Confucius Was A Foodie
Confucius Was A Foodie is a TV show on SBS ONE. The program has been available since 2025. A total of 19 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in February 2025.
Last episode
42:59
42:59Confucius Was A Foodie
A bit of a mystery and yet at the heart of all Chinese cuisines - the real flavour of Xian is fresh and inviting but Chef Cushing discovers that its synthetic counterpart was responsible for the mythical Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.
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43:02Chef Christine explores the spicy evolution of Chinese based cuisines in South East Asia.
43:02Who wants something bitter? Chinese cuisines do, all the time in every meal the use of bitter provides balance and as Chef Christine discovers there is something to love in the flavour in drinks in Hong Kong and Bangkok but she reserves judgment on the bitter fruit durian in Malaysia.
42:52In South East Asia the intensity of sour is something new to Chef Christine and so is cooking with the famously over the top Malaysian celebrity, Chef Wan as well as the adorable Asian food TV celebrity Ili Sulaiman who both take Chef Cushing into a new realm of sour.
42:53Chef Christine Cushing explores the great big flavour of sweet in Chinese immigrant communities in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
42:52Salty is one of the Chinese five flavours and Chef Cushing gains a new appreciation as she not only cooks with it but harvests it from the sea in a setting of stunning beauty in Thailand.
Season 2
43:06
43:06When did cooking become cuisine? Was it in the Confucius Mansion 2,500 years ago and is Chinese cuisine really the biggest, the most expressive and the most complex cuisine on the planet?
43:03Was it Confucius or Hippocrates who first said, 'let food be your medicine and medicine be your food'? Chef Christine sets off to compare the thoughts and beliefs of foodie writers and philosophers.
43:05Both during and after China's Cultural Revolution, traditional Chinese chefs, often seen as keepers of the cultural flame, were among the first to defect and their exodus has had a lasting effect on world cuisine, in particular in Taiwan.
43:03Everything has its origins somewhere and when it comes to food, roots are often Chinese. In this episode, Chef Christine looks for the culinary roots of ice cream, ketchup, pasta, phyllo, baklava, pizza, and more.
43:02Christine's adventure into the world of noodles with her mentor chefs who send her to a Confucian Birthday celebration to see how longevity noodles play a part. Her plans suddenly change on her way to Taipei as a typhoon sends her to another location. Christine is touched by the ceremony that is steeped in centuries of cul...
43:02Chef Christine starts her tea adventure at Fortnum and Mason in London, England with celebrated British tea expert Jane Pettigrew. She experiences the ultimate in afternoon tea and learns why Westerners think of England when they think of tea, even though it's one of the most important Chinese exports and essential to all ...
43:02Chef Christine connects with her Chinese chef mentors and this launches her on another journey of discovery. With the dumpling as her touchstone, she discovers how just about every festival on the Solar Lunar calendar can be celebrated with dumplings.
Season 1 44:52
44:52The oldest and, in fact, the cuisine of Confucius, Shandong leaves Chef Christine Cushing wondering until she plans a banquet with her mentor chefs and invites guest celebrity chefs to join her.
44:51Chef Christine Cushing discovers that North-Eastern (or Dongbei) cuisine is little known in North America and that it has more in common culturally and culinary with Russia than Canton.
44:52Classically trained chef Christine Cushing doesn't need to be convinced that food is art but even with descriptions and explanations from her mentor chefs and her own research, Huaiyang cuisine is a mystery, albeit one well worth exploring!
44:51Chef Christine Cushing ventures into the world of Sichuan cuisine and discovers the surprise of flavour over heat as well as a rich cultural history from Chinese roots to main street Chinatowns across North America.
44:52Chef Christine's Cantonese adventure provides one surprise after another and that makes her question what she has previously considered 'Cantonese'. The history both breaks her heart and excites her for deeper exploration into traditional Chinese cuisines.
44:51Chef Christine Cushing meets her Chinese chef mentors and discovers that many of her assumptions about the beginnings of this cuisine in North America might not actually be true.