Twenty cooking lovers in Da Nang have together established a Female Chefs Club to satisfy their passion for cooking, and share how to cook delicious and creative dishes with each other.  Five of them are professional chefs, whilst the remainder are retirees, housewives, and government employees.

Mrs Thanh (centre front) and her trainees

The club meets at its leader’s house, Mrs Huynh Thi Thanh on Tran Cao Van.  Mrs Thanh has 40 years’ experience working as a chef in some large local restaurants.  She has also been involved in training hundreds of young cooks who are working in restaurants and hotels in Da Nang and elsewhere.

Amongst club members are Mrs Thanh who is famous for food decoration, Mrs Thu Hong for flower arrangements, Mrs Quynh Thu for cooking Korean dishes, and other people for European food.

In addition to its members, the club is attracting a great deal of attention from local women.  Every month, the club organises a training course to share useful food knowledge with its members and guests, and to demonstrate how to cook a family meal creatively using simple ingredients.  In addition, how to prepare banquet dishes is introduced to the participants to help them cook like a professional.

Recently, the club’s members have been actively involved in delivering free portions of rice soup (chao) to poor patients at the Da Nang General Hospital.  In addition, they make fried glutinous rice and sell it on social networks to raise funds for helping their club’s poor members, needy patients at local hospitals, and flood-affected families outside the city.

In the near future, the club’s members will open free-of-charge cooking classes for other women, especially those in difficult circumstances.  The intention is to help trainees find suitable jobs in restaurants, and to cook delicious and healthy meals for their families.