CHINA: Mexico's El Fogoncito opens China's first genuine taco restaurant

Mexico is taking on the taste buds of China with the opening of the city's first authentic taco restaurant. El Fogoncito is hoping the flavours of Mexico will attract Latino expatriates as well as tap into the huge Chinese market. China is home to the most diverse - and if you speak to the Chinese - the best cuisine in the world. But with globalization tearing a course through the Great Wall, food trends from around the world are fast making inroads into traditional foods which have held sway for centuries. Now it's Mexico's turn to challenge the 1.3 billion taste-buds of China. A well-known Mexican taqueria (taco restaurant), El Fogoncito, opened its first Asian branch in China on January 25 - hoping to tap into the increasingly sophisticated palates of the Chinese market. El Fogoncito was founded in Mexico in 1968, serving "tacos al pastor" with authentic Mexican flavours. The business has flourished in many South American and Caribbean countries as Venezuela, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. El Fogoncito has refused to adapt its cuisine to cater to local tastes - unlike many other international food chains - - preferring to serve up real Mexican food with flavours and spices flown in from home. For locals more accustomed to the searing spices of Sichuan and spices and ingredients from the length and breadth of the country, not all customers were immediately impressed with their first taste of tacos. "It's a very neutral taste. It's neither too plain nor too strong. So it's a little bit difficult for me to get used to it," said Wei Yan, a 25-year-old customer. The restaurant is also hoping to tap into the growing Mexican community in Beijing, as more and more Mexicans choose to study, work and do business in China. "Fogoncito is a good platform for communications in fields of food and business between Mexico and China. The customers from Latin America and Mexico will find this restaurant home to them," said Chen Zhen, the manager of the restaurant. Fogoncito's headquarters have dispatched four Mexican chefs to China - hoping to tempt the taste buds of the Chinese clientele in a country where "all things flying in the sky and crawling on the earth" can be eaten. One chef said he believed the Mexican taco would become a hit. "Chinese people like Chinese food. Mexican food is not very similar to Chinese food, but Chinese people are beginning to like tacos," said Mexican chef Roberto Ramirez. The four chefs are now busy training their Chinese colleagues in the art of Mexican cooking as El Fogoncito is planning to establish 20 more restaurants in China in the next few years. Meanwhile, the Mexican chefs are also picking up some essential skills - learning to speak a few words of Mandarin to send the message "Mexican food is delicious!"

ITN Source | February 3, 2007

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