Grilled eggplant with scallion oil brings Vietnam team to the world culinary 'Olympics'

On October 25, the French Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City held a meeting with members of the Vietnamese team, including chef Vu Xuan Truong, assistant chef Nguyen Quang Tam, Mr. Sakal Phoeung - President of the Bocuse d'Or Association Vietnam, and coach Daniel Nguyen.

Prestigious playground

Mr. Vu Xuan Truong (second from right) and members of the Vietnamese team attending the Bocuse Gold Cup

Ms. Emmanuelle Pavillon-Grosser, Consul General of France, said that Bocuse d'Or is a competition founded by the country's legendary chef Paul Bocuse 37 years ago, held every two years, and to date, "has become a prestigious playground for famous chefs from all over the world to demonstrate their talent, creativity and passion for cuisine".

With their first appearance in the final round, Vietnamese chefs have demonstrated their “cooking skills,” according to Ms. Pavillon-Grosser.

Chef Vu Xuan Truong is a familiar name and has won high rankings in European cuisine competitions in Vietnam. Born in 1994, Mr. Truong "feels happy" with cooking simple meals for his family in his hometown of Nam Dinh .

“Up to now, I have prepared many dishes, but the Vietnamese dishes that I feel most confident in are still the rustic dishes that I used to cook for my parents, braised pork, tomato and egg soup... When I was in high school, I often cooked for my family. The dishes were very familiar, but when I saw my family enjoying them, I was very happy,” the young chef told Thanh Nien .

The French Consul General (center) said the Bocuse d'Or is one of the most prestigious competitions in the culinary profession.

As the “main chef” at home, he often went to the market, selected fresh fish and delicious meat for his family, and gradually became more and more interested in the kitchen. After finishing high school, he studied maritime, but when he graduated and started working, he saved up to go to Ho Chi Minh City to continue his passion: studying at a school specializing in culinary training.

“After finishing the course, other people only opened one restaurant, but I opened two or three because I became more and more passionate, and wanted to work in many different places to have the opportunity to learn and improve. Working from morning until night, I enjoyed it so much that I forgot how tired I was. I was new to the profession, didn’t know much, and didn’t have experience, so the more opportunities I had to learn, the happier I was,” Chef Truong recalled the early days when he truly entered the “cooking profession.”

Cuisine is an art, with the same spices and ingredients, the chef, with his creativity, will process them into dishes that bear his personal mark. “You can find countless recipes on the internet, and even if you follow the instructions closely, I believe that each dish will still have some differences, because our taste in seasoning is different. That is the fun of cooking,” Mr. Truong said enthusiastically. Therefore, the more knowledge and skills he acquires, the more the joy of creation and discovery makes him love the job even more.

Lac Long Quan - Au Co's work competes in the Asian qualifying round

The strength of the chef from Nam Dinh is his sense of taste, and the way he presents and decorates dishes. Thanks to his sensitive sense of taste, when he wants to try cooking a new dish, or a familiar dish but with different spices, he will try cooking it many times, changing it a little each time, then enjoy it and evaluate it himself to choose the most "palatable" way of cooking: "I am very happy that the dishes I find delicious all satisfy the diners."

Highlighting Vietnamese cuisine

Participating in the qualifying round of Bocuse d'Or in the Asia-Pacific region, with the topic "lamb", Mr. Truong chose the theme "Lac Long Quan, Au Co". He ordered a tray with bronze drum patterns from a bronze casting village in Thanh Hoa to display the dish. In Western cuisine, lamb is often eaten with grilled eggplant or stir-fried with butter. To create a highlight of Vietnamese cuisine, he processed it into grilled eggplant with scallion oil, seasoned with sweet and sour fish sauce. This combination is loved by diners because it makes the dish more flavorful.

The chef from Nam Dinh is passionate about cooking from the trays of food for his family.

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY FRENCH TLSQ

“I shaped the eggplants to resemble mountains, and another ingredient, celery, was arranged to resemble a boat, next to lamb. Everything was displayed on a bronze drum-shaped tray, creating the theme of Lac Long Quan and Au Co.” As a result, this work won over the judges and won a ticket to the final round.

Mr. Truong feels “very lucky to have the companionship of talented and experienced chefs” such as Mr. Sakal Phoeung and Mr. Daniel Nguyen. During the preparation for the qualifying round, he was trained in his skills to be able to aim for higher-class playgrounds: “I tried cooking the dish that would be competing for Mr. Sakal, Mr. Daniel, and many brothers in the culinary community to try, give feedback to improve and create a ‘work’ that won a high ranking in the Asia-Pacific qualifying round.”

Mr. Sakal Phoeung - Chairman of the Bocuse d'Or Association of Vietnam said that the Vietnamese team will arrive in Lyon about two weeks before the competition to prepare well. He commented: "This is a competition that can be said to be the most prestigious for the chef world, like the Olympics or the World Cup. Of course, we come to Lyon with all the excitement of competing in this high-level playground, and the goal will be to go as far as possible. More specifically, to rank high compared to other Asia-Pacific teams present in Lyon.

So far, no Asian representative has won the gold or silver cup. Japan is a strong team, they often qualify for the final round, and won the bronze cup in 2013. In the final round, if the Vietnamese team can finish second among the Asia-Pacific teams, it will be an encouraging result."

The candidates for the gold cup are France, the US, Switzerland and the Nordic teams such as Norway, Denmark, Sweden... These teams are given huge budgets to participate, and the team members spend the whole year training.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ca-tim-nuong-mo-hanh-dua-doi-viet-nam-den-the-van-hoi-am-thuc-the-gioi-18524102518150642.htm