Sep 4
9月4日
Montalbano Family Theatre, L8
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
About the Program
Ted, a Hakka chef from Taiwan, will share how food has become a way for him to rediscover the land, society, and cultural identity.
With a background in food science and brewing technology, Ted founded the culinary laboratory Monsoon, which has been recognized by the Michelin Guide on multiple occasions. In recent years, he has focused on reimagining Hakka cuisine through plant-based cooking, exploring the relationships between food, terroir, migration, and local stories.
Through the concept of "Global Hakka," Ted sees regional cuisine as a medium for cross-cultural dialogue. His work also raises broader questions about how food can respond to sustainability, colonial histories, and contemporary identity.
**This talk will be conducted in Mandarin.
**This event is an artist talk; please see the link for workshop information.
Ted Liao is a Taiwanese Hakka Chef, television host, and sustainable food innovator, best known as the co-founder and Chef of Monsoon, a Michelin-selected restaurant in Taiwan known for its contemporary plant-based Neo-Hakkanese cuisine.
Born into a Hakka family, Ted’s work explores the relationship between land, memory, migration, and flavour. Rather than replicating tradition, he reimagines Hakka food culture through a contemporary lens. He uses fermentation, wild mountain botanicals, local agriculture, and storytelling to create immersive dining experiences rooted in Taiwan’s cultural landscape.
With a background in food science and brewing technology, Ted has developed a distinctive culinary language that combines sustainability, terroir, and cultural identity. Under his direction, Monsoon was selected in the Michelin Guide Taiwan for 3 years and received the Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2023 for its ingredient-driven philosophy and sustainability-focused approach.
Beyond the restaurant, Ted’s practice extends into interdisciplinary collaborations spanning art residencies, educational initiatives, cultural exchange projects, and television. His award-winning show on Hakka TV, “A Meal & A Meet,” received the Best Lifestyle Program award at the Asian Television Awards.
For Ted, cooking is never only about flavour, but a form of cultural storytelling that connects people, land, and the future.
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TAIWANfest Vancouver is grateful to be held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). We acknowledge our privilege to be gathered here, and commit to work with and be respectful to the Indigenous peoples of this land while we engage in meaningful conversations of culture and reconciliation.