Portrait drawing of Ms “Vietnamese Cuisine”

Attending the Golden Spoon Contest as one of the Judges I felt both excitement and trepidation at the same time. I was pleased because it gave me the opportunity to contribute a small part to the cuisine - a field in which I was trained and engaged almost all my life. I was worried because Minh Long and SBA were preparing for such a big competition on a national level with prizes of up to billions. There were many tasks that needed to be done. To be able to keep up to speed with the project everyone needed to react rapidly to all situations. Today, the Golden Spoon has entered its fourth season and has grown in stature year on year.

Culinary artisans Suong Thi Bui

The Golden Spoon journey has continued to explore, and make new impressions on the map of Vietnam cuisine. Vietnam culinary images gradually appear as a beautiful girl: charming, rustic and honest …Stepping from her village she is spotted by our talented chefs and with their guidance starts to shine. She becomes refined in her understanding of the culinary world, whilst at the same time retaining the country soul for which she is so well loved.

The chefs brought the freshest ingredients from the sea, lakes, rivers and streams to the contest and using their skill transformed them into sensational meals. These rustic dishes were presented in luxurious presentations, more refined yet still retaining their authentic taste. Looking at the results of their food presentation one wonders of other raw materials, spices and wonderful recipes yet to reveal their secrets from the rice fields.

In the Golden Spoon, we are constantly striving to reach our goal of building a new generation of professional chefs who possess a modern approach to integrating techniques and skills. They understand nutrition, have a strong education background, good practical skills and proficiency and are willing to learn new things like creativity and environmental protection, moving away from the use of wildlife which previously was simply viewed as protein. Their uniform will be professionalized and management of kitchen waste mastered. This is a new development for the Golden Spoon Contest. With time, professional cutting boards are coded and regulated: green cutting board for vegetables, blue for seafood, yellow for poultry, red for meat and brown or white for cooked foods. Some teams haven’t got enough colored boards and so use colored stickers to classify them. This has meant a big change in the mind-set of chefs’

Initially, menus suffered from limitations such as lack of ingredients used for soups and a lack of items like bread for example. Some menus were presented using mainly dried foods. There has though, now been a significant improvement in this area. Previous dishes were often displayed using whole chickens or fish with little thought to presentation. This made international customers more than a little reluctant to try the dishes. Later chefs realized that presenting food in small portions, removing bones and shaping the food by using Ly's Horeca products makes the meal look more appetizing and easier to enjoy. The chef has less trimming waste from vegetables, uses artificial flowers and knows how to arrange dishes with a clear structure. By using the correct utensils food presentation is organized and beautiful.

Contestants are more and more confident in providing their presentations, given an interesting explanation with better structure and information.

“Golden Spoon Contest contributes to Vietnamese cuisine development mission through improving gradually its presentation (as commented by the culinary expert of the World Association of Chefs) as well as promoting its delicacies, nutrition to be able to gain its reputation.   

The Golden Spoon Contest acts as a bell to stir Miss “Vietnam Cuisine” into action.

CTV