The first day of Northern preliminary (Sep 27th) ended with 4 tickets for the best teams.
In
which:
• Northern highlands:
- Dung
Tan restaurant - Thai Nguyen province: 1st prize
- Sapaly
hotel - Lao Cai province: 2nd prize
• Red river delta area:
- Emerald
resort & Spa, Ninh Binh province: 1st prize
- JSC
International Ha Long Wonder Travel company, Quang Ninh province: 2nd prize
These
4 chosen team will directly compete with each other.
Dung Tan restaurant,
Thai Nguyen province: 1st prize.
Northern
highland teams impressed judges and audiences by regional ingredients, such as
salmon, highland chickens and O Day vegetables (Sa Pa), Ta Van wild eels, Bac
Ha plums, Nepal gingseng, Doi seeds (Yen Bai mountains), and many wild leaves.
Every team has particular cooking styles but they all crowned northwest
specialties by their dishes’ savor.
Among
those teams, the only representative from Thai Nguyen, land of tea, and also
the first time being in The Golden Spoon contest, Dung Tan restaurant (team 80)
scored by many new interesting ingredients, such as Ngoc Cau wild mushroom,
cogon grass root, Cistanche root, Ba Kich root, Dam Duong Hoac leaves, Da Hien
leaves, mugwort, and Himalayan salt.
With
all special ingredients above, chef Dinh Trong Giang introduced a vigorous
menu, including Shrimps in Himalayan salt fire and Da Hien salad, Eels rolled
guava leaves in Moc Uy Tu sauce, Stewed pheasant and Ba Kich root, and Mugwort
cake. Even though there were some mistakes in decoration and display, 32 year
olds chef subdued the judges by the enterprising coordination that placed all
healthy ingredients and remarkable spices in harmony and symbolized northwest
highlands’ culinary.
Lead
Dinh Trong Giang was thrilled when giving comments about his surprising prize,
“We might be luckier than other teams. We did participate other contests, we
have known about The Golden Spoon contests for years but we thought this
competition was too big for us. However, we were much more confident this year
because of our well-prepared menu and decided to sign up in order to meet and
learn from colleges. This surprising result belongs to the whole team, with our
hearty passion and best efforts. We are being proud of our journey for spices.”
Meanwhile,
cooking teams from Red river delta area introduces plenty of famous seafood,
such as Nghe An eels, Cu Ky crabs, sea cucumbers, peanut worms, Tong Truong
tilapia, and other fish from Tra Co, Mong Cai, Quang Ninh fishing grounds. The
familiar ingredients were cleverly made up with pretty names, creative process,
and catching decorations which made party tables much more attractive.
Emeralda
Resort & Spa Ninh Binh won over the judges by their 4 “Taste of Home”
dishes menu: rare goat meat in lime juice and Tong Truong tilapia soup, eels in
bamboo tube served with fresh rice noodles and pineapple, BBQ goat meat served
with potato cake and soya paste sauce, sweet-rice balls stuffed bird’s nest.
On
September 28th, the Northern preliminary is still taking place with the rest 11
teams from Ha Noi at Architecture & Construction Exhibition Center.
By The Golden Spoon Awards