New Categories added to Hong Kong's 2005 Best of the Best Culinary Awards

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) today announced details of the 2005 Best of the Best Culinary Awards. Running for the fifth consecutive year, the cooking challenge is once again featuring a number of new elements to showcase the diversity of Hong Kong’s culinary arts. As well as new categories, the HKTB is introducing professional judging panels for the preliminary competition, and to spice up the community’s participation, the Board will stage a culinary promotion after the contest.

HKTB Executive Director Clara Chong said that the HKTB’s new attempts are in line with the spirit of the “2006 Discover Hong Kong Year” campaign. “These elements are designed to highlight our extensive selection of world-class cuisine,” she explained. “They also serve to elevate our culinary standards and offer an unforgettable gastronomic experience for visitors.”

There are four new categories for the awards: Deep-fried, Spicy, Vegetarian and Chinese World Fusion (comprising main course and dessert).

“These four categories represent a breakthrough for the Awards, following the past successes of using different cooking ingredients,” Ms Chong said. “What we want to do is highlight the distinguished cooking methods, wonderful flavours, extensive ingredients and unique style of our representative dishes. By allowing contestants to combine different cooking methods and flavours, we aim to encourage more innovative dishes and showcase the diversity of our cuisine. As for the Chinese World Fusion category, it is a perfect epitome of our colourful blend of cultures as an international city.”

This year, candidates will be required to prepare their entry dishes at designated venues on specified days for sampling by panels of judges during the preliminary competition. The judging panels will comprise of catering industry professionals, food critics and celebrities. Ms Chong emphasised that this new format will further enhance the standards of the evaluation process, and instil greater confidence and participation among local restaurateurs. It is also expected to inspire even higher quality dishes by facilitating exchanges among contestants.

Besides selecting the best 10 entries in each category for the final competition, the judges will determine the winner of the “Super Spicy” Award during the preliminary round. This new award category takes into account the love for spicy food among visitors worldwide, as many take special trips to look for bold creations that will set their taste buds on fire.

Another breakthrough of the Awards is a culinary promotion following the final contest in October 2005. “This promotion will feature an array of gastronomic programmes, including culinary workshops and special offers by award-winning restaurants,” Ms Chong explained. “Together they will create a citywide food festival that will not only delight the palates of visitors and local residents, but also bring them lots of fun. And while offering visitors a satisfying total experience, it will also stimulate business for the catering and tourism sectors.”

Since the competition was first launched in 2001, it has gone from strength to strength, with thousands of dishes entered over the years. In 2004, the entries reached a record-breaking 486, more than 30% over 2003, fully underlining the widespread recognition of the Awards in the catering sector.

Hong Kong’s talented chefs can enter the 2005 Best of the Best Culinary Awards between now and 31 August 2005.

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