'Cantonese Chef' project 'carves new path'

The “Cantonese Chef” project helped Guangdong Province carve a new path to inherit Cantonese cuisine culture, develop its agricultural industry and boost the rural economy, Huang Ping, founding president of Shenzhen Cuisine Association (SCA), was quoted as saying in a sznews.com report.

Shenzhen has millions currently employed in the catering sector. The number of practitioners has remained steady in recent years, and they have become a major labor group in the city, according to sznews.com.

People learn to cook at a "Cantonese Chef" training session in this undated photo. Nanfang Plus

“The restaurant industry is promising. There is a great demand for skilled chefs in the market due to the growing diversity of residents’ consumption needs. The ‘Cantonese Chef’ project can bring tangible benefits to people in the industry,” Huang said.

Huang has been devoted to cultivating culinary talents since he became the director of Shenzhen Catering Service Company’s training center in 1988.

Huang’s decades-long unremitting efforts chimed in with the concept advocated by the “Cantonese Chef” project the Shenzhen government started to implement in 2018.

Huang, who acted as the SCA president then, spearheaded a campaign among restaurant businesses, establishing the Culinary Academy in Shenzhen in 2019, a high-end catering R&D company.

The Culinary Academy was listed as a “Cantonese Chef” Education Training Base the following year. The institute created specialized curricula for different types of Cantonese cuisine, including Teochew and Hakka cuisines, as well as Shenzhen’s new Cantonese cuisine.

Such systematic and innovative training equipped apprentices with a strong drive to start up their own business after graduation. As of now, it has fostered and provided the industry with over 300 Cantonese chefs.

Meanwhile, the institute acted as a cradle for new restaurants. It has incubated Huaxia Xingyun Snack Market, Tanshang Xiaoshi Restaurant and Hefeng Haoniu Restaurant, among other well-received eateries.

“As a member of the food and beverage sector, I hope more young people can fall in love with and join the profession,” Huang said. Last year, he was awarded as one of 30 Five-star Cantonese Chefs in Guangdong Province.

In addition, the Culinary Academy helped solve employment problems and improve job opportunities in rural areas by cultivating skilled culinary workers among farmers for a poverty reduction project in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.