In the eyes of chefs, freshness has always been an irreplaceable code for delicious food, while seafood is definitely the absolute C bit on the stage of umami.
So, what kind of wonderful chemical reaction will occur when a master chef meets the top seafood? How did the seafood cuisine born of the whimsy of the famous chefs inspire this summer's umami ideas?
Just a few days ago, after a month of auditions and fierce competition, the "Celebrity Chef Competition • Online Cooking Challenge" (hereinafter referred to as the Challenge) organized by the Irish Food Authority came to a successful conclusion.
With Irish seafood as the main ingredient and online as the challenge platform, the challenge has attracted widespread attention from the industry and the audience. Tens of thousands of chefs, pay attention to and participate in this event.
Who will spend the $10,000 jackpot? The "Technology Stream" presents an extraordinary visual feast
The challenge is divided into two phases.
The first stage is the registration audition stage, which has received hundreds of chefs from restaurants, hotels, cooking schools and other places. With Irish blue lobster, Irish white snail and Irish bread crab as creative entrances, you can see a variety of seafood food ideas in hundreds of challenge applications. Chefs from all over the country combine their culinary wisdom and local gastronomic characteristics to give different interpretations of seafood delicacies.
The second stage is the official competition. According to the competition format, 30 contestants are selected from the application application, and according to the contestants' intentions, they are provided with fresh blue lobsters, cooked frozen white snails and bread crabs airlifted from Ireland for creation.
From the registration stage, I already felt everyone's enthusiasm for the competition and their love for the chef's profession, whether it was the audition or the presentation of the final work, it exceeded expectations.
Not to live up to the food, not to live up to the love, in the end, by Chen Kangqin (LaMotite supervisor) won the championship; Zhang Yingfei (Executive Chef of Yunnan Cuisine selected by Hong 0871) and Chen Jiajian (Executive Chef of Shenzhen HNA International Hotel) jointly won the second place; Wang Kai (cold cuisine chef of Cuilin Investment Group), Yang Ke (sous chef of Renwei Hotel's chinese restaurant), and Lin Ruidong (head of wok at Hyatt Regency Hengqin) jointly won the third place.
Champion Chen Kangqin's work carbon roasted Irish white conch green bean tart, taste, grilled smoky taste and Q bomb Irish white snail wonderful combination, fresh and crisp, rich in taste layers; Visually, the fresh and elegant shape and color match add to the beauty of this dish. Another of Chen Kangqin's works, low-temperature butter Irish blue lobster, cooks Irish blue lobster with butter, highlighting the fresh and sweet flavor of blue lobster, while carrying a rich milk aroma, showing a distinctive flavor.
Zhang Yingfei won the second place in the competition with two dishes of dried bacillus edamame blue lobster and lemongrass tree tomato munch white snail, which are the combination of Irish delicious seafood and local flavors, and a wonderful taste.
The other two runner-up dishes are by Chen Jiajian, Lychee Juice Charcoal Blue Lobster and Red Light Yellow Mustard Shadow White Snail, Lychee, Yellow Mustard Fragrance, Plum Mint Juice and other ingredients unique fruit aroma, together with Irish blue lobster and white snail, multiple flavors meet, the aftertaste is endless.
▲ Third runner-up work: Lin Ruidong's Cabernet sauce mixed with Irish white snail and lotus sticky rice raw fried bread crab
▲ Third place works: Janko's Irish bread crab trio and iced stewed Irish white snail
▲ Third runner-up works: Wang Kai's roasted pepper sauce with white snails and wind and water to catch blue dragons
For the works of this competition, many judges gave high affirmation. Among them, celebrity chef Li Dong pointed out that it is not difficult to see through the award-winning works that Chinese chefs have a high degree of handling and control over Western-style ingredients such as Irish seafood. Irish seafood can be paired with a wide range of ingredients, I hope that in the future creation, you can integrate more Chinese local ingredient elements, collide with more diversified delicacies.
The competition takes place online, but like food documentaries of all kinds, the real delicacies overflow the screen. Whether it is the delicious tension brought by irish seafood itself, or the "technical flow" display of chefs in cooking techniques, ingredient combinations, precise seasoning, etc., it presents a high-level competition for everyone.
The competition triggered tens of thousands of spectators to watch, and from the perspective of the industry, the competition was formally, online mode opened up a freer platform for chefs to challenge themselves and improve themselves; In terms of content, focusing on the ingredients themselves to create ideas and return to the essence of delicious food is also the general trend of the catering industry in the past two years.
The biggest focus of the competition is the work, but also them
The challenge sparked a seafood innovation craze, and the Irish seafood used by chefs in the challenge attracted a lot of attention.
Irish seafood, which has always enjoyed a global reputation, is a favorite ingredient of many top restaurants and top chefs, thanks to Ireland's unique marine resource environment.
