\u201cIf you ask a Macanese who makes the best minchi, they always say mine, or my mother\u2019s, or my grandmother\u2019s,\u201d Marina de Senna Fernandes, a Macanese chef, says.<\/p>\n
The locals\u2019 unflinching devotion to this much-loved local comfort food \u2013 made from stir-fried minced meat and served with potatoes, rice and fried egg \u2013 offers a glimpse into why Macanese cuisine holds such a significant place in the city\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s first \u201cfusion food\u201d by Unesco and recognised as part of Macau\u2019s intangible cultural heritage.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s culinary heritage.<\/p>\n
\u201cFood has to do with identity, and our identity is very complex,\u201d de Senna Fernandes says. \u201cFor instance, in my family, my ancestors were Portuguese, Chinese, Indian \u2013 some even from other countries. There are other families that have Spanish blood, or Peruvian or Chilean. So all these people came together, isn\u2019t that amazing?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey came together in one place, and they settled and they started sharing their food from their country. Little by little, what they cooked became a cuisine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abdel Fattah, who was born in Egypt and lived in many countries, including the United States, Australia and France, moved to Macau and started teaching at the Macau University of Tourism in 2013. His main focus at work is heritage tourism management.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n \u201cMacanese food is what reflects the identity of Macau and it\u2019s kind of like two sides of the same coin,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen we talk about Macanese food, we\u2019re going to talk about heritage and culture, we\u2019re going to talk about people. You cannot separate them away from each other, they are interconnected.\u201d<\/p>\n Abdel Fattah and de Senna Fernandes share their insights into Macanese cuisine and how to safeguard its heritage while enjoying traditional dishes of Moorish chicken rice \u2013 cooked by de Senna Fernandes \u2013 minchi served at La Famiglia restaurant in Taipa Village, and bacalhau (dried, salted cod) and sardine tarts at Cafe Sab 8, close to the city\u2019s iconic Ruins of St Paul\u2019s landmark.<\/p>\n Both agree that a key step is to educate local people more about true Macanese cuisine, and encourage them to promote the dishes that are part of what makes Macau special.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can introduce food education in elementary, secondary and high school,\u201d Abdel Fattah says. \u201cWe bring our local chefs, the authentic local chefs, the local voices, and train our younger generation to preserve our cooking methods.\u201d<\/p>\n La Famiglia is run by Florita Morais Alves, who is a renowned chef of Macanese cuisine, while Cafe Sab 8 is run by Sandra Barros and her mother Ana Liza, who both want to promote Macanese cuisine by modernising it and, in the process, make it more appealing to the younger generation.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, I feel happy that there are younger generations that are making and trying to keep this cuisine alive and bringing creativity to some,\u201d de Senna Fernandes says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say reinventing Macanese food, because we don\u2019t need that, but making another taste, since cuisine is always an evolving art.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Marina](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/03\/19\/9b4543d6-5fc7-4fa9-89f2-ab2360b5b0b0_a18f5966.jpg\" "\\"Marina")
<\/div>