“If you ask a Macanese who makes the best minchi, they always say mine, or my mother’s, or my grandmother’s,” Marina de Senna Fernandes, a Macanese chef, says.
The locals’ unflinching devotion to this much-loved local comfort food – made from stir-fried minced meat and served with potatoes, rice and fried egg – offers a glimpse into why Macanese cuisine holds such a significant place in the city’s history.
As a former Portuguese colony, Macau was one of the important ports along the Portuguese spice trading route, which brought people and different foods and ingredients from across Africa, India, Southeast Asia and beyond to the city. This melting pot gave birth to its unique cuisine, which was deemed the world’s first “fusion food” by Unesco and recognised as part of Macau’s intangible cultural heritage.
De Senna Fernandes helps run a non-profit canteen that showcases Macanese food at the Macanese Association, and she met Ahmed Abdel Fattah, a lecturer at Macau University of Tourism, to talk about the importance of preserving Macau’s culinary heritage.
“Food has to do with identity, and our identity is very complex,” de Senna Fernandes says. “For instance, in my family, my ancestors were Portuguese, Chinese, Indian – some even from other countries. There are other families that have Spanish blood, or Peruvian or Chilean. So all these people came together, isn’t that amazing?
