Cathay Pacific holds the final of its first-ever cabin crew cooking competition
Cathay Pacific Airways today held the final of its “Simply the Best Chef” cooking competition – the first time such a culinary contest had been organised for the airline’s cabin crew community. One or more of the winning dishes from the competition may later be included on Cathay Pacific’s inflight menus.
The final of the competition, held at the Chinese Cuisine Training Institute in Pokfulam, featured a total of 32 dishes prepared by 27 contestants selected from the preliminary rounds. Each contestant had to prepare one or more dishes in the following categories: Hot Entrée Seafood, Hot Entrée Vegetables, Hot Entrée Meat and Snacks. Gold, silver and bronze awards were up for grabs along with the big prize of the day – the “Simply the Best Chef” Award for the overall winner.
The judging panel consisted of Cheung Yu Yan, Legislative Council Member (Catering), a number of renowned local F&B experts including food critics Chua Lam, William Mark and Doreen Leung, and Kinsen Kam, Director & General Manager of the Yung Kee Restaurant Group. The judges spent nearly four hours sampling every one of the dishes cooked up by the crew.
Cathay Pacific’s Director Service Delivery Robert Cutler said: “Our congratulations go to all the contestants for coming up with such innovative ideas for Chinese-style dishes. It was a tough job selecting the winners as all the entries were of a very high standard. Our Inflight Services Department will now look at selecting some of the dishes for inclusion in future inflight menus.”
Cathay Pacific is committed to offering high-quality Chinese cuisine in all classes. It was one of the first airlines in the world to introduce rice cookers onboard, and steam ovens are also being installed to enhance the preparation of dishes. Cathay Pacific’s “Best Chinese Food in the Air” promotions, run in conjunction with some of Hong Kong’s most famous restaurants, have received wide acclaim.
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| The judging panels (from left) Chua Lam, renowned local F&B expert, Mr. Kam Kinsen, Director & General Manager, Yung Kee Restaurant Group Ltd, Mr Alex Chau, Chief Executive Officer, Cathay Pacific Catering Services HK Ltd, Chef Cheung Chin Choi, Chief Instructor, Chinese Cuisine Training Institute and Cheung Yu Yan, Legislative Council Member(Catering)are tasting the dishes. | One of the contestants is preparing her dish to compete for the big prize of the day – “Simply the Best Chef” Award. |
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| Philip Chen, Cathay Pacific Director and Chief Operating Officer together with the panel judges and all the contestants. | Cheung Yu Yan, Legislative Council Member presents the Grand “Simply the Best Chef”Award to Tsan Yin Sin and Steven Lam. The winning dish is ‘Milk Pudding with Ginger Juice’. |
