May Food Keep Us Together (Chinese: 飲食男女) is a television documentary series on food and people in Hong Kong. The first season contains 52 self-contained episodes, each of which tells the story of a restaurant or eatery.
Synopsis
May food Keep Us Together is a documentary series that captures the lives of ordinary people who cook and serve food as a profession in Hong Kong. There is no celebrity chefs, presenters or voice-over in the series. Through their own voices and accounts, every episode tells a story of these men and women within and beyond the walls of the kitchen.
Apart from telling the human story of these food heroes, the series is also a collection of Hong Kong cuisine. The distinct food culture of Hong Kong is illustrated in the programs.(e.g. Dai Pai Dong, eating dim sum as breakfast, dining together as the ties of family, etc.).
Production Team
May food Keep Us Together is a production of Peoples Production Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Next Media Limited.
Episodes There are a total of 52 half-hour (24 minutes) episodes in the first season. The following table summarises the cuisines featured.
Season 1
Episodes Titles (original titles in Chinese) Featured cuisine / food 1 Tango with Snakes (與蛇共舞) Snake soup and snake feast 2 Al Fresco Dining, Hong Kong-style (食在路邊) Hong Kong styled seafood 3 Boiling Water Hot Tea (水滾茶靚) Yum Cha / Dim Sum 4 The Coffee Man (咖啡人生) Coffee 5 The Dim Sum Masters (叄去壹) Yum Cha / Dim Sum 6 Sweet Troubles (老實糖水) Sweet soup 7 More than Enough (盆滿缽滿) Pooh Choi / Big Bowl Feast 8 There's No Place like Home (回家百利好) Cha Chaan Teng / Hong Kong-style Teahouse 9 Kung Fu Kitchen (百轉紅廚房) Chinese home cuisine 10 No Door to be Closed (麵店不關門) Cantonese styled noodles 11 Roast Goose on Fire (火鳳凰) Roast Goose 12 Call me Mr. To-fu (豆腐佬係我) To-fu 13 Love Spins on Beef Offal (牛雜大佬) Beef offal and brisket noodles 14 Mooncakes for All (大同人月圓) Mooncakes 15 Five-storied Roast Belly Pork (炭燒五層樓) Siu yuk / Roast Pig 16 Inside Mr. Bii's Dumplings (老畢的故事) Shandong Dumpling / Jiaozi 17 Farewell, Dream Team (拍檔再見) Teochew Cuisine 18 Buns Let Us Live in Peace (總會平安) Traditional Ping on Buns 19 Chicken Intestines for the Soul (緣繫蘭香) Beef Omasum and Chicken intestine noodles 20 Swiss-sweet Chicken Wings (黑色幽默) Soy-sauce Western 21 A Time to Cook (造麵有時) Taiwan beef noodles 22 Father and Son on a Bamboo Ride (剛柔竹昇麵) Jook-sing noodles 23 The Vietnamese Way to Feel Full (越南式溫飽與幸福) Vietnamese cuisine 24 When Times Taste Bittersweet (奶茶回甘時) Hong Kong-style milk tea 25 Old flavours, New Times (回鍋懷舊菜) Traditional Chinese cuisine 26 Hot Pot Rock'n Roll (滾滾樂手) Hong Kong styled hotpot 27 What Makes Us A Couple (無冤不成夫妻檔) Dai Pai Dong 28 The Tie of a Teochew Family (情暖潮州冷) Teochew cuisine 29 Jamming Tears and Smiles (Jam出百味人生) Handmade jam 30 The Banquet Must Go On (不散筵席) Banquet catering 31 Going with the Ebb and Flow (順流逆流) Typhoon shelter styled seafood 32 Growing Old with Chinese Pastries (夕陽餅香) Traditional Chinese Pastries 33 Happy Chef, Happy Restaurant (法式開心大廚) French Cuisine 34 The Grassland Seahopper (塔門遊子) Congee and seafood 35 Making Sushi, Making Friends (和味･喜八) Japanese Cuisine 36 Brothers and Bothers (難為車仔麵) Cart noodle 37 Little Egg Tarts Made by My Great Parents (小城蛋撻) Egg tarts 38 Off the Stage, On the Pan (後生仔煎包) Shanghai-styled meat bun 39 Fish Balls on the Road (手打魚蛋腳踏車) Fish balls 40 Congees for Three (食粥三代) Cantonese styled congee 41 The Women in Our Family (廚房半邊天) Seafood and Hong Kong stir-fry 42 The Pride of a Hangzhou Cook (味出杭州) Hangzhou cuisine 43 A Colorful Organic Taste (種出美味色彩) Organic vegetable 44 French Chef in a Chinese Village (法國大廚回小鄉) French home cuisine 45 Last Stall Standing (圍村街坊味) Dai Pai Dong 46 The Burnings of Brotherhood (兄弟不怕洪爐火) Steak 47 The Chef with the Dragon Tattoo (左青龍 右大廚) Hong Kong stir-fry 48 Nyonya Mother Cooks Best (家香娘惹菜) Nyonya Cuisine 49 Best Before (此日期前最佳) Yunnan wild mushroom 50 My Grandma from Thailand (泰菜傳香) Thai cuisine 51 Fresh Chef, Fresh Seafood (流浮海上鮮) Seafood 52 Bugs and Noodles, Yunnan Delicacies (情牽米線) Yunnan cuisine
Awards and nominations
17th Asian Television Awards 2012, Singapore
48th Chicago Intercom Competition 2012
2012 Accolade Competition, USA
33rd Annual Telly Awards 2012
47th Chicago Intercom Competition 2011
16th Asian Television Awards 2011, Singapore
Broadcasting May Food Keep Us Together was premiered on Next TV in Taiwan on 4 June 2011. Subsequently, the series has been broadcast in San Francisco, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.
Territories Network/Channel Premiere date Timeslot Taiwan Next TV (Variety) 4 Jun 2011 1100 and 1500 on Sat (Re-run) San Francisco KTSF 26 29 Oct 2011 1730 on Sat Hong Kong TVB HD JadeTVB J2 19 Feb 201229 May 2012 1755 on Sun2130 on Tue Singapore Mio TV (Jia Le) 5 Sep 2012 1830 on Wed Malaysia Astro (Quan Jia HD) 21 Oct 2012 1830 on Sun
References
External links Official website Peoples Production Limited Peoples Production Youtube Channel