Hong Kong is facing the issue of an aging population. Many elderly people have difficulty swallowing and have special dietary needs. Care food is a soft meal specially prepared for these elderly people and people in need. It is specially prepared to make the food easy to eat, so that they can eat it by mouth as much as possible and enjoy the original taste of the food without inserting throat feeding. However, the development of care meals in Hong Kong is still in its infancy. Many opinions believe that the appearance of care meals is not good, and caregivers and institutions lack the skills and standards for cooking soft meals, which greatly reduces the appetite of the elderly. Since 2019, #HKCSS and #INTERNATIONAL Culinary Institute have organized the Gerontech Expo and Summit 2020 "Eat for the Elderly Gourmet Cooking Competition". This is the second year. The conference hopes to educate the new generation of chefs They promote the concept of caring food.
Ms. Amy Tam, Director of the Social Enterprise Business Center of the HKCSS, said: "We hope to cultivate a new generation of chefs so that they know more about protective food and the problem of dysphagia. We have invited students from the International Culinary Institute to go Make some recipes and tell the stories behind them.”
In the finals, a total of eight students from the School of Culinary Arts fought hard to win the championship. The competition was very fierce. A group of judges also focused very carefully on the color, aroma and taste of the entries, as well as nutrition, ease of eating, and even the stories and connotations behind them, in order to select the best entry to become the champion.
Mr. Huang Yabao, the founder of Chenpi Zhibao Co., Ltd. said: "As a senior brother (alumnus of the Culinary Arts Institute), I often participated in competitions back then, but I was not as brave as them to participate in the #soft meal (care food) competition. Because in the competition In the process, the raw materials need to be broken into similar shapes while maintaining the original taste. This is quite difficult. I admire them very much. Just like the "Chicken Feet and Pork Ribs Rice" I just tasted, the chicken feet and pork ribs produced are The taste of the pork ribs is really similar to what we eat in restaurants. When my classmates smashed the ribs, they did not completely separate the residue and kept a little bit of the texture of the minced meat. It was very good and had a strong flavor of the ribs."
The competition finally came to an end under a fast and tense pace, and the top three titles were successfully born. However, the eight works were all of a high level. What did the champion have to say to stand out? "I used the nostalgic ice room as the theme this time because I believe that ice rooms, tea restaurants, milk tea, and egg tarts can resonate with all Hong Kong people. Before designing this dish and theme, I consulted my grandparents' opinions. , by understanding how to use soft serve enzymes, and then making this dish according to my theme." said the championship winner, Ms. Zeng Shimin.
What is the creative philosophy of student Zhou who won the third place? Miss Zhou Xiqing, the second runner-up, said: "My entry is 'Phoenix Claws and Pork Ribs Rice', and the title of the work is 'Reminiscing about the Past'. I hope the elderly can recall the feeling of going to a restaurant to drink tea with relatives and friends in the past."
The competition ended successfully at the International Culinary Academy, which was full of color, flavor and atmosphere. In addition to looking forward to the next edition, it also means that everyone must work harder to promote the development of nursing care food in Hong Kong.
Mr. Huang continued, "Everyone will get old one day. If we continue to develop soft meals (care food) and study more different styles of dishes and ingredients, I believe there will be opportunities for sustainable development."
Ms. Tam pointed out: “Since the HKCSS ‘Gerontech Expo and Summit’ started promoting soft meals (care meals) for the elderly four years ago, it can be seen that the public’s awareness of this aspect is increasing. In the past year or two, more and more people in the business sector have Friends, they said that they know about the existence of nursing food. How can the business community produce some related products? Everyone has more exchanges in this regard. "
Ms. Tsang Shi-min said: "In the future development, I believe that the elderly will definitely need soft meals (care food), so the future development potential is very great." Video production: fluid
Source:
LSCS Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0LQbk6q7Q4