The competition involved 50 staff and soldiers from the school's mess halls, divided into four teams: Battalion 14, Battalion 28, Battalion 30, and Company 10. The judging panel included logistics officers and unit commanders from the school, as well as two lecturers from the Department of Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts, Nha Trang Tourism College.
During the competition, the teams took turns cooking and presenting dishes according to the menu approved by the organizing committee, including dishes for the April 30th and May 1st holidays and Hung Kings' Commemoration Day (March 10th in the lunar calendar). In addition to scoring the teams based on various aspects such as planning, assigning tasks to team members, organizing food supplies, maintaining order and discipline in the mess hall and kitchen, the teams were also judged on the sense of responsibility and service attitude of the cooks.
The organizers also require that the submitted dishes be prepared using the correct techniques, maintaining their proper state, color, and flavor, with sufficient quantity (according to the control cooking ratio), and ensuring food safety and hygiene. In addition, the dishes must be beautifully and creatively presented, meaningful, and served appropriately, with a compelling and meaningful presentation.
Captain Nguyen Thi Hong Tham, a cook at Kitchen N2, Battalion 30, said: “To meet the quality criteria set by the Organizing Committee, ensuring that the soldiers' ceremonial meals are not only sufficient in quantity and quality but also delicious, I and my colleagues in the kitchen have to strive to learn more about cooking and food service techniques through training organized by the school. This helps improve our cooking skills and gives us confidence to participate in the competition and achieve the best possible results.”
Mr. Nguyen Tan Hue , Deputy Head of the Department of Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts, Nha Trang Tourism College - Member of the judging panel, commented: “I was very impressed with the cooking competition of the teams. Despite the short preparation time and the large number of dishes, the teams excellently completed all the competition tasks, not only ensuring product quality, food safety and hygiene, and nutritional value, but also presenting dishes vividly, attractively, and beautifully, such as: Steamed Chicken with Onions, Fried Snakehead Fish, Steamed Shrimp with Coconut Milk…”
"In particular, the product presentations, though only lasting 5 minutes, showcased the full content and unique characteristics of each dish, from receiving ingredients to preliminary processing, cooking, heating, and serving, all in a skillful and convincing manner that impressed the judges."
At the end of the competition, the Organizing Committee awarded the first prize to Battalion 30, the second prize jointly to Battalion 14 and Battalion 28, and the third prize to Company 10. The competition was an opportunity for the school to further train the cooking skills of the unit's kitchen staff, while also honoring the talent and ingenuity of the catering staff and soldiers in culinary culture; helping everyone to exchange and learn more experiences in cooking, ensuring the health of the troops, and contributing to the successful implementation of the "Building excellent catering units, managing military supplies well" emulation movement.
Text and photos: MAI VAN - TUAN ANH
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