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The key to victory: quick, short, simple and innovative

Thursday, 12/25/2014 14:10
The VND 1 billion prize of the 2014 Golden Spoon contest has found its owner, but fellow professional chefs still wonder how it came to be that the team from Caravelle Saigon won.
When this question was raised to team leader Chef Bao Thai Tran, he shared calmly that, “A quick, short, simple and innovative menu is the key to victory.”

You must keep your secret until the very last minute

This is the strategy that Chef Bao adopted and kept it all secret until the last minutes of the competition. He brought with him all the experiences accumulated throughout his profession, even when he was under scrutiny as an apprentice at a wedding restaurant. 12 years passed him by like a blink of the eye.

“I was 17 years old at the time and barely strong enough to lift up a pan of noodles prepared for 100-150 people. After graduating from high school, I asked to work as an assistant chef at 5-star hotel Sofitel Saigon Plaza with their lowest salary: USD 55 per month. I had to be patient and learn as much as possible to slowly upgrade myself,” shared Chef Bao over a cup of iced coffee.

We learned more about his story so as to understand the challenges and lessons learned by this Saigonese chef. Studying is infinite and it’s always helpful to learn from shared stories from such an experienced and talented chef.

The judges rate the presentation from team Caravelle Saigon

Keep a cool head when opening the black box

There were nerve racking moments for Chef Bao’s team, especially when they opened the black box in the final round of the 2014 Golden Spoon contest in Binh Duong. He told us that when seeing common ingredients such as bacon, prawns, catfish, beef and chestnut lima beans he knew that he was being challenged by the judges. As he recalled the story his face recalled the nervousness experienced at that moment.

Using his analytical mind - he was born in 1977, the year of the snake - he contemplated the dishes. If you make appetizers out of prawns and meat it will be too common. For the beef he needed to consider how to cook it so that it would not be tough. It is the same with the catfish - if he cooks it into a sour soup or uses the chestnut lima bean to make sweet soup for dessert it will be the same as if any housewife had done. It was a great challenge, and the more he thought about it at the contest, the more he began to sweat.

Even with the pressure of the quickly passing time and necessity to create a high quality menu, Chef Bao kept his cool, analyzed his ingredients and designed a menu in the style of a luxurious Christmas party table. It included four dishes. The first was prawn mixed with mango salad and bacon, seasoned with pink pepper. Second was a catfish soup served with mashed sweet potato and breaded catfish deep fried. Third he created sauteed beef with jelly made of red beet and cassava in the middle and stir fried vegetable with basil. His fourth and final dish was a French pancake with chestnut lima bean in the middle, and served with nata de coco and strawberry sauce mixed with durian.

If you read his menu carefully you will see this it is not only difficult, but also clever. Normally his given ingredients are used only in common dishes, but Chef Bao took the opportunity to go beyond the basics.

Chef Bao Thai Tran, Caravelle Saigon, burning through his energy

Create unexpected, but thoughtful dishes

For example, he didn’t mention to the judges that he was creating a sauce to accompany the catfish or appetizers; a trick done on purpose. He said kept this secret, “so as to provide the judges with a surprise, and in case he could not get all the necessary ingredients from the market.” This special market was set up by the judges with many vegetables and common spices. It was open for only 90 minutes for the chefs to grab ingredients to assist them with the black box. While the chefs did not need to actually buy from the market, there was still the looming concern of the strict time limit.

Although predictable Chef Bao and his team still encountered some small hiccups. For example, teammate Chef Tran Ngo Lam Khanh complained that preparing the chestnut lima bean took too long. It took 40 minutes just for steaming.

“The organizing committee would like to inform all contestants that 60 minutes has been passed,” announced Project Director Mr. Xuan Dung. The announcement made many of the young chefs feel even more pressure. Then the next 10 minutes passed even quicker.

“Is the fish finished?

- “Done”!

- “How much longer for the pancake to finish cooking?”

- “20 minutes!

“Please go to prepare the fairy lights,” Chef Bao reminded to his team aloud. There was only 90 minutes to complete all four dishes, 20 minutes to finish the presentation, and the most important 10 minutes to bring the foods up to the judges’ table.

The secret to help the team from Caravelle Saigon win the Cup of the 2014 Golden Spoon were thoughtful ideas through a flexible menu and reasonable time allocation for each project. Additionally, impeccable communication and teamwork is what held it all together.

With this combination when Elite Artist Ta Minh Tam tasted the dishes, he complimented all four were very delicious, especially the deep fried catfish, which brought forward a new taste.

The management of Caravelle Saigon was so proud that they organized the same menu to be presented to their own customers at a special event. They prepared the same menu that won the preliminary round, which featured a salad with lobster and mango served with coconut root and various cakes.

Acording to Tan Toi - Phi Nguyen
The Gioi Tiep Thi Newspaper

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