On the afternoon of February 15, the final of the Village Chef Competition, which is the first national rural cultural food program themed the village chef, was held at Youxi Ecological Square of Baojing County in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, with 10 participating teams competing for the final “gold medal village chef”.
On the site, chefs showcased their unique cooking skills, and some even blindfolded their eyes to showcase their cutting skills. Meanwhile, the cheerleading teams composed of villagers also sang Tujia folk songs and performed Tujia hand-waving dances.
The chef team from Qianling Town, Baojing County presented the marinated pork cheek. The ingredients are selected from local free-range mountain pigs and added with specially made stew seasoning. It is fat but not greasy, with an endless aftertaste.
The chef team of Guocha Village in Hulu Town cooked Miao family’s Baisui soup, with the chicken selected from high mountain tea gardens. The soup, adding Collybia albuminosa only grown on the high-altitude mountain of the village and braised with Baojing golden tea, becomes a traditional delicacy that combines deliciousness and nutrition.
Besides, the local pork ribs brought by the chef team of Chaling Village in Lyudongshan Town are fried with a layer of flour and stewed with tea. It has a bright color and rich soup.
The Youshui River is the mother river of Baojing, in addition to characteristic products such as Baojing Golden Tea and Youyou Orange, which nurtures brilliant Tujia culture. At the event site, national intangible cultural heritage projects like Tujia Maogusi dance and Tujia Wedding Song were performed one after another. The famous singer Yuan Shuxiong sang the song “Good Morning China”, with all present people singing together.
An evaluation team composed of the director of the program and lucky audiences tasted the dishes of each team one by one, and then put the Youyou oranges in their hands into the bamboo baskets in front of the best three teams in their hearts to determine the winner.
At the end of the event, Miao girls dressed in ethnic costumes sang the theme song of the competition, welcoming people to beautiful Baojing.
