First it was roast duck and rice noodles. Then it was cooked frogs and turtles. Now shark fin soup, the caviar of fine Chinese cuisine, is under threat from California legislators seeking to ban the possession, sale and consumption of shark fins in the state.
Owners of local Chinese restaurants gathered at Gourmet Island restaurant in Alhambra on Friday, vowing to save the centuries-old tradition.
“If we let them ban shark fin, they will come after other Chinese delicacies,” said Derek Ma, the restaurant’s owner and president of the National Chinese Welfare Council’s Los Angeles branch. “This is very unfair to the Chinese people. If we don’t say something now, the fine cuisine of China will disappear.”