In terms of food, Vietnamese cuisine and Nepalese cuisine have similarities as well as differences. Vietnamese cooking is greatly admired for its fresh ingredients, minimal use of dairy and oil, complementary textures, and reliance on herbs and vegetables. With the balance between fresh herbs, meats and selective use of spices to reach a fine taste, Vietnamese food is considered as one of the healthiest cuisine worldwide.

In terms of Nepalese cuisine, much of the cuisine is a variation on Asian themes. Other foods have hybrid Tibetan, Indian and Thai origins. Momo - Tibetan style dumplings with Nepalese spices - are one of the most popular foods in Nepal. Rice is grown in the Terai region and hence consumed by the whole country making ‟DaalBhaat” the national food of the country. Both Vietnam and Nepal consume rice as part of their daily meals. This project is intended to bring Vietnamese and Nepalese dishes together.

This project wants to fill the gap between two nations and hence wants to bring two countries together by exposing participants to food culture and culinary educational opportunities from different cultural, religious, geographical and socio-economic backgrounds so that it will provide the experience for participants to develop a greater understanding of diversity.

Exchange participants /students will contribute their experience on practical matters during and after the exchange, as “Food Ambassadors” to bring inter cultural learning and practices of diverse cuisines to both institutions, ultimately being the promoters of a new fusion cuisine.

Following their return to either Nepal or Vietnam, participants then need to complete their individual reports on the program.

Dates will be set with the participants‟ internship establishments for each participant to present a training program to their internship co-workers on food hygiene and safe food handling.

Participants will also organize, prepare and present a global food dinner on the cuisine that they have learnt (Vietnamese – Newari, Nepalese – Central Vietnamese). This will be open to the public, participants families, Government organizations, internship management personnel and educational/tourism bodies. Here the participants have an opportunity to showcase what culinary and cultural cuisine skills they have gained. A briefing will be done between all the participants and organization personnel where they share their learning’s and outcomes.

The final part of the exchange program involves the participants to mentor and buddy with the next intake in a team building/introductory week. Hospitality relies heavily on networking, not just within countries but also world-wide. This part of the exchange will involve the development and implementation of a „culinary blog‟ established and maintained by past and future exchange participants.

Participants play an important role both during and after the exchange program. All participants will become “Food Ambassadors” who will promote there inter cultural cuisine course learning’s to the institution’s enrolled students. They will provide presentation workshops to the teachers and staff about new cuisines. For example; Vietnamese participants can contribute by conducting presentation workshops to Vietnamese teachers and staff about Nepalese cuisine and Nepalese participants can conduct presentation workshops on Vietnamese cuisine to teachers and staff. This will be a part of GATE and Pegasus institutions human resource development to enhance staff current knowledge and professional development.

Participants will also be utilized in sharing their food and safety learning’s to newly enrolled students as well as industry chefs, conducted as small workshops which will be beneficial to participants, institutions as well as creating significant industry relationships. In order to sharpen the technical skills of participants on digital platforms, the exchange participants together will create a food blog “World on one plate” which will hone their creative writing. The participants will update the blog weekly with their articles related to food and travel on which they can highlight their experience and provide their own fusion recipes which they learn in the internship or in the host institution. The blog articles will be also be published in college newsletters. Other GATE and Pegasus students enrolled in certificate and diploma courses can also benefit through the blog. Through inter college public relations with the media, the articles can be contributed to local magazines for publication as well as in social media of both institutions. Students of GATE and Pegasus can get insight of the learning and will help to share knowledge to everyone inclusively.

These new initiatives that are developed through this unique opportunity will create enormous benefit for the participants through their ability to mentor new students, as well as introducing the participants to a broad cross section of high profile industry members in both countries. At this point this initiative is unprecedented in both Vietnam and Nepal.

Hygiene Rules: Participants will get insight and experience of food hygiene practices, food preparations and handling of the dishes and foods. Furthermore, exchange students will be acknowledged about food and hygiene legislation. They can improve the food safety and hygiene standard in their native country, starting from individuals and approach to the government in order to improve the policies. On completion of the course, the students will share their leanings to home institution among fellow colleagues by workshop or short presentation to raise the awareness of importance to follow or reciprocate the hygiene rules.

As “Food Ambassadors” both Vietnamese and Nepalese participants will play a major role in creating initiatives that support quality education. The participants during and after the exchange will contribute in inclusive learning. They will organize small workshops and training with fellow colleagues based on their multicultural learning. The major outcome the exchange is aiming for is to enhance the technical competencies as well as inter personal skills. The participants will create a blog on which they will share their experiences. This will develop their self-confidence and leadership abilities which will help with personal development. Participants’ blog articles will be shared on both institutions‟ social media as well as in local magazines which will help GATE and Pegasus to deliver a positive message to regular students about importance of global exposure and global mindset making everyone aware that GATE and Pegasus are culturally sensitive institutions which respect global diversity and learning.

