Excited about the taste and color of southern cuisine

Chefs competing in the semi-final round - southern region concentrate on their work

Diversity and Excitement

This round brought an excitement for both the contestants and observers from the start with the abundance of ingredients and flavors from the southern lands. "In this round, the key feature is the gathering of many local chefs, each focusing on regional characteristics and typical local spices as an advantage” said Culinary Artisan, Advisor and Judge Bui Thi Suong.

From the southwest, Cuu Long River restaurant’s chefs brought a menu that had a bold style indicative of the Mekong Delta, which included: salad with goat meat cooked in Mekong Delta style; five color crab; chicken hot pot; sweet soup made of nipa palm with sugar. Another representative was Thang Loi restaurant who brought a menu with alternative specialties from their homeland, including hot pot made of spiny eel with curry and fish paste and duck cooked with “củ ấu” or called water chestnut served with bread.

Representing the South Central region, chef of Au Lac Thinh from Wedding Center, Nha Trang City, also had a menu that addressed the local cuisine with dishes from the ocean. The dish “a gift from the ocean” was a squid cake and soup made of sea urchin, plus their grilled fish with salt and basil served with cottonii (seaweed) salad and their grilled beef with wild honey served with steamed rice. Novotel Nha Trang stayed true to a fusion style of cooking and created dishes such as avocado salad, coconut with tuna served with coconut sauce, lobster stewed with butter and tofu mixed with egg served with caviar and garlic and butter sauce. Meanwhile, a representative from Binh Dinh, Muong Thanh, Quy Nhon Hotel, did their own research on recipes and new cooking techniques to make a specialty of the central region: “Ngọc trầm biển Đông”, which means a hidden pearl of the sea. They also presented “Huynh Đe” - crab fried with salt and lemongrass, along with pork stewed in wine.

The chefs from Ho Chi Minh City selected their own favorite dishes with a menu inspired by fruits, such as “Trái bình bát” - custard apple. The custard apple was used to cook many dishes such as a salad, rolled cake with baby shrimp, freshwater crab stir-fried with custard apple and served with grilled rice paper, or hot pot made of custard apple and fish sauce paste (as prepared by the Kim Do Hotel team). Other teams created recipes that combined traditional ingredients with more expensive ingredients.

They can nearly touch the VND 1 billion grand prize

The Golden Spoon contest with total prizes up to VND 3 billion is jointly organized by Minh Long I Co.Ltd in coordination with Center of Business Study and Assistance and financed by Ly’s Horeca (specialized with ceramic products such as bottle, jar, bowl, glass etc…high quality used for system of restaurant and hotel of Minh Long I’s tourist area) with support of two national units Chamber of Commerce - Industry of Vietnam (VCCI) and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

The Golden Spoon contest is a playground for professional chefs across the country that has been organized annually since 2013, and is now in its third season. The contest theme is “Hometown Taste - Vietnamese Spice Journey”. It started in June and has accordingly hosted six clusters: Mekong Delta, Ho Chi Minh City and Southest region, South central region and Highlands, Northern region, Northern Highlands, Hanoi and Red River Delta. It has attracted 357 chefs in 119 teams, coming from 39 provinces.

Mr Ly Huy Sang- Deputy Director of Minh Long I Co.Ltd and Director of Ly’s Horeca product and Deputy of Organizing Committee shared that, “With the new changes the contest is more professional than before, and the Organizing Committee expects the Golden Spoon contest to develop cuisine. This is not only within the country, but will also reach out to other countries to contribute to lifting up Vietnam’s cuisine-based tourism industry to become an important economic sector, as well as improve health condition through delicious and nutritious foods.

After the semi-final round of the north (which took place on October 13, 2015 in Hanoi) finished the semi-final round – southern region is the last step to the final round with awards of VND 3 billion and the coveted Chef Cup.

After two days of the semi-final round – southern region there were 10 teams to enter the final round, including one best prize which belongs to Binh Quoi team (HCM). Nine teams won the second prize.

According to the plan, the final round of the 2015 Golden Spoon contest will take place on December 2, 2015 in Binh Duong province.

ĐD

Followed byTien Phong newspaper