“Chef of the Century” Eckart Witzigmann had an impressive look at Vietnamese spices and he stated that they were a whole harmonic blend of multi-flavors and regional features.
The
Golden Spoon 2016 final round, which took place on Dec 6th – 7th in HCMC,
appeared Mr. Eckart Witzigmann (on the right) as a professional judge, who is
one of the most famous chefs in the world. This Austrian food expert was
honored by noble Gault et Millau restaurant as “Chef of the Century” in 1994
and he is one of the two chefs in the world to be rewarded 3-star Michelin in
1979. During the final tasks of The Golden Spoon candidates, he stated that
Vietnamese spices had gathered all tones and hues of culinary world in which
each spicy leaf or seasoning had its own distinguished flavor.
Eckart
Witzigmann was so excited when he had known that Vietnamese spices were used
not only to enrich food but also to tell stories of folk culture about where
and how they came from. An accurate combination can stimulate all senses and
boost diners’ feeling up. However, “Chef of the Century” recommended that to
elevate Vietnamese cuisine to international level, these unique spices needed
appropriate balance to match modern trends.
About
Vietnamese chefs, Mr. Eckart Witzigmann thought that they all had solid
background, skills, diligence, and creativity but if they wanted to make a step
up, they would need opportunities to approach bigger pictures of culinary world
and also to learn from other great chefs in the world.
The
skills and creativity that Mr. Eckart Witzigmann mentioned above were clearly
showed on the work of chef Le Vo Anh Duy from Binh Quoi 1 resort (HCMC). He
brought diverse spices from different regions into the dishes.
This
was the 4th time straight this chef attending The Golden Spoon contest. He said
that the appetizer was very important because it first led diners to the meal.
Therefore, the sauce of appetizer was carefully made to provide the tastiest
first bite.
Chef
Anh Duy’s appetizer was Salmon rolled wild leaves in roasted sesame and peanut
sauce. This sauce was made from Vietnamese soy sauce, white sesame, peanut, and
Northwest Doi seeds. Side dish was shrimp paste and pineapple fish sauce in which
shrimp paste was kneaded with shitake mushroom, lemongrass seeds and Mac Khen
seeds then steamed to well done while a slice of pineapple was grilled and
smashed to mix with fish sauce.
The
main course was Grilled duck breast in Moringa sauce and served with egg plant
salad, Moc Mat leaves (Clausena indica) in purple yam cake, and So Cho leaves
in duck shank paste. Duck breast is quite fatty so chef Anh Duy made a sauce
from moringa leaves, dill, green onions, mint, and Ngo Gai to balance the
taste. It is a common sauce that Northwest locals often have in spring
festival.
From
the north, chef Anh Duy brought us back to the south, Ba Tri town, An Giang
province, where has famous Vam Nao catfish (Pangasius krempfi) and kaffir lime
leaves. Skin and bones of catfish were deep-fried with shrimp heads then added
rice wine, tomato, and kaffir lime leaves. The broth was slow cooked from this
stuff and filtered. Kaffir lime leaves reduce fishy smell but emphasized
catfish flavor while white button mushroom was added to enrich the whole dish.
Finally,
the dessert was a jelly-like combination of aloe vera and pomelo segments and
fruity sweet-rice cake, which was made from Northwest sweet-rice and fresh
fruits (mangoes, oranges, and strawberries).
This
diverse menu seized the championship to chef Anh Duy in The Golden Spoon
contest 2016, together with the noble Chef Cup and 1 billion vnd reward.
By Minh Tri/VnExpress