The notion of passing on knowledge to the next generation is one the culinary world has cultivated for decades. Many of the world's top chefs started at young ages, learning from a master chef who was taught his skills by yet another master chef. Learning, then imparting that knowledge, is a natural process, and some chefs are even happy to help out less fortunate children who might never become professional cooks, but who can use these skills in their households.

Kei hosts the young cooks in his state-of-the-art show kitchen, The Playground.

'After designing The Playground, I had all this fantastic space and professional kitchen equipment,' Kei says. 'The idea of hosting non-profit groups just popped into my head and I contacted St Christopher's and the Po Leung Kuk [another charity]. They really liked the idea of having an outing, doing something educational and also experiencing something new.'

Kei is a natural with the children, gently explaining the process of cooking the meal but also putting them straight to work with knives, spoons and tongs.

'Everyone has their chores in the house,' says Lie, who is 'mother' to eight children. 'Some of the children have been in my house only a few months. Others have been with me since they were very young. They all pitch in and do what they can. We cook together every night - often with our neighbour house mother, Judy.'

'This is my second time here and it's really fun learning how to cook,' says Yau Chun-kit, 13. Chun-kit is entranced by the temperature gun, a professional tool that uses laser technology to measure the temperature of foods.

'I like eating what we cook,' he says. 'The radish noodles were different!'

Wong Kwan-lam, 11, is right in the thick of things, deep-frying potatoes, marinating meat and washing vegetables. She observes the chaos before her while cranking the apparatus that creates radish noodles.

'Walter is great fun and this place is really nice,' she says, looking around the kitchen. 'I've never cooked food like this before. I like the machine that makes the radish noodles but I also like eating them!'

Philippe Bru is also attempting to help less fortunate children. Two years ago, he founded Cooking for Life, which aims to teach underprivileged children cooking techniques at world-class restaurants. 'This idea started out to promote personal health and healthy eating habits,' says Bru, a wine dealer.

'We had Football for Life to foster team spirit while encouraging physical activity, but often it was only the boys who joined. I asked the charities I was working with what girls were interested in and, overwhelmingly, they said cooking.

'The concept is pretty simple. Hotels and restaurants host 15 children every Saturday from 3pm to 5pm. The kitchen determines the theme of each session and teaches the children basic dishes to cook,' says Bru.

In the first year, 1,500 children from 10 charities were hosted in 15 top hotels and five restaurants.

'The children may be underprivileged, but they are eager to learn, well behaved and very hands on,' says Bru. 'We take the children out of their own districts and bring them to top restaurants they would normally not have the opportunity to explore.

'Martin Yan, from Yan Can Cook, is our ambassador and, together, we are launching this funding campaign to create a community cooking centre. There is a lack of knowledge about cooking and the current state of Hong Kong's salty and greasy diet is a health issue.

'Instead of moving from hotel to restaurant, Cooking for Life will have a home base with the ability to provide services not only to underprivileged children, but also adults and families. This would allow the corporate world and major chefs to participate and get on cable television.'

The success of this campaign can be attributed to the passion Bru inspires in his volunteers.

'They [volunteers] are amazing,' he says. 'I have received about 300 e-mails from volunteers from different parts of the world. Many give their time to chase restaurants to donate their facilities. We are here to remind the industry that although there is a financial crisis, these kids deserve better. It's our job to convince each person in the industry that they can help.'

It is an uphill battle to fill in the demanding schedule and find hosts, but Bru is grateful to partners such as the InterContinental Grand Stanford, which donated a year to Cooking for Life, with the hotel's employees conducting cooking classes once a week.

'What we do is about being disciplined, it's about working together and it's about life in general. We help children come out of their district to cook food, but if they are keen to work in the industry then we can help them as well. A lot of hotels are eager to hire and exposure through Cooking for Life can help them.

'In this fast-food world, if you can show children healthy cooking and get them to know how much it costs to buy vegetables, to wash them properly and cook them well, it would be great. If one or two become chefs, then our job is done.'

The Hong Kong Chefs Association (HKCA), which has more than 400 professional members including chefs, food scientists and technologists, suppliers and distributors, and 2,500 non-professional members, takes cooking to heart.

While individual chefs within the association donate their time teaching underprivileged children and raising funds for local charities, the HKCA's pi?ce de r?sistance is its annual buffet for more than 1,200 mentally challenged children on International Chef's Day.

'Last October was the fifth year we organised and hosted the buffet in two locations for the Hong Chi Association in Tai Po and the Fu Hong Society in Pok Fu Lam,' says HKCA president, Rudolf Muller.

'It is a big achievement every year and there were more than 190 chefs from hotels, restaurants, airline caterers, the Convention Centre, schools and theme parks participating. It is a great honour to be coming together for such a worthy cause.'

Today, the 18th Great Chefs of Hong Kong is hosting its annual charity event at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, with top chefs from 40 hotels and restaurants showcasing their signature dishes. All proceeds go to Heep Hong Society's Parents Resource Centre to provide training and support services to children with special needs. Tickets Cost HK$700 (general) and HK$1,200 (Great Chefs Plus). For details, call 3618 6326