TEXT BY ANDRÉ VINAGRE / TRANSLATION DAISY WONG
Antonieta Manhão, affectionately known as Chef Neta, has dedicated herself to promoting Macanese cuisine throughout her career, and recently launched her new book Homemade Macanese Cuisine (Receita di Casa), detailing recipes for 19 classic Macanese dishes, including capela, tacho, lacassá soup and, of course, minchi.
In this, her first book, she presents recipes that are exactly those that she uses at home, hence the book’s title.
In the preface of her book, Chef Neta explains that: “Traditionally, Macanese cuisine was only present at family gatherings with the Macanese community, making it difficult for outsiders to experience.”
In publishing the book, Chef Neta hopes to “raise awareness of Macanese cuisine, encourage more people to try cooking for themselves and pass on culinary skills” to the next generation.
The book is edited by Dorris Lei and translated by Adelaide Ferreira, with the recipes presented in Chinese, Portuguese and English.
“It takes courage to make a book in three languages,” Chef Neta admits, also pointing out that the book was completed in around just two months.
After taking an interest in Macanese cuisine herself, editor of the book Dorris Lei became a student of Chef Neta.
“I hope readers will use this book as a practical cooking guide and invite friends and family to try the flavours of Macanese cuisine, thus preserving its unique culinary traditions and tastes,” Dorris states in her Editor’s Note.
Antonieta Manhão has been teaching the secrets of Macanese gastronomy for many years and has collaborated with various hotels as a guest chef, including Artyzen Grand Lapa, St. Regis and MGM. She has also taken part in a number of activities to promote Macanese cuisine abroad. Chef Neta was runner-up in the ‘Iron Chef of Thailand’ cooking competition in 2016, and was awarded the European Chef of Macau prize at the 12th edition of the ‘Aurum 2017’ – European Excellence in Oenogastronomy award presented by the European Council of Oenogastronomic Confraternities.
Macanese gastronomy is inscribed on the list of Macau’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Macau Cultural Heritage website describes the cuisine as “gastronomic culture based on the food preparation method of Portuguese cuisine, integrating ingredients and culinary methods from Africa, India, Malaysia and also local ones. By combining the culinary merits of each region, local cuisine has developed in a unique way, perfecting itself over the centuries, becoming a historical by-product of Portuguese maritime culture.”
Despite her successes, Chef Neta feels that efforts to promote Macanese gastronomy abroad have been “a little weak” since the end of the pandemic, suggesting that the government needs to invest more in these promotional activities. On the other hand, even when people visit Macau, she feels there is a lack of restaurants that offer truly authentic Macanese dishes.
“We can do promotions outside Macau, but when tourists come to Macau, where do they go to eat genuine Macanese dishes? That’s the problem”.
