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