VietNamNet Bridge – The second week-long Hoi An International Food Festival will take place from March 20 with the participation of 12 international chefs showcasing their countries’ culinary specialties made with herbs and ingredients from Hoi An.

International tastes: Chefs from Sri Lanka showcased their cuisine at the Hoi An International Food Festival last year.— Photo from Facebook page of the Hoi An International Food Festival.

The chefs come from Germany, Mauritius, Sweden, Greece, India, Sri Lanka, the US, Malaysia, Russia, and Portugal.

The event will be launched with a cocktail evening prior to the first official day, and close with an international street party on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street and an awards ceremony at the An Hoi Sculpture Garden.

The festival, that follows the successful debut of 2016, is organized by the Hoi An Culinary Events with the support of the Hoi An City People’s Committee.

A reception has been held at the residence of the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to introduce the organizers of the Hoi An International Food Festival 2017. Guests included diplomatic representatives from the chefs’ home countries.

“The festival will give visitors the opportunity to try food from around the world while enjoying a festival atmosphere. We are fortunate to be able to welcome back some of the chefs from the 2016 event as well as new participants from around the world,” said Keerthi Hapugasdeniya (nicknamed "Happy"), founder and CEO of the Hoi An Culinary Events. He is an international award-winning Sri Lankan Chef who currently resides in Australia.

“The chefs will begin their journey by visiting and buying herbs and ingredients at the market in Hoi An, and come back to the restaurants in the city to cook,” he said.

“Vietnamese cooking is renowned for its use of fresh herbs. Those chefs were very happy to know how to combine perfectly Vietnamese ingredients together,” he adds.

 At the reception, Trinh Diem Vy, chairperson of the Hoi An Culinary Events and one of Viet Nam’s most recognized restaurateurs and chefs, showed guests her art of cooking some of Viet Nam’s specialties.

The duo, Happy and Vy, viewed the food festival as an opportunity to expose visitors and residents of Hoi An to international cuisine, while introducing and promoting Vietnamese cuisine to foreign countries through the participating chefs.

The festival will take place at the An Hoi Sculpture Garden on Hoi An’s Nguyen Phuc Chu Street every evening from 5pm, from March 20 to March 26.

VNS