School's chefs bag 6 medals in Hofex competition

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 proved by the "sweeping" win of the Philippine Team which was also composed of chefs from the Center of Culinary Arts, Manila (CCA, Manila) in the prestigious 12^th Asian International Exhibition of Food and Drinks, Hotel and 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," CCA, Manila team manager chef James Antolin said.

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," he said.

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

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 form edible materials such as 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 chef said describing their winning entry.

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.

The Hofex is Chef Brando Santos' first ever 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 said. His winning entry was Crusted Chicken Breast with Pan-Roasted Chicken Sausage.

Santos also made a Creamy Potato Hash with Truffle Essence and Jus Lie and Black Pepper Crusted Foie Gras with Fruit Salsa to match with 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 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 Chef's Society and Hongkong Disneyland Chef Association. The CCA, Manila instructors started practicing in October 2006.

The CCA, Manila Hofex Team was sponsored by PLDT MyDSL, Circulan 4 in 1, Enervon and Macro Asia Catering Services. Also helping the team were Bakels, Vollrath, Rubbermaid, Cambro, Equitable PCI Bank, Kenny Rogers Roasters, Actron and Candy Uniforms.

For inquiries on diploma or short courses, call CCA, Manila at 426-2840, 426-4825, or 426-4836 local 41 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Visit its web site at http://www.cca-manila.com/. CCA, Manila campus is located at 287 Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.