The “Jin Jiang Cup” contest for best Chinese chefs in full swing

SHANGHAI – The 4th “Jin Jiang Cup” Vocational Skill Contest initiated by Jin Jiang International Hotels, this time to select the best practitioners of Chinese cuisine, will be fully underway by the middle of this August. Expert chefs from many of the hotels under the Jin Jiang umbrella will take part in the contest. Contestants will compete with each other in terms of menu design, dish arrangement, preparation of the meal and other skillsets during the elimination and final rounds of the contest and are expected to further perfect and improve their skills during the process.
 

According to the contest organizing committee, the event this year will center on business dinners cooked the Chinese way with the event being divided into elimination and final rounds. Contest rules require contestants to prepare a unique business dinner for each diner, including a set of hot dishes, cold dishes, desserts and soups. The contestants are allowed to apply a variety of Chinese cooking methods to create dishes that bring the essential flavor of the ingredients to the fore and put together collections of meats and vegetables that are pleasing to the eye as a result of the chef’s skill with a knife. Each dish must be of a reasonably sized portion, well-proportioned in terms of meat and vegetables and well-balanced in terms of colors and taste. Menus must be practical and make use of ingredients with reasonable and easy-to-control costs. The dishes should represent what are special and unique about the particular hotel where the chef is employed – a homegrown combination of what is part of the hotel’s legacy and something new and innovative, as well as a perfect balance of nutrition and concern for the environment. The contest also includes requirements in terms of dish arrangement: tableware must be elegant and in sets; dish ornaments must edible; themes must be easily discernable.
 

Simon Zhang, Chief Executive Officer, Jin Jiang International Hotels stated, “as the parties responsible for and the drivers of the culinary side of the restructuring of the hospitality sector, play an important role during this critical period. The contest aims at guiding the experts in developing in a direction that meets modern foodservice needs. The contest this year has been vastly upgraded in terms of the competition rules and the evaluation mechanism. Through the vocational skill contest, we hope to guide our frontline employees in the development of their careers and in becoming skilled food and beverage managers. With their help, we can improve the quality of our management and create a healthy and harmonious working environment where the chefs can flourish and demonstrate their expertise.“
 

The event organizing committee disclosed that the final event of the 4th “Jin Jiang Cup” Vocational Skill Contest will be held at the end of this November, and participants will further compete for team Awards, including Best Business Banquet and Excellence Team, as well as single item awards, as among them, Best Hot Dish, Best Cold Dish, Best Dessert and Best Soup.