A Quick Guide to Slow Food Saturday

China’s food scandals (recycled cooking oil, fake beef, exploding watermelons) may be scary, but they do force us to take another look at what exactly we’re eating. It’s a reminder that we are, in fact, what we eat. Ideally, we’d all be eating sustainably-grown, organic local produce (with plenty of sulphate-free, crispy-fried bacon made from happy pigs), and that’d be that. Not always possible, but if you’re interested in learning about the scene, Beijing's second annual Slow Food Saturday on September 3rd is a good place to start.

Run by the people behind Schoolhouse Hotels (notably the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu), Slow Food Saturday celebrates the “slow food philosophy” and traditional local culinary practices. Getting back to basics, so to speak. There’ll be cooking demonstrations, local restaurants presenting their dishes, dancing and artisanal arts and crafts. Essentially, it’s a day trip out to four villages near Mutianyu, with each individual village highlighting the dishes that they’ve made with the season’s harvest. And yes, "highlight" means that you will get fed.

Pre-registration closes on August 30, and you’ll save RMB 50 off the day-of price if you pre-register and prepay (RMB 100). If you’re wanting to bus up on the organized buses, you’ll need to pre-register (bus tickets RMB 80/120 extra). Entrance price will cover a t-shirt, a set of chits redeemable for dishes and transport between the villages. Check out www.slowfoodsaturday.org for more info, and look here for our coverage of last year's event.

Photo: Slowfoodsaturday.org