On November 9th, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism organized the Tourism Culinary Creation Contest 2024 “Mountainous delicacies” at Kim Dong walking street, Hop Giang ward, Cao Bang City.
Visitors explored regional specialty products at the competition.
There was the presence of Mr. Trinh Truong Huy, Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, Head of the Sub-Technical Committee for breakthrough program on sustainable tourism development, phase 2021-2025, leaders of relevant Departments and Branches, provincial armed forces, provincial Union of Science and Technology Associations, Tourism Association, Mr. Nguyen Thuong Quan - Chairman of the Vocational Training and Employment Association of Chefs (VICA), Head of the board of judges for the contest.
Visitors admired the food arrangement of Phong Nam Station (Trung Khanh district).
The competition attracted the participation of 11 teams from districts and the city with 59 contestants from different hotels, restaurants, tourism sites and homestays in the province. Each team prepared a tray of at least 5 to 6 dishes including: main course, sides, rice, soup and deserts. It is a priority to use local natural ingredients to process the dishes, ensuring nutrition and health benefits.
After finishing cooking, a representative of each team made a short presentation in 10 minutes introducing the idea, concept, origin and cooking process of their team’s dishes.
Elaborate dishes ensuring food hygiene and safety and beautifully presented left a deep impression on visitors. Among them, nam khau (steamed pork with fermented soybeans and sweet potato or taro), smoked sausage, bamboo shoot porridge, roasted duck, sticky rice with black Canarium, black Banh Chung, etc. are the most outstanding. Besides, desserts were created to catch the current trends but still retain traditional flavors such as black jelly salad, mac pup jelly salad, etc.
A tray of food named “Quang Hoa welcomes you” (Quang Hoa district).
At the end of the contest, the Organizing Committee awarded the first prize to the food tray named “Honor the roots” of Quang Hoa district, two 2nd prizes to the trays named “mountainous flavors”- Kha Ban homestay (the City) and “Mountainous region” - Kolia Company Limited (Nguyen Binh district); four 3rd prizes to the trays named “Family Reunion” (Thach An district), “homeland flavors” (Bao Lac district), “Bao Lam welcomes you” (Bao Lam district) and “the scenic beauty of Quay Son” - Phuong Cuu restaurant (Trung Khanh district); and 4 consolation prizes to the following teams: Hai Thoai restaurant (Cao Bang City), Phong Nam Station (Trung Khanh district), Hoa An district and Ha Quang district.
For the category of dishes, the First prize was awarded to the dish steamed black pork with herbs (Thach An district), two 2nd prizes were awarded to steamed fish with fermented soybeans and sweet potato (Doc Lap, Quang Hoa district), stuffed goat stomach - Hai Thoai restaurant (Cao Bang City), three 3rd prizes were awarded to longevity soup - Kolia Company Limited (Nguyen Binh district); braised fish with mac mat fruits - Kha Ban homestay (Cao Bang City), steam sturgon with canna leaves - Mai Anh homestay (Ha Quang district), four consolation prizes were awarded to stir-fried air-dried beef with garlic - Hieu Hue restaurant (Bao Lam district), sticky rice with ant eggs (Hoa An district), steamed Bangana lemassoni with soy sauce - Phuong Cuu restaurant (Trung Khanh district), stir-fried bamboo worms with lemon leaves - Phong Nam Station (Trung Khanh) and stewed chicken with the yacón (Bao Lac).
The judges graded the food tray “Bao Lam welcomes you”.
In addition, the Vocational Training and Employment Association of Chefs conferred certificate of merits to the teams with impressive food introduction, including Mai Anh homestay, Kolia Organic Farm, Hai Thoai restaurant and Thach An district.
At the contest, the teams displayed processed products and food specialties of their localities.
The representative of Kha homestay (City) presented their food tray named “mountainous flavors”
After 3 seasons, the Contest has created an annual useful and meaningful playground for the tourist service providers, restaurants, hotels and community-based tourism villages in the province to strengthen their solidarity, enhance their knowledge and exchange experiences related to the culinary aspects. At the same time, seeking distinctive and traditional dishes featured cultural identity of Cao Bang to promote and introduce to visitors and locals. Thereby, contributing to building a culinary map, introducing addresses of Cao Bang’s delicacies to tourists.
Author: The Management Board of the Non nuoc Cao Bang Geopark