A DAVAO Tourism Association (Data) official said cuisines of Davao Region should be introduced to the mainstream as it has a great potential to boost the city's tourism.
Data officially opened Tuesday, September 26, the KusdelSur, an inter-school and establishment culinary competition, at Abreeza Mall of Davao. It was participated by 10 schools and 13 hotels and restaurants in Davao City.
Data President Gatchi Gatchalian said cuisines in Mindanao, specifically in Davao Region, are less popular compared to food in other places in the country, thus he encouraged local restaurants, chefs, and culinary students to bring Mindanao cuisine in their specialties.
KusdelSur, Gatchalian said, aims to encourage and promote the culinary expertise of students and professionals by exposing them to a competitive environment with their peers.
"KusdelSur is originally the Mindanao Culinary Festival here in the city that last launched in 2015. We bring it back through this event and focus on the south to narrow down our concept," he said.
The food featured in the event are the specialties of Davao Region, such as sinuglaw, sutokil, law-uy, and many more.
Gatchalian said there are 12 chef judges coming from different parts of the country with various food specialties.
"The winners will be ranked by gold, silver, and bronze. The school garnering a collaborative score of 95 and above will be awarded as the gold winner and will receive P5,000 each participants for the professional category and P3,000 for the student category," he said.
KusdelSur is a three-day event from September 26 to 28, advocating the significance of Davao cuisine to the tourism sector of the city.