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The Fruity Recipe Competition, organised by the Department of Health (DH) earlier this year with a view to encouraging restaurants to provide more healthy and delicious choices for customers, has come to an end. The competition was well received by the public, with nearly 30 restaurants entering the competition and 40 recipes presented to the jury for consideration.
Organised by the secretariat of the EatSmart@restaurant.hk campaign of the DH, the Fruity Recipe Competition was a sister event of this April's Joyful Fruit Month, a territory-wide fruit promotion event with the enthusiastic participation of the school sector.
The jury of the competition assessed the submitted recipes based on their relevance to the fruity theme of the competition, adherence to nutrition principles, and innovation and appearance. The three best submitted recipes were awarded the gold, silver and bronze prizes. Members of the jury included representatives from catering industry associations, the nutrition and medical professions, the education sector and culinary training institutions, and more.
The gold and silver awards went to "Fruity Party" and "Provencal Atlantic Black Cod with Glazed Pineapple and Fungi" respectively, while the bronze award went to "Shrimp Paste and Longan in Papaya, with Broccoli". These prize-winning dishes are attractive, delicious and appetising. They will be available for ordering during April.
A spokesperson for the DH said, "We were very glad to see that so many different types of restaurants participated in the event with enthusiasm, and that all the entries demonstrated a high level of creativity, a huge variety of combinations of ingredients and numerous cooking styles to echo the fruity theme. The secretariat of the EatSmart@restaurant.hk campaign of the DH will continue to organise different kinds of promotional events in the hope of encouraging the catering industry to provide more healthy dishes to the public."
An adequate intake of fruit is not only good for health but also helps prevent numerous chronic diseases. However, a survey commissioned by the DH showed that only around one-fifth of adults in the territory have an adequate intake of fruit and vegetables every day. The spokesperson for the DH appealed to the public to develop a habit of consuming enough fruit every day for a healthy body.
The EatSmart@restaurant.hk campaign, launched by the DH in 2008, is now in its sixth year. Currently it has a membership of about 600 restaurants, with over 1 500 workers from the catering industry having completed training. By sending staff to receive training and acquiring the EatSmart Restaurant (ESR) status, ESRs undertake to provide healthy dishes with less oil, less salt and less sugar and more fruit and vegetables. All ESRs pledge to provide at least five healthy EatSmart dishes for customers every day.
Details of the prize-winning recipes have been uploaded to the thematic website of the EatSmart@restaurant.hk campaign of the DH (restaurant.eatsmart.gov.hk/eng/content.asp?content_id=733).
Ends/Friday, April 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:52
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