Aspiration to elevate Binh Duong cuisine

Binh Duong is a province where residents from many regions of the country gather to establish themselves and establish a career. Therefore, the culinary culture of the province is quite rich, diverse and attractive. Many chefs here have cherished aspirations to elevate local cuisine and promote international integration.

Members of Binh Duong Professional Chefs Association at the book launch event at the Consulate of South Africa in Vietnam.

Diverse culinary culture

Binh Duong cuisine is receiving attention and support of a large number of restaurants and eateries in the province through the participation in festivals, like: "Lai Thieu fruit season", Cultural week - Food and shopping festival at Cau Ngang, Bach Dang pomelo festival, Binh Duong street food festival. In addition to delicious fruits, Binh Duong also has many special dishes that interest visitors every time they visit. Some delicious dishes of Binh Duong are: Mangosteen chicken salad, "Bánh Bèo" (bloating fern-shaped cake), roasted chicken with sticky rice, special grilled beef, beef hot pot dipped in shrimp paste, Phở...

At the Cultural Week - Food and Shopping Festival at Cau Ngang in 2017, in addition to activities of Binh Duong tourism promotion, the Folk Food Festival and food stalls also attracted a large number of visitors. There were 80 fruit and food stalls at this event. Visitors were also especially impressed with many attractive stalls of the Southern Culinary Village at "Lai Thieu fruit season" in 2018. Also during the festival, visitors had an opportunity to visit orchards and restaurants, shops along the Saigon River.

At the "Lai Thieu fruit season" festival in 2019, 50 fruit stalls and 29 food stalls contributed to making unforgettable cultural flavors in the hearts of tourists inside and outside the province.

At the Binh Duong "Street Food" festival in 2018 and 2019, with the theme "Weekend delicacies", food stalls introduced delicacies of Binh Duong, such as: My Lien "Bánh Bèo", "bánh canh", Lai Thieu grilled spring rolls, clean fruits of Northern Tan Uyen, Dau Tieng, Phu Giao... attracted a large number of tourists and locals. This was an opportunity to introduce and develop cultural values, diverse and unique features of Binh Duong cuisine, creating a space for culture, festive and entertainment activities for locals and tourists.

To elevate cuisine

In order to have delicious dishes serving diners, professional and amateur chefs in Binh Duong have dedicated to raising the level of local cuisine. Nguyen Van Vinh, General Chef of Phu My Golf Restaurant (Thu Dau Mot City), talked about concerns and enthusiasm of Binh Duong chefs.

Vinh (born in 1983, from Binh Dinh) has been a chef for more than 20 years. He specializes in Japanese - Korean - Chinese - Vietnamese cuisine. Formerly a member of the Saigon Professional Chefs Association, a member of the World Super Chefs Association in Vietnam, Vinh still worries about the fact that Binh Duong does not have a place for chefs and culinary enthusiasts to meet and exchange experience. From these concerns, he and some cooks established Binh Duong Professional Chefs Association.

As the President of Binh Duong Professional Chefs Association, Vinh said that the association currently has nearly 50 members, who are young chefs with passion, love for their profession, and want to develop their profession in the future, are working in the province. In particular, Executive Board of the Association includes chefs Nguyen Van Thai (former General Manager of Tiamo Phu Thinh restaurant), chef Nguyen Van Thong (chief chef at restaurant of Hong Phuc food service), chef Diep Huy Cuong (Chief Chef of the Consulate General of the Republic of South Africa in Vietnam). The purpose of this association's establishment is to gather professional chefs to exchange and share experiences with younger chefs, to help each other in the spirit of solidarity, voluntary, and not self-seeking.

With the trust of the Provincial Tourism Association and Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, this organization outlined meaningful orientations, contributing to the development of the province's tourism industry in the coming time; thereby promoting and developing Vietnamese cuisine and local cuisine to friends in five continents, building the image of professional chefs in Binh Duong province.

Binh Duong Professional Chefs Association also aims to expand the friendly cooperation relationship with domestic chef associations on the principle of respect, equality and voluntariness for the common goal of cooperation, development, and Vietnamese and provincial culinary enhancement.

Reported by Minh Hieu - Translated by Ngoc Huynh