Beijing, September 28 (Cao Xufan) The 2023 "Chef to the Countryside" Rural Food Competition Qualifier, hosted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and co-organized by the Beijing Tourism Industry Association and the Beijing Cuisine Association, was successfully held at Beijing New Oriental Cooking School on the 27th. 40 rural food teams from 10 suburban districts of Beijing competed with more than 60 special dishes around four tracks, including hot dishes, cold dishes, noodles and creative desserts, to fully prepare for the final of the upcoming "Chef to the Countryside" Rural Food Competition and Rural Food Festival.
On September 26, the 2023 "Chef to the Countryside" Rural Food Competition Qualifier was held in Beijing. Photo courtesy of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism
In this qualifier, Beijing Petroleum Chicken, Pinggu Big Peach, Beijing White Pear, Changping Apple, Chestnut and other geographical indication agricultural products, as well as rainbow trout, reservoir fish, stone ground tofu and other Beijing suburban specialties were transformed into delicious flavors. The gastronomic techniques spread in the suburbs of Beijing, such as bacon, sauce meat, donkey rolling, fried oil aroma, etc., also appeared in the arena, which is quite nostalgic. The special food highlights the charm of Beijing's suburbs, and one after another fragrant dishes gather on the 2023 rural delicious check-in list.
On September 26, the 2023 "Chef to the Countryside" Rural Food Competition Qualifier was held in Beijing, the picture shows the tofu hot pot. Photo courtesy of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism
Culture-empowered rural cuisine is also a major feature of this qualifier. For example, the characteristic geological banquet in Fangshan District takes the unique geological landforms of Fangshan as creative inspiration, and skillfully integrates rural cuisine with geological culture and popular science; The chestnut banquet and Manchu banquet in Huairou District are all representative of special cuisine, from ingredients to taste, and even potted containers; The Great Wall banquet and hot pot in Yanqing District show the border culture of the Great Wall and the traditional life of local residents through food. A table of exquisite village banquets allows citizens and tourists to vividly understand the cultural stories behind the countryside.
On September 26, the 2023 "Chef to the Countryside" Rural Food Competition Qualifier was held in Beijing, and the picture shows innovative dishes. Photo courtesy of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism
Creative innovation is one of the key points of this qualifier, and various innovative dishes are emerging one after another. Some portray the countryside after flooding and resuming work and production through the combination of ingredients; Some of them innovatively integrate Western cooking techniques with local ingredients around the theme, bringing together the amazing taste of Chinese and Western; Some of them use fruits and grains from the autumn harvest to create creative products that can only be enjoyed for a limited time in autumn. Every ingenuity and every step of innovation embodies the pursuit of deliciousness and love for hometown plants and trees of rural food practitioners, and also meets the diversified expectations of tourists for rural leisure life.
This qualifier invited Liu Jianmin, a Chinese cooking master and national referee, Hou Yurui, a Chinese cooking master, a national referee and chairman of the Beijing Cuisine Association's celebrity chef committee, and Sun Lixin, a Chinese cooking master, a national referee, vice president of the Beijing Cuisine Association and a member of Lao Rice Bone, to jointly form an expert jury to comprehensively judge the local characteristics, cultural characteristics, color and aroma completion, and creative innovation of the entries on the four tracks, and finally selected 24 rural food teams to enter the finals. Compete for various awards at the final ceremony of the 2023 "Chef to the Country" Rural Food Competition.
On September 26, the 2023 "Chef to the Countryside" Rural Food Competition Qualifier was held in Beijing. Photo courtesy of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism
It is reported that since May 2021, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism has launched a three-year action plan for the improvement of rural tourism catering "chefs go to the countryside". Organized dozens of celebrity chefs from 38 four- and five-star hotels, visited more than 300 rural tourism catering units in 35 villages in 25 towns and townships to carry out pairing assistance, and developed more than 300 innovative dishes, benefiting about 2,000 rural catering and homestay practitioners. This event is a qualifier for the "Chef to the Country" Rural Food Competition, and the final and award ceremony is planned to be held in October. Through the competition and achievement display activities, the quality of rural catering services will be comprehensively improved, and more vivid food choices will be provided for citizens and tourists. (End)