International learning and knowledge: The international exposure will propel participants towards acceptance and understanding of an array of different cultural and community perspectives along with fruitful culinary courses related to their career and marketability in the global workforce. As they will be engaging in star rated hotels, it will improve their global competency

Focusing on the main thematic area of exchange, participants will be involved in pursuing a unique course in culinary arts, which will benefit their future. The theoretical and practical approaches will help in their future employment possibilities. Both partners being hospitality colleges will let participants study and certify them in a unique unit that is not available anywhere in the world. In order to sharpen their interpersonal skills, participants will also formalize their practical learning through being advocates and ambassadors within their home country by initiating workshops and programs that aim to benefit their fellow colleagues as well.

This particular unit will help them to gain knowledge and skills in another country‟s unique cuisine. “Preparing specialized food items‟ will incorporate Nepalese cuisine in particular Newari. It is a subset of Nepalese cuisine that has developed over centuries among the Newars, Nepal. Newari cuisine is the most celebrated food variety in the country that consists of over 200 dishes.

Newari meals can be classified into three main categories Daily meals (ja), Snack (baji) Feasts (bhoye). Today Newari cuisine is seen as a dying cuisine because it is not being taught in any schools or colleges. In this unit participants will focus on Newari cuisine to ensure that it is not a food that will be lost, to ensure that it is kept alive for future generations.

Central Vietnam is notable for its most complex and flavorful cuisine, which sets it apart from the austerity and complex dishes in the north, and the preference for sweetness as seen through the widespread use of coconut milk in southern Vietnamese dishes. The food is spicier with less Chinese influence than the north, while still retaining some of the French flavors and techniques that are popular towards the south of the country. The region’s cuisine is also notable for its sophisticated meals consisting of many complex dishes served in small portions.

In particular seafood, particularly shellfish is eaten as a staple in the central Vietnamese diet. Many Nepalese are unfamiliar with these ingredients having lived in a land locked country with limited access to coastal ingredients. Vietnamese seafood will be an emphasized in the „Prepare specialized food item‟ and „Prepare seafood dishes‟ units.

All participants will enroll in the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF), SIT30616 Certificate III in Hospitality program. Pegasus International College is a Registered Training Organization (Kinderworld Australia Pty Ltd – 31984) that currently delivers AQF qualifications.

The Certificate III in Hospitality program will be a customized unique program incorporating the „Prepare specialized food items‟ and „Prepare seafood dishes‟ units. Participants will not only obtain knowledge and skills of another cuisine and culture but also a recognized qualification.

As part of each five month block, students will complete internships in star rated hotels where they will sharpen their practical skills and get a chance to learn and work directly in their preferred industry abroad. The students from Vietnam will learn about Nepalese hospitality whereas Nepalese will learn Vietnamese hospitality giving a clear idea on similarities and differences in Asian Hospitality. This will help in critical analysis for being visionary to fill the gap between host and home country. The participants will also prepare reports on their daily operations and new learning. The main agenda of the internship will be finding the issues and ways to tackle it for making Asian hospitality best in the world. During their exchange the participants as being representative of each institution will showcase their competencies which will help to build good rapport in terms of providing human resources to enhance other regular students of GATE and Pegasus.

During their exchange they will participate in advocating the importance of multicultural learning and developing a global mind set. The participants will be sharing their initiatives through a food blog and will be interacting with fellow youth of home and host countries which will create a learning and sharing environment.

On returning to their respective homes (Follow-up work) participants will:

Mentor the next intake of students.

 Conduct and organize a cultural night in which they will cook and present cuisines that they have learnt during their stay at the exchange country influenced by host and home country.

 Participants will organize training on food consumption of host country and best recipes for example (fusion dishes on Vietnamese and Nepalese). This will be displayed through the cultural night and food blog.

 The participants will help to gather feedback and update their experience in the food blog “World on One Plate.” The exchange participants will maintain the blog, which will be an opportunity to sharpen their skill in technology; hence, both institutions will give participants a platform to display their knowledge and their exchange learning’s in digital platform. The articles will also be published in social media of both institutions as well as promoting publication in local magazines.

 All participants will be competent in safe food handling practices. To demonstrate the knowledge that they have gained through the hygiene units, participants will conduct food hygiene seminars for internship host employees. They will also assist the head chef in the implementation of food safety plans within their respective internship establishments where this is a requirement. This will be a first for many resorts and an initiative that has far reaching consequences in the continuation in providing safe and hygienic food for all visitors and guests.

 All participants will be Ambassadors for GATE and Pegasus International College. They will be leaders in the promotion of Nepalese and Vietnamese cuisine. They will assist in the delivery of the „Specialist food items‟ unit for future groups of students in Certificate III in Hospitality ‘Global Food Trendsetters’.