On Thursday, January 16th, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau hosted the "Taste Taiwan" Culinary Tour Show Premiere at Mosaic Bar and Grille in the Hyatt Regency in downtown Vancouver. Hundreds of guests were invited to see to the event, which was the end of a huge campaign that started in October of last year.


Taste Taiwan started with the selection of three nominated chefs (one from Los Angeles, one from New York, and one from Vancouver), for an exclusive eight-day culinary trip in Taiwan in December 2013.

The result is a 30 minute TV show highlighting Taiwan cuisine featuring the chefs visiting local restaurants, fresh produce markets, night markets and culinary institutes in Taiwan.

The show will be airing on the Discovery Channel in February in the US. Canadians will be able to view the show on Youtube.

Chef Thomas Heinrich of Mosaic Bar and Grille was selected to participate in the tour to represent Vancouver.

Here is with Dennis Pang!

Hakka tea crusted line-caught lingcod

Chef Heinrich produced this special Taiwan-inspired dish to be included on the Mosaic's menu for the month of January to promote tourism in Taiwan. Looks super yummy!



 Event participants were invited to try night market style Taiwanese street food.

 Chicken,

sausages,


Taiwanese sausage in sticky rice with toppings (garlic and cucumbers).



 This guy was making peanut mochi.


 Soft and chewy and delicious!


Gyoza dumplings! My favourite!

In addition to the featured Taiwan-inspired dish, Chef Heinrich also made a whole dinner course. They looked so mouthwatering delicious, I was almost tempted to steal a taste. XD




 Taiwan seems to be a very interesting culinary-wise. And looking through the brochures and pamphlets the representatives handed to everyone as we left, it seems there are a lot of beautiful places to explore as well. It is definitely on my places-to-visit list! I'm also looking forward to watching the Taste Taiwan show when it airs!