Chinese culinary contest wows Egyptian enthusiasts

CAIRO, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- In the festive air of the Chinese Spring Festival, an annual Chinese Cuisine Culinary Competition has concluded in Cairo.

The final race of this year's contest, themed "Chinese Taste Night," was held Saturday night in a hotel with 18 Chinese food lovers and professional chefs from across Egypt cooking two dishes on site for judges to score on skills and tastes.

One of the two dishes is designated as Hot Spicy Boiled Beef (Shui Zhu Niu Rou), a classic dish from Sichuan cuisine. In the final, a first-prize winner, three second-prize winners, and six third prizes were selected.

The race was organized by the Chinese Cultural Center in Cairo and Soluxe Cairo Hotel as part of the celebration for the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 10 this year.

The event offered an opportunity to let more local people experience, in person, the charm and profoundness of Chinese cuisines, and finalists were chosen from 50 signed-up Egyptians, said Shao Bin, deputy director of the China Cultural Center in Cairo.

Some of the competitors had never cooked Chinese food before, but a crash course offered ahead of the race enabled them to gain basic culinary know-how about some major branches of Chinese cuisine, according to the organizer.

Judges consisting of professional Chinese chefs decided which dish stood out and gave tailored feedback to competitors.

Wang Guohua, the chef of the China Cultural Center, also a judge, said Egyptian people's love for Chinese food is palpable, and the contestants showed their solid skills and great enthusiasm.

Thoraia Gamal, a 31-year-old contestant who won second place, told Xinhua that Chinese recipes are very diverse and reflect the cultures of different Chinese regions.

Aspired to become a skilled chef, Gamal said she was "determined to continue learning more about the Chinese cuisine."