Peking duck meets paneer manchurian

The Chinese have a long and proud gastronomic tradition and food permeates contemporary Chinese culture. The bulk of business deals are struck over boisterous dinners washed down with large quantities of local liquor called Baijiu — a single swallow of which has been known to induce temporary cardiac arrests in even the most hardened drinkers.

Typical herbivorous Indian entrepreneurs, who grew up on a diet of paneer manchurian and veg chowmien, might be forgiven for perhaps looking forward with pleasant anticipation to a week or two spent signing profitable business contracts over some chilly chicken.

Imagine then their reaction when, seated comfortably in an upmarket Beijing restaurant, napkin neatly tucked in, contract discreetly in place for signing at the appropriate juncture, they are confronted with the first course that most Chinese reserve for their special guests — chicken feet a la mode, with claws as intact as if, well, the bird were still capable of using them.

THE necessity for culinary preparedness on the part of Indians aspiring to do business in China is evident. The following four tips are aimed at aiding the hapless Indian navigate the stormy seas of the Chinese gastronomical experience.

The trials begin even before touch down in the mainland. For those used to the ubiquitous ‘‘veg or non-veg’’ option, it can be disconcerting when the rather stern China Eastern air hostess barks out, ‘‘Pork with rice or pork with noodles?’’

Lesson number 1: Book a ‘‘special’’ meal for the flight.After our imaginary Indian businessperson has safely made it to her hotel, met up with Chinese counterparts, drunk copious cups of tea (all the while wondering what to do with the tea leaves floating on top of the hot water), and arranged to go out for a slap up meal at the finest local eatery, the plot thickens. In China it is always the host who orders and the visiting guest rarely gets a peak at the menu. Given that the menu is usually in Chinese, this is not too great a loss. However menus with English translations are on occasion available.

The newcomer to China should be aware that rather than being a helpful aid, these English menus are usually a source of great distress to the uninitiated. It is not always obvious that ‘‘3 kinds of fungus’’ is merely a tasty mix of lightly-stir fried mushrooms or that ‘‘ants climbing up a tree’’ has nothing to do with arthropods and bark, but is in fact vermicelli with minced meat.

Lesson number 2: Avoid looking at menus with English translations. The Chinese are most definitely right on top of the food chain. There is a popular saying in the mainland that the Cantonese will eat ‘‘anything that flies except airplanes, anything that moves on the ground except trains, and anything that moves in the water except boats’’.

Non-Cantonese Chinese are not exactly picky eaters either. Not only do they eat almost every concievable animal, but they consume almost every concievable part of every concievable animal.

Even for the meat-loving Indian who chirpily announces to her Chinese host that she eats ‘‘non-veg’’ with pleasure, the dizzying array of intestines, blood sausages, ears, hooves, tongues and heads likely to be on offer, might effect a yearning for good old baingan ka bharta.

For the egg-despising, garlic-avoiding ‘‘pure vegetarian’’, there is virtually no hope. Vegetarianism is a concept simply not understod in China. It is often taken to mean that the person concerned prefers more vegetables and less meat and ‘‘vegetarian’’ dishes usually consist of green leafy vegetables with a garnishing of minced pork.

However, while vegetarianism is only dimly grasped in China, Buddhism has a long history. Telling your host you are a Buddhist has been known to prove far more effective in securing vegetarian fare than any other stratagem.

Lesson number 3: Brush up on your Lotus sutra. Having gamely chewed at a chicken foot, and toyed with the pig’s knuckle, our average desi will probably be consoling her sorely tested stomach by the thought of some yummy fried rice or chowmein on its way. The hopes are likely to be dashed. The Chinese, particularly on formal occasions, almost never eat rice or noodles with their meal. Rice is eaten after the main course as a stomach-filler, and asking for rice is sometimes considered rude as it indicates that the guest is not satisfied with the other dishes.

Lesson number 4: Make full use of the room service in your hotel, after the dinner. Doing business with China can be a rewarding and profitable experience. You just need to grab the opportunities on offer firmly with both chopsticks. A cast-iron stomach and tendency to dipsomania are merely added advantages.