Sands China Organises Professionalism Training on Huaiyang Cuisine for Team Members

Team members learn from master chef Zhou Xiaoyan  

(Macao, July 18, 2019) – Sands China Ltd. held a professionalism training session on Huaiyang cuisine July 10 at Sands^® Cotai Central, with nearly 200 participants in attendance.

Sands China operates more than 50 restaurants and has over 4,000 team members working in food and beverage related departments. Besides Sands China team members, the company also invited participation from educators from the Macau University of Science and Technology, and food and beverage professionals and practitioners, including Pedro Sou, managing director of the Trade Union of Macau Catering Industry.

They learned about the background, innovations and development of Huaiyang cuisine from celebrity chef Zhou Xiaoyan, an award-winning master of Chinese cooking who is known as the Godfather of Huaiyang Cuisine – one of the Four Great Traditions in Chinese cuisine. Zhou shared some of his knowledge gained over many decades of experience, focusing on the dietary culture of Huaiyang cuisine. As an expert in his field, he has been invited to dozens of countries and regions around the world, including the United States, Germany, and Switzerland, to conduct academic exchanges on topics such as Chinese cooking techniques and food culture, and to spread Chinese food culture and cooking skills.

“Huaiyang cuisine has a time-honoured history,” said Wen Hongyan, senior vice president of human resources for Sands China Ltd. “We are grateful to have had master chef Zhou Xiaoyan as our guest, whose lecture has enhanced our team members’ professional knowledge. This experience has facilitated interaction within in the industry and helps elevate the continual learning of Macao’s food and beverage talent, driving Macao’s further development as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.”

Huaiyang cuisine is one of four classic schools of Chinese cooking, originating in the region of Huai’an, Jiangsu. Nurtured with a long history and rich culture, Huaiyang cuisine’s cooking skills and techniques are now an intangible cultural heritage of the city of Huai’an, which has begun preparations for its application to become a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.

“I felt that this session gave me the chance to do an in-depth exploration of not only Huaiyang cuisine, but also dining trends throughout the world,” one of the participants said. “I learnt a lot from the master chef’s insight to craftsmanship, which is an important part of the inheritance and innovation of Chinese food culture in general.”

The training session was one of Sands China’s professionalism training initiatives in support of the Macao government’s efforts to promote Macao as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.

Photo caption: Celebrity chef Zhou Xiaoyan leads Sands China’s professionalism training session on Huaiyang cuisine July 10 at Sands Cotai Central, with nearly 200 participants in attendance. Attendees learned about the background, innovations and development of Huaiyang cuisine from Zhou, an award-winning master of Chinese cooking who is known as the Godfather of Huaiyang Cuisine – one of the Four Great Traditions in Chinese cuisine.

Photo caption: Sands China holds a professionalism training session on Huaiyang cuisine July 10 at Sands Cotai Central, with nearly 200 participants in attendance, featuring celebrity chef Zhou Xiaoyan. Attendees learned about the background, innovations and development of Huaiyang cuisine from Zhou, an award-winning master of Chinese cooking who is known as the Godfather of Huaiyang Cuisine – one of the Four Great Traditions in Chinese cuisine.