Pride of place and plate

"People eat flowers in springtime, mushrooms in summer, fruit in autumn and vegetables in winter."

Liu found new ways of cooking one kind of porcini in a villager's home－that is, boiling the mushrooms in chicken soup with ham and pan-frying them with yak butter.

"Porcini are so delicious. They taste like foie gras," Liu says.

Liu points out French cuisine has influenced Yunnan food. The province borders Vietnam, which was colonized by France, and contains many French-style houses and restaurants.

"Yunnan has a sweet soy sauce only found in the province and in France," he says.

The sauce, which is infused with brown sugar, is used as a dip for cold dishes, sliced beef and ham in Yunnan.