CRI听力:Israel Holds Chinese Food Workshops to Get Prepared for More Chinese Visitors

At a professional culinary school in central Israeli city of Tel Aviv, Chinese chef Chen Qing is giving a Chinese food workshop to Israeli hotel and restaurant chefs, as well as to the students of the culinary school itself.

Chen Qing is among 4 Chinese chefs who have been traveling Israel, offering free master classes around the country.

The workshops include teaching chefs how to prepare Chinese dishes suitable for breakfast, main courses and desserts.

This way, Israeli chefs are able to learn about the specific culinary requirements of most Chinese tourists, and how to best adapt their menus to welcome them.

Israeli chef Nor has taken a lot of notes during the workshop he attended.

"The taste, the spices… it's very delicious, and it's interesting. It's a new taste, not the old Israeli taste. We have now a lot of Chinese people that come to the hotel. We want to know the traditional food to cook for them, to start the Chinese style. It's a new taste, new culture."
Chen Qing says he hopes these workshops are also a good way for him to exchange ideas with Israeli chefs.

"Normally they can't make proper Chinese food because they don't have the right ingredients. Beyond that, nobody was around to tell them whether they were cooking the food right or not. They ask me: can I make it like this? I say yes, I used to try it that way and it works, then they know it is OK. It opens up their minds. I can also see things from them that maybe I've missed. So it works well to help us both."

The workshops are being sponsored by the Israeli Tourism Ministry.

The tourism agency is taking the step ahead of Hainan Airlines opening its Beijing-Tel Aviv direct flights this coming April.

Amir Halevi is the Director-General of the Israeli Tourism Ministry.

"For us the Chinese market is very important. The year 2016 is the first time that a Chinese airline is going to fly from China to Israel, so we want to be ready with the hotels, with the tour guides and with the food. Our goal is in 3 years to be with 100,000 Chinese coming to visit Israel, and hopefully we can make it."

The Israeli Tourism Ministry is also working to ease visa requirements for Chinese people, and has opened a Chinese language course for Israeli tour guides to better serve Chinese visitors.

Around 34-thousand Chinese visitors went to Israel last year, an increase of around one-third compared with the year before.

But with the new direct flight route opening in the spring, the numbers are expected to grow significantly.

For CRI, I'm Wang Mengzhen.