{"id":44885,"date":"2026-03-25T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/bronze-and-tingling-tongues-at-chen-jia-yan\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T18:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:22:22","slug":"bronze-and-tingling-tongues-at-chen-jia-yan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vnc-china.nl\/en\/bronze-and-tingling-tongues-at-chen-jia-yan\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronze and tingling tongues at Chen Jia Yan"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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by Astrid Bouwman<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The eighth edition of the dining club, March 12, 2026, took place for the first time outside the Randstad, below the rivers, in Eindhoven. Given the place where the participants lived, we could have gone even further south, as far as Maastricht, because that is where a large part of the dinner companions came from this evening.
For example, Eindhoven became the center of the Netherlands for a while, and restaurant Chen Jia Yan became the setting for this dinner. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Lesson about Bronze<\/b><\/p>

Our knowledge about bronze was refreshed: Bronze is an alloy, a fusion of copper and tin. The resulting metal combines properties of both and is therefore more useful for all kinds of purposes. This process was discovered and applied in China as early as 2000 BC. The book ‘Masterpieces of Sichuan Bronzes’<\/i> that our host Oey Toen Ping shows contains beautiful illustrations of ancient utensils, including masks, weaponry, wine cups, incense burners. Many of these objects were used in rituals. He also shows a number of bronze objects. <\/p>

First of all, the galloping horse – found in an ancient tomb in the province of Gansu – is put on the table. A bronze copy admittedly, the original has not been allowed to leave China since 2002. The horse gallops with one leg on the back of a swallow, in perfect and graceful balance. It has been the logo for Chinese tourism since 1983 and is of course also in the picture a lot this year – the year of the horse. <\/p>

A pendant with archaic Chinese characters turns out to be a bronze coin. With modern technology, it is quite easy to find out that this coin dates from the time of the Zhou dynasty (10th century BC to 256 BC). <\/p>

An antique wine cup on three legs so that it is always stable and with raised rods to prevent the nose from being inserted too deep into the keg.<\/p>

That bronze is also a metal that appeals to contemporary artists is shown by Ping with the last object. From a distance it has the shape of a tube or a vase, but in front of us is a very lifelike roll of gauze bandage, complete with the characteristic clamp, entirely made of bronze by a Dutch artist from Deventer. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The food: Sichuan dishes with m\u00e1l\u00e0 thrills<\/b><\/p>

After we have tasted enough of these art treasures, the cook comes to the table with the first bowls. First of all, the specific ingredients of Sichuan cuisine; To be able to add to taste, add a bowl with the pepper flour and a bowl with pepper oil. That turned out not to be necessary, because the chef had responded to our request to prepare a real m\u00e1l\u00e0 sensation <\/i>and let us experience the effect of the Sichuan peppercorns: that unique combination of burning<\/i> and tingling<\/i>. The rice and tea therefore had to be replenished regularly. <\/p>

The meal started with three cold dishes, where the level of the cuisine immediately became clear: fresh, prepared just short or long enough, refined flavors with a very attractive presentation:<\/p>