“IT’S scorching hot, but I absolutely love it,” said a Ph.D. student from Indonesia who introduced himself by his Chinese name He Sama. He savored a plate of fish fillets in hot chili oil that she had learned to make at a food education course at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on June 19.

She said it would be perfect if she had a bowl of rice to go with the fish dish.

This class marked the last one of this semester for students in the course named Food Talks, where they can earn two academic points upon mastering the skills to prepare 12 classic dishes in Sichuan cuisine such as Mapo tofu and fried shredded pork with sweet and sour sauce.

Standing beside He was another international student from Sudan, who was crafting a plate of cold-marinated rabbit meat, a specialty from Zigong City in Sichuan. “The marinated rabbit meat gains its zest from the chilli pepper and prickly ash seeds,” Liu Bo, the head chef with the university’s first student canteen, explained to the Sudanese student, who called herself Sima Yan.

“I will definitely make the fish in hot chili oil dish for my parents when I return home for the summer vacation,” said a junior-year student from Russia who identified himself only as Max, concentrating on the fish dish in class.

He said it was a challenging task to make the dish on his own. “I wrote down the whole procedure and took notes of the points that need extra attention during our teacher’s demonstration. But when I had my hands on the sliced fish, I had no idea where to start,” Max said.

The Food Talks class has been the university’s the most sought-after elective course for two consecutive years, appealing to both Chinese and international students, disclosed Sun Yannan, director of Southwest Jiaotong University’s logistics and catering department.

According to Sun, the lecturers and teaching assistants are all experienced chefs with the university’s canteens. They would usually arrive at the classroom one hour ahead of the class to have all the food ingredients, such as diced rabbit meats, ginger and garlic, ready.

The teaching staff would also take the students to visit an off-campus vegetable-growing base and local wet markets to pick up ingredients needed for the class.

“I did not know that the Food Talks would give me a hands-on experience on dish-making. When signing up for the course, I thought it was a gourmet appreciation class,” said Chen Shuheng, a design major student.

She said she found it challenging but fun to do their own dishes, which she would definitely make for her parents once she got home.

Yu Yangzhou, who was in charge of the Food Talks, said the course was designed to introduce China’s profound food culture and the history of Sichuan cuisine, familiarize students with the knowledge of various ingredients, and most importantly, enhance their hands-on ability and skills.

He said they would divide up the students into two- or three-person groups to make sure that everybody has the chance to cook their own dish.

The Food Talks class is among a number of newly designed courses that are introduced by the tertiary education institutions in China to enhance college students’ practical survival skills, like a tree-climbing class and the Life in the Wild class.

(Claudia Wei)