Mixing It Up

With the help of one of Macau's foremost chefs, Austin Bush finds that this tiny region of China packs a big punch.

- Austin Bush

IF YOU'VE HEARD of Macau at all, it's probably because of gambling; the casinos in this special administrative region of China, about an hour's ferry ride from Hong Kong, pull in 25 percent more annual revenue than Las Vegas. But food-focused travelers should also have Macau on their radar. For nearly 500 years, the territory was a colony of Portugal. That legacy led to a mixed-race population known as the Macanese, who created a fusion cuisine of the same name.

Macanese food brings together ingredients, dishes, and cooking techniques from countries as diverse as Brazil, Angola and Mozambique, India and Malaysia, Thailand and Japan-all stops on Portugal's 16th-century trade route.

Salt-cod fritters at La Famiglia restaurant.

One of the most prominent people cooking Macanese cuisine today is Antonieta Fernandes Manhão-a Macau native, Iron Chef Thailand contestant, and author. In March, I visited Macau with Chef Neta, as she's known, who showed me a side of the territory that didn't involve a single casino.