Joining the rest of the world again to promote Sustainable Gastronomy Day, Macao produced a video sharing Macao’s unique gastronomic culture, recipes and culinary arts. It is part of the city’s endeavor to foster preservation of gastronomic culture as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy and contribute to the sustainable development of Macao’s tourism industry and the world, progressing towards the implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This year, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) partnered with Foodie Platform, a local gastronomic platform, inviting two Macanese and one local chef to showcase the culinary traditions and recipes of Macanese cuisine by demonstrating the cooking techniques in preparing two main courses and one dessert in a short video. The video will be released on MGTO’s website, Macao gastronomy website (www.gastronomy.gov.mo) and relevant platforms on social media including Facebook, WeChat and YouTube, as well as LED screens at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters.

Inscribed on the List of Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2012, Macanese gastronomy is a food culture based on cooking methods from Portuguese cuisine and incorporating ingredients and cooking methods from Africa, India, Malaysia, and the local Chinese population. Combining the merits of each cuisine, it had developed into a unique and independent food culture through several hundred years of integration.

As part of the four-year action plan of Macao as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, in terms of education and inheritance, the Special Administrative Region Government is forging ahead progressively with the establishment of the database for Macanese cuisine to keep track of its history, recipes and culinary arts, carrying forward the culture and tradition of a gastronomy that boasts a time-honored history of more than 400 years. Through collaboration with the entities and community organizations concerned, MGTO will complete the tasks of data collection and processing for the Macanese cuisine database, in preparation for the launch of the database and a theme corner open to the public by the end of this year, with the goal to preserve and promote the gastronomic culture.

Macao was designated as a member city of UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) in the field of Gastronomy on 31 October 2017, and began participating in the international promotion of the Sustainable Gastronomy Day the following year. The United Nations General Assembly adopted its resolution in 2016 to designate 18 June as the internationally-observed Sustainable Gastronomy Day. The decision acknowledges gastronomy as a cultural expression related to the natural and cultural diversity of the world. It also reaffirms that all cultures and civilizations are contributors and crucial enablers of sustainable development. For details, please visit the United Nation’s official website: https://www.un.org/en/observances/sustainable-gastronomy-day