Yes, We Can!

I love to watch Food Network and even come across some very interesting recipes.   Also on FB i find that there are some great chefs to be – for example, my cousin Geoff Reyes is going to Culinary school…and made friends with another fellow Filipino, Warren Albuna from Savannah GA…he has also promised to cook for me too, once he has finished with Culinary school here in SC! I found an article that its keeps me in awe as there is so many Filipinos that are making name for themselves!  Here’s another great achievement that I wanted to share with all of you… this was written by Claude Tayag.

CONGRATS TO PAP and keep up the great work that all of you are doing!! MABUHAY PILIPINAS!! 🙂

It’s been always this time of the year that my darleng Mary Ann and I look forward excitedly to be spending 5 days at the summer capital. Just last week, we were billeted at the Baguio Country Club (BCC) to join some kindred spirits from the culinary world to be judges for the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio (HRAB) 6th Annual Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Weekend. We enjoy so much the cool mountain air, the company and camaraderie of foodie friends, the wining and dining from sponsors, exploring the city for new and old gastronomic finds in our spare time, the warm hospitality of Baguio residents, and of course the excellent service of the BCC management and staff. It has become a tradition of sorts for us as this was our 6th consecutive year to be invited as judges since its inception in 2004.

The competition has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception, as attested by the indefatigable HRAB president and BCC GM Anthony de Leon, in his welcome speech. From an exclusively Northern and Central Luzon-only competition in 2004, it has now become a national event participated by establishments and schools from the Ilocos region in the north and as far south as Iligan City in Mindanao.

This year’s participants have by far been the largest, totaling 62 schools and establishments joining in some 50 events. And more than a hundred schools from around the country have sent their representatives just to witness the 3 day event. De Leon has further noted not only how important the hospitality industry has become, but also of how highly regarded Filipino workers are abroad. He revealed that his former professor at Cornell University in New York, Tom Cullen, who’s now retired and does consultancy to multinational hotels in the Middle East, that, when asked what it would take to provide the best service in the world, he replied: “Charter a 747 jumbo jet and fill it up with Filipinos and fly them over here!” Isn’t that quite a heartening news?! Nakakataba ng puso, diba? Galing talaga natin mga Pinoy!

Not your ordinary icing on the cake

Speaking of how galing we are, one of the co-judges we’ve been with these past several years is the unassuming lady, the wedding cake master Penk Ching. Just a week prior to the Baguio event, she and the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines (PAP) team just came from Bangkok, Thailand, competing in ASIA’s 1st CULINARY CUP (ACC), held at the Siam Paragon Exhibition Halls in Bangkok. The six-member PAP delegation competed with representatives from some 20 other countries, with Taiwan having the biggest, a 150 strong team. Competing in 3 of the 4 pastry events, the team won medals in all 3, with Penk bagging the silver medal for Pastry Showpiece (display) for her masterpiece Vases of Luck.

Sometime last August, Penk was asked by her PAP team mates to present a design for the forthcoming ACC in Bangkok. But, as she was leaving for Cagayan de Oro for a judging invite at “Kumbira” by the Cagayan de Oro Hotel and Restaurant Association (COHARA), she asked her better half to research for her from their collection of books on Chinese and other Asian potteries. Upon her return, the dutiful hubby had laid on her table some 10 earmarked designs to choose from. Narrowing them down to one, she hit on the idea of doing a vase within a vase to achieve some depth in the carving. While doing the components made of gum paste (gelatin, powdered sugar, shortening and glucose), she was pressed hard by her team mates to see the actual piece. She said that once she has assembled the many parts together, there’s no way to disassemble it again. They just had to trust her word for it.

But during the actual competition, she nearly hit a blank wall on how to make the inner vase rotate as she can’t use any non-edible parts. She recounts how she had to improvise in making several marble-size balls and placed them on a flat round gum paste disc and carved a circular canal for the balls to roll on, just like a mini lazy susan. It was short of an engineering feat worthy of McGyver. It was the assembly of the outer vase that almost did her in, though. It was a lot more difficult to piece together than she had imagined, taking longer than she originally thought. But she finally did it, wowing the judges of her creativity and ingenuity!

The team’s hard work had paid off, she said. The four days of grueling competition saw them early at the exhibition hall, and leaving late in the evening. But they went for one purpose and their eyes were set on that goal. They wore their PAP shirts and pins with pride. They met a Pinoy chef working in Thailand, Dexter Villamin, and shared that Filipinos are well respected there. And Ching recalls everywhere they went, with their ID straps that screamed PHILIPPINES caught the eyes of foreigners and were followed by smiles. Judges chatted with them during competition, and even the event host has said, six Filipinos cheer louder than 60 Koreans! With very high judging standards, only about half of competitors were awarded, and only one Gold with Distinction was given out in the entire competition to Taiwan for Fruit & Vegetable Carving Showpiece.

The team felt humbled to be representing the Philippines in such a forum, that their little effort was making a stamp for our country in the great big culinary world. To think that the PAP, a Johnny-come-lately organization formed only last November 2008, had already bagged 8 medals in their first sortie ever last May 2009 from the various competitions at the Hong Kong International Culinary Classic. They couldn’t have done it without the support of friends from the industry: AmeriColor, Cereal Food Corporation, Chef Revival, D’Chef, Fumaco Incorporated, Glasstemp, KLG International, Multiplast Corporation, Peotraco Industries, Philippine Airlines, RM Boxes, San Miguel Corporation, Sonlie International, Tone Guide Press Inc.

Congratulations and keep-PAP the good work!

PAP membership is open to chefs and non-chefs. For more information, please contact Buddy Trinidad 0918-945-0000 or James Antolin 0917-801-0038.