Asian Food Gallery

Coming Soon

Opening in 2022, Asian Food Gallery will have eight counters represen-ting a different Asian cultural heritage and an endless variety of dishes to choose from. ​

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Asian cooking traditions have thousands of years of history, but be-fore ginger, turmeric, coriander, star anise, and so many more spices from Asia could be tasted by the world, they tantalized the imagina-tions of the great poets and chroniclers.​

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A famous 9th century work of Chinese literature that inspired chefs of the ancient world to master the exotic culinary creations of Asia – The “Youyang Zazu” (酉陽雜俎), written by the poet and author Duan Chengshi during the Tang Dynasty, is one of the earliest works to des-cribe in detail, among many wondrous things, the delicious dishes of lands known only through stories he composed from the recollections of contemporary adventurers and entrepreneurial merchants of intern-ational trade. 

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Chengshi’s descriptions of the dishes of greater Asia were so vivid that they inspired one of the first female chefs ever to rise to immortal fame. Shan Zu is forever remembered for triumphantly setting the royal table with every dish described in the thirty volumes of Youyang Zazu. Inspired by the book, MoCA's Asian Food Gallery is dedicated to serving various Asian cuisines to our neighbors.