Bringing Vietnamese flavors to world tables

That is the theme of the Saigon International Cooking Contest 2016 that took place on November 18th 2016, at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), District 7, Ho Chi Minh City.

Ms. Doan Thi Thu Thuy, Acting Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade), representing Organizing Board had a talk with reporters about new points of this year's contest.

Could you please share about the new and outstanding features of this year’s contest compared to previous year, as well as some other cooking contests like King Chef, The golden spoons?

the Saigon International Cooking Contest 2016 is among the prominent activities taking place within the framework of the Vietnam International Food Industry Exhibition 2016 (Vietnam Foodexpo 2016) – the biggest scale and most comprehensive national trade promotion event of the Vietnam food industry.

Not only having a position of a lively playground for domestic and foreign chefs coming from restaurants and hotels in Vietnam to express their talents and love of gastronomy, the contest has international nature, promises to be an artistic activity and creativity in handling, processing and presentation of dishes in integration time, with diversified styles of Europe - Asia - US - Africa cooked from Vietnamese food ingredients by contestants.

With the convergence of professional chefs, the contest has a very high professionalism, contributing significantly to promote the image of Vietnam where has abundant sources of food materials, worthy for its name "Vietnam - good food materials for the world’s kitchens "as identified by many food experts and international friends, and long culinary culture, bringing golden value to human health.

View of a corner at the Contest in 2015

How are the professional qualifications of the candidates in the contest shown, Ma’am?

Contestants are not limited to professional chefs in the country, but also extended to foreign chefs who are living and working in restaurants, hotels throughout the territory of Vietnam.

Participating in the contest, contestants can cook dishes of typical Vietnamese or world taste from several major Vietnamese flavors and raw materials prepared by contestants themselves and some provided by the Organization Committee which are products sponsored by exhibitor at Vietnam Foodexpo 2016.

The jury this year are Vietnamese and foreign members, including: Representative of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (MOIT) and the Saigon Professional Chefs Association where has famous and experienced culinary experts who will work very fair, objective and transparent to select and nominate outstanding candidates deserved to be awarded the valuable prizes of the contest.

Last year, the contest received great attention of many Vietnamese spectators and even foreign entrepreneurs. On the occasion of visiting the Vietnam Foodexpo 2015, they had interesting experiences with the contest, learnt more about the application of Vietnamese spices and ingredients in processing unique delicacies which are exotic and fascinating to foreigners’ taste.

Candidates were demonstrating their talents at the 2015 contest

Can you say more about the contest theme "Bringing Vietnam flavors to world tables” please.

With the theme "Bringing Vietnam flavors to world tables", the contest aims to introduce Vietnam and the world’s dishes which are cooked by professional chefs from spices and food ingredients of Vietnam - a country with a culture that is extremely rich in cuisine, famous for its variety of materials, unique spices, stretching from north to south, being exported to many countries around the world and processed into attractive dishes of oriental and western styles.

The contest also contributes to promote and expand opportunities for Vietnamese spices, food ingredients and dishes to be present at world tables more and more. This is also an opportunity for our family chefs learn and integrate with the cuisine cultures of foreign countries to enrich the culinary culture of Vietnam.

Are there any special features or difference of selection process and judging criteria from last year, Ma'am?

In the contest this year, there is a change in candidate selection process. Through the preliminary exam by scanning registration forms, the Organizing Committee conducts interviews and surveys at the workplace of some contestants to select the most elite 10 contestants to be eligible to participate in the final round. Examination form is for induvidual during 90 minutes. Each contestant is allowed to compete in 02 dishes, including appetizers and main course for 01 people serving. Candidates can show any of their favorite dish or cuisine of his own forte. Contestants must be registered with the organizing committee before November 14^th, 2016.

Regarding the judging criteria, the jury this year continues to score Contestant’s manipulation, processing process, food smell, taste, status, color, presentation, creativity, safety, thereby selecting the brightest candidates.