Cooking course equips university students with the skills to whip up spicy Sichuan dishes

A college is hoping a new cooking class will inspire interest and help preserve one of China's most famous regional cuisines, with the courses intended to produce cooks capable of whipping up spicy meals of their own.

Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Sichuan province, wants students master the finer points of creating local delicacies, such as Chen's mapo tofu.

The university began offering the Sichuan cuisine course early last month, with students attending eight weekly training classes each lasting three and a half hours.