Chefs join a cooking contest in Đà Nẵng City. Chefs from 14 countries will cook their traditional dishes with local ingredients in the first Đà Nẵng International Food Festival at the eastside park of the iconic Rồng (Dragon) Bridge on June 2-6. — VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — Chefs from 14 countries will cook traditional dishes with local ingredients at the first Đà Nẵng International Food Festival at the iconic Rồng (Dragon) Park on June 2-6.

Vice Director of the Đà Nẵng Tourism Department and head of the festival organising board, Nguyễn Xuân Bình, spoke at a press conference on the event on Thursday.

Bình said this will be the first time the city has hosted such a major culinary event with the participation of chefs from around the world.

He said the festival would help promote Đà Nẵng’s tourism and hospitality brand to a worldwide audience through participating chefs, and local specialties will be introduced to international friends.

He said the city, with support from the World Association of Chefs’ Societies, has invited successful chefs from Germany, Mexico, Australia, India, China, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Sweden, the US, Turkey, Greece, Malaysia, Singapore and Việt Nam.

Keerthi Hapugasdeniya, a founder of World Association of Chefs’ Societies, said Đà Nẵng will find a place on the world tourism map through the food festival.

“Đà Nẵng has been selected to host such big food event in central Việt Nam because it mixes the tastes of the south and north of Việt Nam,” Keerthi said. “We did organise the Hội An International Food Festival, but the ancient city was too small to be a location for this event.”

“Chefs will not bring ingredients from their countries to the festival, but we’ll bring them to local markets to seek material for their dishes,” he said, adding that local chefs from hotels and resorts in Đà Nẵng will join with visiting chefs.

He said local people will take the chance to meet the chefs and taste their food, while local chefs will enjoy skill training workshops with international chefs during the four-day festival.

Keerthi said the event would take Vietnamese food to the world faster, and would highlight the hospitality of local people and the pristine beaches of Đà Nẵng.

The event’s organiser will choose one chef to cook a ‘big dish’ each night at the outdoor festival.

Chefs will also join the opening ceremony of the Đà Nẵng International Fireworks Festival on June 1.

The central city hosted 7.6 million tourists last year, of which 2.87 million were foreigners. — VNS