▲ Image source: Irish Food Authority
Ireland is known as the "Emerald Isle Nation", up to 80% of the green plant coverage, west of the Atlantic Ocean, east of the Irish Sea, so that Ireland not only has a natural beauty, but also for Ireland to provide extremely rich seafood resources. The combination of "living with nature", "natural" and high food safety standards has driven Ireland to export tastier and healthier food to the world.
The challenge has two ingredient sets for chefs to choose from, the A set consists of live blue lobster + cooked frozen white snail, and the B set consists of cooked frozen bread crab + cooked frozen white snail. Blue lobster, white snail and bread crab are all popular seafood in Ireland.
▲ Irish blue lobster
Blue lobster has always been a delicacy in the mouth of old food.
Growing in the clear and pure seas, every 4-10 years to grow into the size of Ireland's legal catch, the picky growth environment coupled with the slow growth cycle, creating the Irish blue lobster plump, delicate, tender flesh and rich ocean sweet flavor, but also created the blue lobster rare characteristics.
Therefore, the blue lobster has always enjoyed the reputation of "the nobleman in the sea", and as one of the only major producers in the world to explore the mass production of blue lobster, the Irish blue lobster is sought after by the world's gourmets. The Irish blue lobsters that came to China, all airlifted, still alive when they arrived at the restaurant, have become the stars of China's high-end catering ingredients in recent years.
▲Irish white snail
Produced in the cold and pristine Waters of the Atlantic Ocean, irish white snails are sweet and juicy, with firm, fat and nutritious flesh. Coupled with its own white-gold shell with its own marine beauty, the Irish white snail can present a double feast of taste and vision, even after simple cooking.
▲ Irish bread crab
In Ireland, the clean, clear but nutrient-rich waters off the Atlantic coast produce the umami, full-bodied, succulent Irish bread crab.
Irish bread crab is one of the most important export products of the Irish sea industry and a versatile fresh product beloved by senior chefs. At the same time, based on Ireland's policy of sustainable fishing, the weight standard can only be loaded ashore, so that the marine environment and product quality are guaranteed.
Irish seafood is riding the wind
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China as one of Ireland's top five food exporters, in the past two years, more and more boutique Irish seafood on the table of the Chinese people, in addition to blue lobster, white snails, bread crab, sea crayfish, oysters and other Irish seafood, but also by Chinese chefs and diners highly recognized.
The excellent ingredients represented by Irish seafood are shining in China and even the world, which reflects the three major trends in the catering industry.
1. Globalization of ingredients
When irish blue lobster, Italian Alba white truffle, Japanese wagyu beef and other top ingredients with global origin labels are well known, it means that the globalization of ingredients has been widely expanded.
Especially in recent years, the rapid development of cold chain logistics has provided excellent transportation conditions for the globalization of food ingredients, and has further promoted the circulation of characteristic and high-quality ingredients around the world.
2. Healthy diet
Ireland is once again on the top spot in the Global Food Security Rankings 2021 published by the world-renowned magazine The Economist. In the U.S. Environment Agency's Air Quality Index standard, Irish air quality is rated "Excellent". As early as 1988, Ireland passed the Irish Food Safety Management Act, establishing the Irish Food Safety Authority.
When Ireland's efforts in food safety and natural environment and other aspects met the general trend of healthy diet, it achieved the advantage label of Irish food "Made in Ireland".
3. Taste buds are picky
The globalization of ingredients has allowed ingredients to break through regional boundaries.
In the long run, the scuffle between local ingredients and non-local ingredients has accelerated the survival of the fittest in the field of ingredients, and also made customers more rational and picky about ingredients. This makes the ingredients and diners form a cycle of mutual promotion, the attitude of selecting the best among diners makes the truly excellent ingredients stand out, and the excellent ingredients will further enrich the taste buds experience of diners and improve the screening level of food by diners. Such a "cycle" is exactly what the catering industry and consumers are happy to see.
This year's "Celebrity Chef Competition online cooking challenge", last year's "2021 Ireland 'Best of The Best' Seafood Chef Competition"... The Irish Food Authority has hosted several editions of the Seafood Chef Competition.
The super popularity of this challenge is also due to the accumulation of previous competitions to a certain extent. The Irish Food Bureau has successively created high-standard events and formed an event IP, which can be seen as an important measure for the Irish Food Bureau to promote the continuous improvement of the influence of B-end catering by Irish food.
Irish ingredients will further enter the creativity of Chinese chefs. Through the many competitions, it is not difficult to see the determination and confidence of the Irish Food Board to increase education in the Chinese market.
The Irish Food Authority is a government agency under the Irish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Maritime Affairs. The Irish Food Authority has long aimed to work closely with the industry to gain insight into the market and drive the global commercial success of Irish food, beverage and horticulture. Currently, the Irish Food Authority has 16 offices in Europe, Asia and North America to promote Irish products in the local market. Through a network of offices around the world, the Irish Food Authority has played a vital role in the development of Irish seafood in various emerging markets.
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