Special Report – Macau as Creative City of Gastronomy

By
João Paulo Meneses

Macau Business | December 2022 | Special Report | Macau as Creative City of Gastronomy

Five years

One of the most distictive features in the projection of Macau’s tourist image is its gastronomy. And UNESCO’s decision to include the city in the network of Creative Cities in this area was a decisive argument.

As this special report points out, Macau has many different cuisines.

Still, one stands out:  the Macanese cuisine, which has a 450-year history.

It turns out that, as the reader will notice, there are several constraints to the development of this gastronomy, which, by the way, is also part of the Macanese community’s identity.

One thing is certain: the Macau Government Tourism Office has been tireless in its promotion over the last five years, with the assistance of various institutions, with the Macau Institute for Tourism Studies playing particularly meaningful role.

Much remains to be done, but the groundwork has been laid and a path has been blazed thus far.

Co-ordinated by João Paulo Meneses

[email protected]

Not just one but many cuisines

… so many that it is not always clear what we are eating

Macanese cuisine: undoing the confusion

A Macanese cuisine or two? Served in Portuguese restaurants mixed with Portuguese dishes?

A ‘touristic image’ issue

In an age of ‘Instagrammable’ food, it’s not always easy to project a positive and authentic image.

Where to eat Macanese food?

Macanese dishes can be found in dozens of restaurants across the city but it’s no so easy to come across Macanese cuisine-only eateries.   

A creative or a ‘stagnant’ cuisine?

The Macau government singled out cultural industries as a pillar for economic diversification. Gastronomy, namely Macanese cuisine, has a role to play.

Food and non-gaming

The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the city’s restaurant industry. New investments are needed for the sector to recover

Food tourism

Food tourism has gradually become the primary reason for people to travel, experts say

A new (old) identity

Identity in Macau remains a complicated matter. Can food help?

MGTO and the “resurgence” of Macanese cuisine

Macau’s tourism authorities have played a leading role in promoting Macanese cuisine over the years

Macanese cuisine is still “quite invisible”

Perhaps because she is neither a native of Macau nor Portuguese, Annabel Jackson, one of the leading voices in the study of Macanese cuisine, can say things like this: “it’s a very honest cuisine, but maybe it isn’t a great cuisine”