PITTSBORO - On Thursday, April 18, 2013, the Confucius Classroom and Natural Chef Cafe at Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) will host a Cantonese cooking expo presented by master chefs with the Chinese Cuisine Association (CCA).

This 2-hour event will start at 5 p.m. on the college's Chatham County Campus, 764 West St, Pittsboro. This event is free and open to the public.

The cooking expo will focus on authentic Chinese culinary art and will begin in the Mary Hayes Holmes Meeting Room of the Chatham Community Library with a brief introduction to Chinese cuisine. The introduction will be given by Section Chief of Travel Agency of Shunde Wu Ziqun and translated by Director of the International Department of CCA Huang Na.

Top chefs from the CCA will then conduct four cooking-show demonstrations outdoors in the Sustainable Technologies courtyard; in the case of rain, the entire event will be conducted in the Multipurpose Room of Building 02.

Renowned masters of Chinese cuisine, each of the visiting CCA chefs are among the Shunde Ten Outstanding Chefs and hold executive positions in the Shunde Chefs Association or the Foshan City Chefs Association.

The visiting chefs are Chef Luo Funan, Chinese Cuisine and Cantonese Master Chef, First of the Shunde Ten Outstanding Chefs and International Referee of Chinese Cuisine; Chef Lin Chaodai, Senior Chef and Nutritionist and National Judge of Chinese Cuisine; Chef Lian Gengming, Dim Sum and Chinese Master Chef and One of the Ten Outstanding Chefs in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau; and Chef Ma Chenggen, 2009 Gold Medal Winner of Shandong Food Festival.

Having recently toured France, the CCA culinary group will begin its American tour in Raleigh and Pittsboro and then continue on to performances in Washington, D.C., and New York.

The menu for this event includes Chicken in Four Seasonings and Spring Rolls, prepared by Chef Luo Funan; Special Juice with Dragon Ball and Traditional Firewood Raft Fish Balls, prepared by Chef Lin Chaodai; Fengcheng Fried Milk and Fried-Baked Fish Row, by Chef Ma Chenggen; and Ginger Milk and Red Beans Dessert, by Chef Lian Gengming.

Audience members will be selected at random to sample the prepared foods, and the CCCC Natural Chef Cafe will provide light hors d'ouevres.

In conjunction with the Travel Agency of Shunde of Guangdong Province, the CCA is committed to enhancing the culinary exchange between China and the world by presenting the true nature of Chinese cuisine. It has sponsored worldwide culinary tours for approximately 10 years.

Specializing in sustainability and natural health, the CCCC Natural Chef Cafe promotes the use of whole, organic, and local foods for general wellness and supports natural foods to create healthy lifestyles for the community. Its operations provide students with a real-world setting for training in catering, sanitation, food safety, and customer service. To learn more about the CCCC Natural Chef Cafe, visit www.cccc.edu/naturalchef.

In partnership with the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Confucius Institute, the CCCC Confucius Classroom promotes an intercultural exchange of language and culture through a range of educational and outreach activities, including hosting cultural events and offering both curriculum and continuing education Chinese language courses.

For more information about the Confucius Classroom, visit www.cccc.edu/confucius.