It hits you when you first arrive: the excitement of deliciousness is in the air, and literally it seems to be: everywhere your nose takes you, there is the smell of temptation: grilling, roasting, baking, stewing, frying…..fragant smells coming from shops, cafes, street nosh, all right there, irrisistible and exciting. I felt like taking a nibble every step or two i went, then continuing on. (Confession–and those who were with me know it to be true: in fact, I DID take a bite and another and another and another, everywhere we were, so many things to taste. even if strange or i didn’t like it, i just needed to taste taste taste–some places are just like that. and no place more than Taipei).
But it didn’t seem to be just the visitor so affected: the locals were pretty excited not only about their own dishes, but also what we might THINK of their dishes: get a pork-stuffed fishball near the dock area, and the local police might just offer you a suggestion of where else its even better. Enjoy the pickled vegetables at a restaurant and chef might just come out with a container of pickles for you to take home (and i did, munching them all the way back, with enough leftover to share with my UK buddies).
Streets are lined with motor scooters, tidily parked though often-crazily driven, their riders en route to the market, cafe, local snack bar: see the scooters lining the street as their occupants line the barstools, eating any of a wide variety of dishes, from tiny crabs to crisp fried chicken, dishes featuring as much tripe or other offal as you could ever imagine…
Shaved ice cafes are everywhere, with kids, teens, families, everyone, spooning into crisp snowy mounds piled with syrups, candied fruits, topped with fluffy ice cream like swirls. (One of the strangest, silliest, and okay: kinda delightful) restaurants for such sweet deserts is Modern Toilet–the theme is, yes, you guessed it. silly and strangely delightful for ice cream dishes, a bit less so for stewy savoury dishes.
Taiwan is a small island with an amazingly rich variety of eating traditions. Indiginous tribes–of which there is a very touching exhibit of lifestyle in Taipei airport, were the first residents, their presence and influence still strong. Around the 15th century immigrants from China began to come; first from Fujian, Hakka people–this layer of taste is a strong part of modern Taiwanese food. Next came Portuguese sailors, giving the island a name, isla Formosa which remained its name until fairly recently. Then came colonizations of Dutch, Spanish and Japanese (who were sent back to Japan at the end of WW2), each adding layers to the cuisine of the island, especially the Japanese who brought among other tastes, the taste for raw fish.
In 1949, at the end of the Chinese civil war, Chiang Kai-shek fled with about 2 million compatriots and the defeated Nationalist army. Many of Chinas top chefs fled to Taiwan as well–the new communist regime didn’t have a place for such luxury. During the following turbulant years on the mainland, Taiwan was the upholder of Chinese traditional cuisine, keeping alive the traditions and tastes that had dissappeared on the mainland.
The melting pot of regional Chinese cuisines thus became an intrinsic part of Taiwan/Taipei food.
There are elegant fine dining experiences in Taipei, dumplings awaiting you are every turn, night markets filled with the exotic, and the just plain delicious such as a flat spicy fried chicken breast to woo the heart of this not crazy about fried foods gal.
I ate at a rice farm high up on a hillside on the outskirts of Taipei, and sipped tea–blissful, spiritually– in a tea house on the docks.
There was a very zen lunch of all vegetables in a tranquiol sculpture garden, and a very meaty dinner paired with fabulous wines and accompanied by jamon from spain: combined with wine from italy and noodles of traiwan, as well as various little niblets of offal and pickles, what a memorable kinda only in taipei feast.
And the macadamia nut nougat! and the islands traditional pineapple cake!!!! and the soothing, cozy warm almond soup, partially tea, partially dessert, endlessly delicious.
And i’ve not even mentioned beef noodle yet; that bowl of noodles in clear strong broth that comes with a bowl of spicy beef stew, another bowl of shredded pickled mustard greens, and a saucer of spicy sauce. This needs its own posting, with pictures! It all does! And over the next few weeks, months, lifetime, its all coming!
And I can’t wait to go back.
With over 70 cookbook titles (including contributions) to her credit, Marlena conjures up flavours and dishes from the Mediterranean to Mexico, California to France to the Italian islands and single subjects such as chili peppers, olive oil, mushrooms, to a book on classic Jewish food from all over the world.