Food Consumption, Food Perception and the Search for a Macanese Identity 1

This chapter rests on two basic assumptions that can be complementary but can also be contradictory. The first is to accept that both food type and method of preparation are used by people within a given society to demarcate themselves from other groups within that society, and from other societies. Second, over time both food and methods of preparation are nevertheless frequently borrowed from other cultures and other cuisines, leading to a process of assimilation and reinterpretation. ² These two preliminary observations are especially relevant in a place like Macau where at least two completely different cultures (and therefore two completely different culinary traditions) have been brought together and have coexisted for over 450 years. Thus, Macau is on the surface a Chinese-dominated society like Hong Kong, with over 95 per cent of its population Chinese, but it is also a place where Portuguese and other Asian influences (such as Malaysian and Indian) have coalesced to create a distinctive cuisine.