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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 03, 2004

Health worries spark menu changes

Over the past month, following fears of SARS, bird flu, mad cow, foot-and-mouth disease and even hog cholera, China has banned imports of chickens, cows, pigs and their meats. And with bird flu confirmed in several provinces in China, more quarantine actions could be in store.


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Over the past month, following fears of SARS, bird flu, mad cow, foot-and-mouth disease and even hog cholera, China has banned imports of chickens, cows, pigs and their meats. And with bird flu confirmed in several provinces in China, more quarantine actions could be in store.

In a country where people say "Have you eaten today?" when they mean hello and are renowned for stomaching just about anything, the world's health problems are tweeking the menus these days.

After raids and exterminations of civet cats �� which some believe to be linked to the SARS virus �� restaurants which specialized in wild game turned to more pedestrian meats, but with creative culinary twists.

Shengji Restaurant, an old restaurant formally renowned for its snake dishes, built up a new reputation rapidly by cooking up fried vegetables and domestic farm meat in earthen pots. Though less exotic, the heavy-flavored dishes which originated from rural cuisines appealed to many nostalgic patrons.

Another example is Mingren Club Restaurant, which is now a high-end place for mutton dishes rather than wild game. Roasted lamb, stewed mutton and lamb kebabs have become the most popular dishes and a new source of revenue.

Due to a report of mad cow disease in the United States, American beef is another taboo on dining tables. Guo Kaiyang, the chef with Prince Grill which formerly imported beef from the United States, said it had removed the related dishes as there is currently no American beef supply.

"It is better to ban these products preemptively than to wait for major problems," said Chen Wei, an official with the China Meat Association, the industry's government-backed trade group.

"These prohibitions are beyond argument," he said. "We still lack a clear understanding of where these diseases are actually coming from. We're simply trying to protect Chinese consumers and Chinese industries."

The Prince Grill now pushes seafood, mutton and veal from New Zealand as main courses. It gave the over-sized scallop cooked in a Korean style an imaginative name, the ��Ferris Wheel,�� but that wasn��t enough to lure customers.

The alternative mutton and beef from sources other than the United States sold the same as before, but the total revenue dropped because the American beef was priced higher, according to Guo.

The detection of bird flu in six provinces in China is no doubt another worry to the restaurant industry, though no human infections have been found so far. A poultry wholesale market in Futian District said its sales of chickens plummeted from 100,000 to 1,000 on Sunday.

Paradoxically, many chicken theme restaurants reported no obvious drop in chicken consumption. These include Chinese eateries such as Lijiang River Restaurant and the international chain, KFC.

Sunday afternoon at a KFC outlet on Dongyuan Road was just like any normal Sunday. Children were playing and shouting in the playground, adults were having afternoon tea and some students enjoying the fried chicken wings and free time during their winter vacation.

"The cooked chickens are safe," said a teenage diner at the KFC restaurant. Owners and managers of Chinese chicken restaurants echoed this statement.

Some restaurants are anticipating change, though. Huang Ping, the manager of a Chinese restaurant in the Xindi Hotel which was renowned for its salted chicken, said they were working to introduce more greens to combat the potential threat from the infectious disease.

Its revamped menu included many fresh vegetables directly from local farms. One of its specialties, green vegetables steamed with dried scallops, was warmly received by gourmets.


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