Finest Food TV Ever

December 30, 2012 6:12 PM

A Bite of China is a beautiful and delicious 7-part documentary from CCTV about food production and preparation in China (in English). “Thirty of the country's most respected filmmakers worked for more than a year filming the seven 50-minute episodes. They shot throughout the country, from the frozen lakes of the north-east and the bamboo forests of Liuzhou to the frenetic chaoses of Beijing and Hong Kong.”
posted by Jode (16 comments total)

This looks great. They're all on YouTube with English subtitles too. Thanks.
posted by kdern at 6:24 PM on December 30, 2012 [4 favorites]

Here is when I get inspired, and break out the wok that I got for Christmas.
posted by spinifex23 at 6:37 PM on December 30, 2012

I prefer my chaoses measured and leisurely.
posted by Nomyte at 6:42 PM on December 30, 2012

Awesome. Thanks for posting this.
posted by nevercalm at 6:43 PM on December 30, 2012

This looks great. They're all on YouTube with English subtitles too. Thanks.

Eh. The YouTube version isn't a good substitute. The English subtitles haven't been done very professionally - they read like someone whose grasp of English leaves a lot to be desired, and in any case are often superimposed right over the Chinese subtitles, making them difficult to read.

You can watch the documentary via the first link in Jode's post, with a professionally overdubbed English narration, and the Chinese subtitles blurred out.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 6:57 PM on December 30, 2012 [2 favorites]

This is great. I got sucked into the first episode and watched it through. Can't wait to see the others!
posted by threeants at 8:54 PM on December 30, 2012

Nice... looking forward to watching this. I expect it to be surprisingly interesting, as I find most things regarding real China to be.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 9:06 PM on December 30, 2012

You bastards have borked it! What does he do with the roasted pork???
posted by cmoj at 9:08 PM on December 30, 2012

You bastards have borked it! What does he do with the roasted pork???

Eat it. That is the only correct Chinese civility towards roast pork.
posted by tksh at 9:13 PM on December 30, 2012

Chinese don't eat pork. They are long lived and don't have much heart disease because they eat vegetables. Clearly seen in these videos. There is a study that proves it.
posted by stbalbach at 9:35 PM on December 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

That hairy tofu, man.
posted by Infernarl at 12:46 AM on December 31, 2012

Are they trying to say that this Chinese import is better than Sugar Dome?!?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 4:40 AM on December 31, 2012

Hairy tofu is just one of the documented foodstuffs that would not pass local should-I-eat-it tests. But they make the furry white mold look so soft and kitteny.
posted by Jode at 6:23 AM on December 31, 2012

Hairy tofu is just one of the documented foodstuffs that would not pass local should-I-eat-it tests.

I'm not sure about that. Hairy tofu sounds much more safe than congealed milk intentionally infected with bread mold and locked away in a cave for months and months.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 6:41 AM on December 31, 2012

Chinese don't eat pork. They are long lived and don't have much heart disease because they eat vegetables. Clearly seen in these videos. There is a study that proves it.

Yeah, Chinese diets have traditionally been vegetable based but there is pork everywhere in most Chinese cultures, except for the western muslim regions and the northern provinces. Elsewhere, the word for meat usually refers to pork.

There's even a strategic pork reserve in China to keep the pork prices steady lest there be riots.
posted by tksh at 10:15 AM on December 31, 2012

Definitely going to have to download and watch these. Thanks for posting.
posted by immlass at 11:16 AM on December 31, 2012