What a night it was, to be with 60 close friends and colleagues on Jean Paul's Junk, no waves, no wind, just smooth sailing all the way, and as you can see from these pictures here everybody enjoyed themselves very much, be it with Wine, Beer or Juice, we all had fun. Once the anchor was dropped we started on the delicious BBQ Buffet with Salads, Cold Cuts, Breads, Sausages, Steaks, Chicken, Lamb, Sauces etc.

How could life be any better, right? After Dinner, and thanks to Rudy Muller and Jean Paul the whole event was quickly turned into my Birthday Party as I was presented with a big Chocolate Cake! what a surprise!

Reason enough to keep track of the HKCA calendar and spot the next boat trip date, you wont want to miss it!

I would like to thank our generous sponsors without whom this trip would not have been possible, Wolf German Sausages, Cocacabana, Custom Culinary, La Rose Noire, Bayern Gourmet, Saison Foodservices, A&W, and Select Food!

By Marco Veringa

with thanks to our generous sponsors

By Andreas Muller

The latest trends and highlights for the trainees of the Hospitality Industry Training and Development Centre (HITDC) of VTC have taken place on October 24.

Organized by Sopexa Hong Kong, visiting French Guest Chef Mr. Sion Evans has demonstrated to over 75 trainees a creation incorporating with molecular based ingredients prior to the competition which was held in the afternoon.

With Ingredients such as apple tree smoked pork tenderloin with Munster cheese Ravioli, crushed peas with honey and Munster foam; and hot pear soup with apple salad and chilli Panna Cotta; it was with much amble to taste all these products and gave all trainees the vision of cooking with such dairy products and famous cheeses. After all the tasting, we much appreciated a question and answering sessions before we prepared for the competition for the afternoon.

The 2^nd Sopexa French Dairy Product Cooking Competition for Young Chefs took place at the Hospitality Industry Training and Development Centre (HITDC) of VTC in Pokfulam on October 24. 2007

The much anticipated and awaited competition, which is organised by Sopexa Hong Kong has seen 9 out of 14 candidates battle for the champion trophy of a study trip to Le Cordon Bleu ® School in Paris. Participants had a 2-hour period to prepare and serve 4 portions of a hot main course and 4 portions of a dessert using only the products from a pre-set ingredient basket.

The organizer invited Guest Chef and Owner Mr. Sion Evans of Restaurant LA Frescque  Savoy region, France, Mr. Patrick Goubet, Owner and Chef of  the Restaurant Chez Patrick, Mr. Stephen Kan, Senior Instructor Food Preparation / Western of the Hospitality Industry Training and Development Centre, HITDC and Mr. Ken Chow, representing the Hong Kong Young Chefs Club as Judges.

The ingredients basket seems to have all candidates testing their creativity on French Dairy like Munster and Comte Cheese. Criteria were to use a minimum of 4 dairy products out of 5, with pork tenderloin as the key ingredients for the main course and pear and apples for dessert.

The selected judges were impressed with the skills and talents of the contestants since Cheese of this selection was not an easy task to prepare. Creativity and skills which highlight their uniqueness in using the required French Dairy Products from the basket took many surprises

All contestants coming from the leading hotels, catering establishments and restaurants in Hong Kong, designed great recipes using the products of the ingredients basket.

In the end, based on their creativity and the usage of French Dairy products the winners were;

Winner:             Mr. Choi Siu Yan, Ray, of The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Dishes              - Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Pea Puree, Carrot Speatzle, Caramelized

    Apples and Munster Cream Sauce

- Honey Mousse with Apple Jelly

1^st Runner-up:  Miss Sherman Chan of Restaurant Chez Les Copains       

Dishes:             - Pan-roasted Pork Fillet stuffed with Munster Cheese, Nutmeg Carrot

                            Batons, Pea Puree, Roasted Apple and Cider Reduction

-          Munster Custard Tart and Comte Espuma with poached Pears and Honey Glaze

2^nd Runner-up:  Mr.Wong Siu Lun, Brian of The Hong Kong Disney Hotel

 Dishes:  - Milk Poached Pork Fillet, Seared Pork Escallops with braised Celery

                           and Chili on Comte Cheese and Apple Quiche with Apple Cider Cream Sauce

                                - Panna Cotta of Pear with Honey Carrot Ice Cream

By Andreas Muller

The 39 World Youth Skill Competitions 2007 was hosted in Japan, Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan between 14-21 November 2007.

With over 830 competitors, 800 experts, 100 delegates, 500 observers and 1000 supporters, people drawn from over 45 member countries/regions will test themselves against tough international standards in 47 key skills and technologies.

Raising the awareness of the skills the World Skills movement has been a huge success in Numazu. Visitors from around the world and from Japan are all captivated at the magnitude of the Competition and the level of skill the Competitors hold.

Months and sometimes years of training all lead up to this day. Competitors have to strategise carefully to ensure that they met their goals. The pressure is high and the concentration is intense. Walking through the Competition site, I could see the focus written all over the faces of the Competitors. They worked hard to finish their projects but equally hard to keep their calm.

During my stay at the competition side, I have had the opportunity to observe beside the Cooking trade also the Confectioner, Bakery and Restaurant Service competition

Judging was crucial as there where only a maximum of 1gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals to be awarded per trade.

Competitors with a minimum marking points of 500 where given a certificate of excellence.

 After 4 days of intense competition, the competitors anxious awaited the results for their skills.

Canada has been awarded the Gold Medal along with the Best of Nations and Champion amongst all Skill Competitors 2007.

Switzerland has been awarded Silver and Australia has secured the Bronze Medal.

 As Hong Kong has competed alongside 22 other nations in the cooking competition, it was awarded rank 17.

 The next World Youth Competition will be held in 2009 in Calgary, Alberta Canada