The Week in Bites<br>22nd June 2014

S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup 2014

This week at Fine Dining Lovers we kicked things off with a trip to Venice for the annual S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup 2014. This unique regatta features two races in one: as sailors race across the Venetian Lagoon chefs are below deck cooking a special dish for a panel of judges.

Ten chefs from around the world, all under 30 years of age, competed for three awards: the S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna Young Chef of the Year, the People's Choice Award and the Critic's Choice Award. 

After three exciting days at sea, Russian chef Sergey Berezutskiy was crowned the 2014 S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna Young Chef of the Year. Here's your chance to meet this talented chef and his contenders.

The Sandwich Economy

From Italy, we sailed right on over to France where we were introduced to the Jamon-Beurre Index. In French, jamon-beurre refers to a ham sandwich but the term was adapted to an economic index that measures the type of sandwiches people consume and how often.

While measuring the economy based on a sandwich may seem odd, it's actually an insightful way of discovering how people's tastes are evolving. For instance, the Jamon-Beurre Index reflects that the French are losing interest in baguettes while there is a growing appetite for club sandwiches around the world. Learn more about the Jamon-Beurre Index here.

Cooking in Vietnam

We left Europe behind and traveled to Asia where we settled in Vietnam for a cooking lesson. It was in Ho Chi Minh City were we met up with Chef Khang from Saigon Cooking Class, the city's most popular cooking school.

Navigating through the exotic ingredients at the table, Chef Khang cooked with ease and gave us step-by-step instructions for making a savory shrimp and pork pancake known as Banh Xeo. Discover all of the chef's secrets and how to make this enticing dish at home.