CULINARY arts in the Philippines may be a budding industry as compared with its western counterpart. But that will not be for long as Filipino chefs are just as competitive as the rest of the world as proven by the “sweeping” win of the Philippine Team, which was also composed of chefs from the Center for Culinary Arts, Manila (CCA, Manila) in the prestigious 12th Asian International Exhibition of Food and Drinks, Hotel, Restaurants and Food Service Equipment, Supplies and Services (Hofex 2007) in Hong Kong recently.

The Philippine team won the overall gold medal at Asia’s most rigorous culinary competition. Add to that, the CCA, Manila team of chef-instructors won one silver, five bronze medals and one special award—bringing home accolades from judges and event participants.

“We want to place the country in the culinary map. It’s not easy to win because you don’t really know what the judges are looking for. Our creativity, stamina and patience were all tested,” said CCA, Manila team manager Chef James Antolin.

A team of culinary champs

A significant part of CCA, Manila’s victory was the participation of students Leonardo Martinez III, Alfred Mico Lim, Garie Quiambao and Henry Ramos. They helped in the preparation of ingredients and equipment, research and development, among others. The Hofex experience immersed the students in the world of professional competition and prepared them to conquer the global foodscape.

Chef Mike Yap, who teaches foundation courses at CCA, Manila bagged the silver medal in “Western Cuisine Professional—Red Mullet and Prawns Category.”

“I worked with a lot of seafood when I was abroad, which helped me in this competition,” Chef Mike said.

His winning recipe “Herb Crusted Red Mullet and Poached Prawns” was inspired by Mediterranean cuisine, where fish is popular. Fish bones were utilized for the sauce while chorizo, herbs, saffron and spinach were infused in the dish.

Pinoy baking at its finest

Chefs Martha Ebro, Ria Lingad and Alma Cui won bronze in the “Live Baking Category” twice in a row. They also won the Best in Showpiece award for their masskara creation. The bread piece, inspired by the Bacolod Masskara Festival, was made from edible materials like malunggay for green coloring and iso malt for gluing the ingredients together. The baking team was also required to bake 10 kinds of bread for the competition proper.

“We baked humba in a basket made of banana leaves and pan de coco with pandan leaves as lining. We also used buko for the specialty bread and pirurutong (dark purple rice in puto bumbong) for the multigrain roll,” the chefs said describing their winning entry.

Premium recipes

Chef Roel Vargas, instructor and alumni of CCA, Manila, won bronze in the “Western Cuisine Professional—Vegetarian Category.” Each participant was given eight vegetables and at least two to three of them must be used to cook one dish. Chef Roel chose pumpkins, spinach, baby carrots, drumstick and Enoki mushrooms for his Aubergine Charlotte, Pan-Seared Pumpkin Polenta with Puree of Tomato and Spinach Pesto. T

On the other hand, the Hofex is Chef Brando Santos’ first competition and he got the bronze medal at the “Western Cuisine Professional—Spring Chicken Category.”

“I thought my category was going to be easy but it turned out to be a very competitive one. It’s really a challenge to create a standout chicken dish,” he shared. His winning entry was Crusted Chicken Breast with Pan-Roasted Chicken Sausage.

Chef Brando also made a Creamy Potato Hash with Truffle Essence and Jus Lie and Black Pepper Crusted Foie Gras with Fruit Salsa to match the chicken dish. The salsa was made of ripe mangoes, green apple and strawberries cut through with the goose liver and pepper. He made the dark meat into sausages and used the bones as soup stock in cooking potatoes.

With the awards garnered by CCA, Manila in these prestigious competitions, the school affirms its role as the premier culinary education institution in the country.

Among the renowned judges were the presidents of the World Association of Chefs Society and Hong Kong Disneyland Chef’s Association. The CCA, Manila instructors started practicing in October 2006. Seven hundred participants were chosen and only 145 medals were conferred.

It was a good season for the support for the Philippines Culture and shortly after the inauguration of Philippine Generations, took place the Philippines Chef’s Association Oath Taking on Friday 14th September 2007. His Excellency Ambassador Edgardo Espiritu witnessed the birth of a group comprising of thirty seven Filipino culinary masters from all over the UK.

One thing you can praise about Multicultural Britain is the love of cuisine. One may be surprised to learn that there are more than 5,000 Filipino chefs scattered all over the UK, many of whom are graced with awards in the European culinary scene. That same evening, three chefs were recognised for brining honour and prestige to the Philippines:



* Jeremiah Lagudas – Executive Sous Pastry Chef of Harrods
* Damacio “Jun” Soriano- Gold Plate
* Felix Bayker- Pastry chef at Hilton Paddington in London



The Chairman and one of the founding members of PCA, Elizabeth Perez poetically regarded the Chefs as “unsung heroes of the industry, toiling beneath the glitz and glamour of the Michelin stars, rosettes and banquet hall”*.



Ms Perez along with the founding members, Felix Bayker (Director and Secretary), Edope Villaneuva humbly accepted praise at their success in establishing an organisation that will “showcase the limitless talent of the Filipino” in the culinary arena.



The Chefs tantalised the taste buds of the guests at the Philippine Embassy with an assortment of delicate pastries and canapés and an abundance of the best of Filipino dishes. Rest assured the guests did not leave with an empty stomach.



“As members of the Philippine Chefs Association took time out from the heat of the kitchen, they continue to work on making …noise for future projects.”* Philippine Generations whole heartedly support PCA and wish them all the best in their endeavours and will be looking forward to working with them on future events to promote Filipino Cuisine and Filipino culinary talent.



*Article in One Philippines Publication by Elizabeth Perez (October 2007)

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo feted today in Malacañang the Philippine National Culinary Team (PNCT) that won the gold award for its entry in the Gourmet Team Challenge (GTC) of the recently- concluded Hong Kong International Culinary Classic (HKICC) tournament last May 14.

The world-class winning Filipino chefs who were met by the President were Virgilio Timola, Arnold Guevarra, Fernando Aracama, Andy Tabotabo, Marge Villena, Anatollo Bleza, Nana Nadal, Salvador Trinidad and team manager J. Gamboa at Malacañang's Music Room this afternoon.

Team Captain Arnel Manuel failed to join the courtesy call on the President due to illness.

"Congratulations," the President said as she shook the hands of each member of the team.

The PNCT bested five other countries -- Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia -- in the highly competitive GTC whose theme this year was the "cold buffet spread."

The cold buffet spread requires contestants to prepare a buffet composed of 27 different food items such as tapas, soup, appetizers, desserts, cakes, seafood and poultry platters in 24 hours and set them up on the table within an hour.

Gamboa related to the President that despite the seemingly impossible odds, his crack-team of highly skilled Filipino chefs stuck it out with only one thing on their mind: Winning.

With the win, the PNCT is now setting it sights on next year's International Culinary Classic in Singapore.

Also during the meeting, Gamboa told the President that his team was preparing for the Culinary Olympics which will be held in Germany in 2012.

She asked Gamboa if the team needed any financial assistance to prepare for their next competition to which Gamboa replied, "yes."

The President then instructed Malacañang Executive Chef Babes Austria, who was also present during the call, to get in touch with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to find out if any financial assistance could be extended to the team.

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