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SCMP Reporter

If you thought British food was all fish and chips and roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, then a Hong Kong supermarket is offering to serve up shoppers some food for thought.

Food chain City'super  is hoping to change people's opinion of traditional British fare with a three-week promotion highlighting some of the country's delights, including seafood, ales, cheeses, sausages and organic products.

The promotion, called Discover UK, will run from today through to mid-April in City'super stores in Times Square, IFC Mall (International Finance Centre) and Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui.

It will feature a cookery demonstration by two top British chefs, tastings and displays of products specifically brought in from Britain  for the promotion.

City'super marketing manager Bonnie Chow Wing-yan hopes the promotion will appeal to local tastes as well as expatriate shoppers, who make up about half of the  customers at the IFC Mall.

'We have done similar promotions in the past with products from places like Spain and Italy and they have always been popular with customers,' she says.

'The UK is mostly associated with things like roast beef, but in fact it has far more on offer than most people think and our researchers who went there to source the products were surprised by the range available.'

One of the highlights of the promotion will be a guest appearance by  British chefs Graham Burst, executive chef of the Marco Polo Gateway hotel  in Hong Kong, and Robert Rees,  who is flying in from England to take part in a series of in-store cookery demonstrations.

Mr Rees, who has cooked for  Queen Elizabeth and is a consultant chef with BBC Radio Gloucestershire, will show how to create some delicious dishes using British  products that are featured  in the promotion.

He will host two cookery demonstrations at the City'super IFC store tomorrow from 1pm to 2.30pm and from 3pm to 4.30pm, and again the following day at the same times  at the Times Square store.

His  lineup of traditional recipes includes Yorkshire pudding, bread and butter puddings, English scones and sausages served with red onion jam and mustard mash potato.

Mr Burst, who has worked at some of London's top restaurants and hotels, including The Dorchester and The Ritz, will  demonstrate his culinary skills at the Times Square store on April 3 and again  at the IFC store on April 4, 10 and 11.

His two-hour demonstrations (4pm to 6pm) will include a selection of recipes for the Easter holiday, including Easter lamb and Easter biscuits, along with some traditional dishes served in a not-so-traditional way, such as an orange and chocolate version of the  sponge pudding Spotted Dick.

And if that is not enough to give customers a taste of England, DJ Wong Chi-chung will be spinning discs from some of Britain's most popular artists, including David Bowie and the Pet Shop Boys in the IFC store  tomorrow  and  on April 3 between 4.30pm and 6pm.

Ms Chow says she hopes the atmosphere and displays will help  lift the spirits of British expat shoppers who are  homesick for  the tastes and sounds of their native country.

She says the promotion will  highlight some of the lesser-known traditional foods from Britain, including some previously not available in Hong Kong.

Products under the spotlight include crabs and oysters from Northumbria in the northeast, pork pies and Stilton cheese from the Midlands, turkey from Norfolk and Cumberland sausages, black puddings and Lancashire cheese from the northwest.

There will also be a selection of Scottish malt whiskies and fine ales, including Boddingtons, Guinness and Newcastle Brown Ale.

'The UK has a good range of organic healthy foods which we think will be suitable for Hong Kong,' says Ms Chow.

'We will offer customers the chance to taste organic yoghurt and will also be bringing some new ranges of traditional items such as blueberry-flavoured cheddar cheese and some more usual items like pickled onions and eggs.'

Other organic products included in the range will be Ruddles ales and cider, and bacon from Dorset farms.

During the promotion, customers who spend $200 will have the chance to win  a Virgin Atlantic flight to London and two nights' accommodation in a lucky draw.  Other prizes include dining vouchers at the Marco Polo Gateway and CDs of top British bands from EMI.

Those who spend $300 will receive a gift of a coaster, pin or clip from Virgin Atlantic, while a $500 bill will entitle customers to a  teddy bear which hugs your computer screen.

The promotion runs from March 26 to April 15 at City'super in Times Square and Harbour City, and from March 27 to April 12 at City'super IFC Mall.



Food chain serves up best of British cuisine