Spice table; Novotel Danang Premier Han River team show great concentration during the contest
In 2015, the Golden Spoon contest was organized with the theme of Home
taste: Vietnamese spice journey. It carried a total prize value of over VND 3
billion and was financed by Ly’s Horeca.
The preliminary round on May 6 2015 took place in 6 groups. These
were: Mekong Delta; Ho Chi Minh City and
the Southeast; South Central and Central Highlands; North Central; Northern
Highlands; Hanoi and the Red River Delta. Nearly 357 chefs from 119 teams from hotels,
restaurants and tourist areas of nearly 39 provinces brought more than 400
delicacies and local specialties to the contest.
The interesting aspect is based on traditional dishes with common
ingredients. The chefs have to apply new
preparation techniques in combination spices, leaves, flowers, fruit and seeds.
Many of these are new to them, such as mangrove apple, Artocarpus tonkinensis,
bitter tomato, citrus hystrix, shinyleaf pricklyash leaves, “gai xưng” leaf, “lá sang” leaf, “lá su siêng”
leaf, “hoa cơm nếp” flower, wolfberry
root, Bitter bolete, Bee hive mushroom, Achyranthes aspera, Rhodomyrtus
tomentosa, Myrtle pepper and more. They used modern presentation styles to
create alternative dishes with new and delicious flavors served on a beautiful,
elegant party table. The research and innovation convinced the
jury to awarded 50 places to the semifinals for the team that attended the
preliminary round of the Golden Spoon contest.
42 chefs from 14 teams competed against each other in the Semi-final of the
North Region at three events: Danang (Central Region), Lao Cai (Northern
Highlands) and Hanoi (Delta Red and Hanoi). In this round each team presents a
4 course menu with the theme of "Golden Dish". Teams will have to
choose for themselves a dish that shows their strengths. Also they will have to
demonstrate how to use their spices in the dish. In addition the teams have to
answer questions, posed by the judges, about the use of spices in their
marinade and cooking.
Jury judging in Hanoi
Culinary artisan Suong Thi Bui said, “All the teams have demonstrated
their abilities, and there was not much between them. Finally we awarded the
first prize to Lotte Hotel; second prize to Flamingo Dai Lai, Novotel Danang
Premier Han River, Palm Garden Resort & Spa and Hanoi Sofitel Plaza. These
are the teams that will go through to the final.
Thu Huong
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