Banquet evokes historic French bombardment of Tamsui

Banquet evokes historic French bombardment of Tamsui

2026-04-29

Food can satiate and can also tell a story. Lee Chi-lin, a professor of history at Tamkang University, arranged a banquet exploring the 1884 Battle of Tamsui through food, each dish conveying some aspect of this significant conflict of the Sino-French War.

Abalone, squid, shrimp, and other seasonal seafood is served in boats, using blue salt to mimic the ocean. This course is meant to convey the French fleet’s four-ship salvo sent during the Battle of Tamsui during the Sino-French War.

Instead of the usual lettuce wrap, this minced shrimp is served with waffle cones to give it a sweet crunch. This course, titled “Echoes of the Trading House,” also comes with a story.

Lee Chi-lin
Tamkang University history professor
Douglas Lapraik & Co was a British merchanthouse located very close to the pier. The British knew early on that the French were planning to attack, so they instructed all the British nationals there to quickly board ships and evacuate. So we used the waffle cones to represent the megaphones that helped spread the word to all the foreigners in Tamsui.

Next up is “Rain of Fire.” The sweetness of the mussels and shrimp seep into the squid ink risotto, designed to recreate Tamsui’s devastation in the wake of the French bombardment.

Lu Chia-hsing
Chef
The “Rain of Fire” was the most difficult one. How do you convey the chaos of falling cannonballs? We spent a long time coming up with how to present this course.

The course “Sacred Radiance” uses mozzarella sticks and two colors of glutinous rice balls to represent cannons. By translating the chaos of war into a feast, Tamkang University professor Li Chi-lin has created a culinary time machine for diners to taste their way through Tamsui’s storied history.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#Tamsui #BattleofTamsui #cuisine #banquet #finedining #foodstorytelling #SinoFrenchWar #history

肥厚鮑魚.鮮甜蝦子"滬尾宴"隱喻法軍砲擊淡水歷史

2026-04-29

美食也能融入歷史故事，淡江大學歷史系教授李其霖，將1884年清法戰爭中的”法軍大砲擊"，變身為滬尾宴，透過一道道美食，讓民眾更了解歷史。

鮑魚、小卷、蝦子，當季海味放在船型盒上，還用藍色海鹽，模擬海洋，重現清法戰爭中，法軍大砲擊的四艦連發。

大火快炒的蝦鬆，不用生菜包起來吃，換成了甜筒，吃來外皮甜脆、蝦仁彈牙，這道洋行傳聲，也大有典故。

[[淡江大學歷史系教授李其霖]]
“那得忌利士洋行是英國的商行，然後它又距離這一個碼頭又很近，所以當時呢，因為法國要打淡水，英國人早就知道這個訊息，所以已經囑咐，所有在淡水的這些僑民，要趕快上船，趕快要離開，所以我們就把甜筒，當成那個大聲公的樣子，然後傳遞給所有在淡水外國人去了解”

再品嚐天降火雨，淡菜、花枝的鮮甜，透入墨魚頓飯，為了重現法軍砲擊後，淡水滿目瘡痍彈的樣子。

[[主廚呂家興]]
“最難的困難點的是天降火雨，因為我們我們要如何呈現，它像戰爭的炮彈這樣的凌亂，所以我們用腦筋想了很久，所以才這樣的呈現方法呈現”

還有佛光萬丈，用起司條、雙色湯圓模擬砲彈，淡江大學歷史系教授李其霖，將歷史戰役，轉譯為滬尾宴，讓過美食，讓民眾彷彿走入歷史隧道，更了解淡水。

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