The Taste of the World festival in HCM City has attracted thousands of foodies who have learned how to cook Korean dishes from the South Korea World Food Culture Centre, watched Malaysian chefs make traditional roasted cakes and observed the Saigon Professional Chef Association set a new Guinness Viet Nam record for vegetarian dishes.

HCM CITY (VNS)— The Taste of the World festival in HCM City has attracted thousands of foodies who have learned how to cook Korean dishes from the South Korea World Food Culture Centre, watched Malaysian chefs make traditional roasted cakes and observed the Saigon Professional Chef Association set a new Guinness Viet Nam record for vegetarian dishes.

The annual food festival kicked off at the September 23 Park in HCM City on Thursday and will end tomorrow.

In the afternoon, around 80 food stalls of 20 countries, including newcomers Greece and New Zealand, attracted a great number of visitors.

Highlights of the festival include hundred of dishes from Viet Nam, Thailand and Japan. A stall of Japanese food serves sushi in the shape of colourful cartoon characters at VND4,000-7,000.

The Thai stalls, which serve grilled meat in sticks, and glass noodle salad with seafood, have been especially popular.

Vietnamese stalls of deep-fried fish ball, deep-fried beef ball, young green rice meat patties, fried scallops and others are offered at VND15,000 to 20,000 a stick.

Dishes from Viet Nam nationwide have also been presented, including banh duc (cake made of rice flour and lime water), banh xeo (crepe filled with shrimp, meat, squid, and soya bean sprouts), che (sweet pudding), pho, and others.

Tran Thanh Anh Thu, a visitor, said the food price was "cheap", citing her dish of banh canh (rice spaghetti cooked with shrimp, crab and meat) with half a crab for VND45,000 (US$2).

Other highlights include Hong Kong dim sum, Taiwanese egg pipe-shape cake; South Korean kim chi and bibimbap; and India's masala dosa, chicken roll, potato-and-peas-samosa, and pepper chicken masala one.

The Five-Star Hotel Chef Party at 3.30pm today, which will feature 22 five-star hotels and high-ranking restaurants, and a talk show tomorrow with winners of the three latest seasons of the cooking contest Golden Spoon are expected to be exciting activities of the festival.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on Thursday evening, Pham Huy Binh, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, said: "Through the festival, Vietnamese and international visitors will have a chance to taste specific dishes of regions, and contemplate stalls featuring regional special characteristics." — VNS

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