Masterchefs they may not be, but students and Taipei City government officials were still not afraid to show off their culinary skills in competition yesterday.
More than 150 contestants, working in pairs and threes, took part in the Taipei High School Cooking Competition, held in front of Taipei City Hall.
Hsia Hui-wen (
"We purposely chose to stage this event on the weekend following Women's and Children's Day," he said. "We encourage family members to share their household chores and to enjoy the fun and pleasure of family cooking."
Taiwan's Women's and Children's Day was April 4.
The competition was divided into three categories: Taipei City officials, high-school students, and junior-high students with their parents. The officials and high-school students battled it out yesterday, with the student-parent teams competing today followed by the closing ceremony.
The task of all the participants: to cook dumplings and hot-and-sour soup in 90 minutes using ingredients prepared by themselves.
Finished dishes are being judged by a panel comprising noted chefs and gourmet experts based on taste, appearance, speed, cooking skill, creativity, hygiene and teamwork.
Among the participants in the Taipei City officials category were Chen Yi-hsin (陳益興), deputy director of the Bureau of Education, Lee Sush-der (李述德), director of the Bureau of Finance, Yeh Chieh-sheng (葉傑生), Shihlin District Office director, and Wu Shih-cheng (吳世正), a KMT Taipei City councilor.
Before the competition, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"Males nowadays shouldn't shun cooking and kitchen work," he said.
"In today's society, men shouldn't just come home to be waited on. [They] should at least know how to fry an egg."
The event was sponsored by the Taipei City Government's Bureau of Education and Taipei Kai Ping Vocational School and is scheduled to be held annually.
RSS