Taiwan is known around the world as having one of the most diverse cuisines in Asia, and food is the foremost passion of its 23 million inhabitants. THE RAW AND THE COOKED is a sumptuous exploration of the island's rich culinary traditions, and their relationship to the Taiwan's unique mix of cultures. The film begins in Taipei, circles the island, and then heads inland. Along the way we enter the world-renowned restaurant Shin Yeh atop the city's Taipei 101 skyscraper; are treated to a mathematically precise lesson on how to eat soup-filled xiaolongbao at Din Tai Fung, Taiwan's most celebrated dumpling house; and visit Shitiping, where aboriginal chef Ladibisse makes a bouillabaisse from inside a tree trunk, cooked by heated stones. The grande finale is set at Jindou Restaurant in Pulin, where fusion chef Liu Heng-hong offers spectacular edible objects such as roses, paper, bitter gourds, water bamboo and ailanthus prickly ash.