Top Chinese chef crowned in Vancouver – Xinhua News Agency and China Daily
by Al Campbell
VANCOUVER, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) — Vancouver on Monday
crowned Hong Kong immigrant Tony Luk as its top Chinese chef 10 months
after a U.S. magazine called the city home to the "best Chinese food in
the world."
With 12 participants going head-to-head in the first
annual Chinese chef of year competition at the Rainflower Restaurant in
suburban Vancouver, each contestant had 30 minutes to create an entree
and two side dishes using locally produced chicken, tofu and geoduck, a
large mollusk from the clam family, for the main ingredients.
Finally, Luk won the gold medal for his creation of drunken free range chicken with a Yunnan wild morel mushroom sauce.
Following on the praise of Vancouver’s Chinese
culinary scene in the February edition of Conde Nast Traveler, which
proclaimed the city "home to the best Chinese food in the world," the
accolades have since attracted such media giants as CNN, ABC television
and the New York Times.
Craig Stowe, who created the Chinese Restaurant
Awards three years ago, said the Chinese chef of the year was a natural
companion event.
He added that he had been aware for some time that
Vancouver stood out for the quality of its Chinese food in North America
and wanted to honor the chefs for their adherence to cooking with the
freshest local ingredients.
He plans to promote Vancouver as a culinary tourism destination.
"I traveled the world and recognized the fantastic
Chinese food here, but they needed a bridge between the western world
and the Chinese world," said the former wine merchant.
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