On October 12th, the Department of Hospitality Management co-organized the “2023 1st Hungkuang Hospitality Elite Competition and Italian Food Festival” with the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office (ITA) and EEF Marketing Co., Ltd. This competition is the only culinary competition in Taiwan sponsored by the EU and ITA, requiring the use of European extra virgin olive oil. 13 groups of high school and vocational school contestants advancing to the finals went all out to compete in culinary skills, using exquisite cooking techniques to present a rich and diverse Italian food feast.

餐旅管理系與義大利經濟貿易文化推廣辦事處 (ITA)、伊芙行銷有限公司，於10月12日共同舉辦「2023第一屆弘光餐旅菁英大賽暨義國美食節」，此賽事為全台灣唯一由歐盟與ITA贊助的廚藝競賽，必須使用歐洲特級初榨橄欖油入菜，13組晉級決賽的高中職選手卯足全勁大顯身手較量廚藝，運用精湛烹調技法呈現出豐富多元的義式美食饗宴。

The opening ceremony was held in the square in front of Building L, Hungkuang University, attended by Director of the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office (ITA) Elisa Yulei Lu, CEO of EcceAsia European Extra Virgin Olive Oil Alessandro Bellei, Vice President of Hungkuang University Tsung-Min Chang, Dean of International Affairs Chi-Hu Tien, and others, for the unveiling of the event. The Department of Hospitality Management student associations, social youth groups, Western cuisine societies, mixology societies, dessert societies and wine-tasting societies set up booths demonstrating various Italian cuisines for everyone to taste, making the venue extremely lively.

Vice President of Hungkuang University Tsung-Min Chang said that the Department of Hospitality Management has long been committed to imparting international cuisines to students. In 2018, the department signed an agreement with the Italian ALMA Culinary Institute to select students annually to study and intern in Italy. Led by teachers, students prepared Italian dishes for guests to taste. At that time, under the endorsement of the Italian Trade Commission, the event was officially included by the Italian government in the “Italian Cuisine World Week”. Since then, Italian cuisine events have been held almost every year. Being able to co-organize the Elite Competition this year with the Italian Trade Office, EcceAsia European Extra Virgin Olive Oil and EEF Marketing Co. expands the promotion of international cuisine, making it exceptionally meaningful.

活動開幕儀式在弘光科大L棟超商前廣場舉辦，由ITA義大利辦事處主任陸意佶、EcceAsia 歐洲特級初榨橄欖油執行長亞歷山大．比亞力，及弘光科大副校長張聰民、國際長田其虎等人為活動揭開序幕，餐旅系學會、國青社、西廚社、創調社、時尚甜點社、品酒社設攤示範各種義式美食供大家品嘗，會場熱鬧萬分。

弘光科大副校長張聰民表示，餐旅系長期致力於傳授學生各種國際美食，107年與義大利ALMA廚藝學院簽約每年選送學生前往義大利研習及實習時，便由老師帶領學生製作義式餐點供來賓品嘗，當時在義大利經貿辦事處的認證下，活動被義大利官方列入「義大利世界美食週」之中，接下來幾乎年年都辦理義大利美食相關活動，今年能更進一步與義大利辦事處、EcceAsia 歐洲特級初榨橄欖油、伊芙行銷有限公司，共同舉辦菁英大賽，擴大推廣國際美食，別具意義。

Wang Songlian, Chair of the Department of Hospitality Management, pointed out that 13 groups of students from Shuili Vocational High School, Qingnian High School, Zhiyong High School, Woge High School, Dade Vocational High School, Qiaotai High School, Lingdong High School and Ciming High School advanced to the finals after the preliminaries. The competition rules require contestants to cook one main dish and one appetizer for 2 people within 90 minutes. European extra virgin olive oil must be used in the dishes. There is no restriction on the theme, allowing Chinese, Western, Japanese or other styles of presentation. No inedible decorative items can be placed on the plates.

The scoring criteria by the scholar and expert judging panel are: ingredient preparation and hygiene 20%, level of difficulty and technicality 30%, taste 30%, design and plating 20%. During the competition, judges walked around to observe contestants’ ingredient preparation and cooking hygiene. The contestants competed cautiously. After struggling for 90 minutes, they carefully brought their creations to the judging room for scoring.

餐旅管理系系主任吳松濂指出，經過初賽來自水里商工、青年高中、致用高中、葳格高中、達德商工、僑泰高中、嶺東中學、慈明高中的13組學生晉級決賽，比賽規則為選手必須在90分鐘之內烹調主菜與開胃菜各一道，每道料理需烹調2人份，需使用指定的歐洲特級初榨橄欖油入菜，菜餚主題不限型式，可以中式、西式或日式等方式呈現，擺盤內所陳設內容，不得出現不可食用之裝飾物品。