphasis on conduct, your positioning in the social hierarchy, there’s all these unspoken cultural rules that still exist, so I think alcohol plays a part of that.
So I think that’s the reason why there’s a lot of excessive drinking to loosen people up.