High Life

品 64 #8 2017 年 5 月 HIGH LIFE #8 May 2017 65 Liu and his team are perfectionists in regards to the technical execution of cooking methods, however, what concerns him most these days are the ingredients. “What disappoints me about modern gastronomy is the fact that ingredients are very different from what we got in the past,” he says. “Let me explain precisely. Thirty or 40 years ago, when we got a chicken and opened it up, the fat inside was yellow in color, rich and intense. These days, the fat from a chicken is white and the taste of the chicken is not as intense. Therefore, we in the kitchen sometimes compensate for the loss of color with the color of carrot extracted naturally by our team.” Tan Zongjun was an aristocrat who lived in the Qing Dynasty and his lavish lifestyle was, in truth, very different to ours. Indeed, only individuals with a sophisticated palette would truly appreciate the nuance of such delicacies. In the modern world where the flavors of food are often enhanced by MSG and other additives, Tan cuisine at Golden Flower is one of a kind – the dining experience acting as a window to the decadent past.