Taizhou crowns culinary stars in citywide showdown

Chefs prepare signature Taizhou dishes at a competition. [Photo/Taizhou Daily]

Taizhou's rich food culture took center stage on Dec 29-30, as the Taizhou Cuisine Promotion Season and Taizhou Morning Tea Super Competition drew large crowds at the Taizhou Hotel. The event brought together more than 130 top chefs from 48 local catering businesses, making it the city's largest professional culinary competition in recent years.

After intense preliminary and final rounds, a new group of standout chefs emerged, earning the title of culinary masters through their skill, creativity and deep respect for tradition.

The competition featured two main categories. The Taizhou Morning Tea Contest focused on the city's most iconic breakfast offerings, including tea service, blanched shredded dried tofu, a variety of steamed buns, dumplings and shaomai, and a bowl of fish soup noodles. Classic items such as soup dumplings, baked sesame cakes and wontons were also featured in the competition.

The second category was a creative cooking challenge revolving around a New Year banquet theme. Ahead of the event, an online vote was held to select representative local dishes for a festive banquet menu. From this lineup, chefs competed using set dishes such as double-flavor pufferfish and Qinhu Lake freshwater platter as hot dishes, crispy eel and five-flavor dried tofu as cold plates, and a paired pastry featuring Jingjiang soup dumplings and Huangqiao sesame cakes. Participants were encouraged to innovate while preserving the essence of traditional flavors.

According to Geng Xiaoli, director of the Taizhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the event aims to boost Taizhou's growing reputation – following its championship at the Jiangsu Football City League – and stimulate catering consumption.