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CHEF Wars was one of the highlights of the Hotel, Resort & Restaurant
Association of Cebu?s (HRRAC) Cebu Goes Culinary 2010 Live Cooking competition held last July 22 and 23 in Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino. Shangri-La?s Mactan Resort & Spa bagged the gold medal and will
represent the Visayas region in the national competition.
Chef Wars is the Regional Search/Elimination for the National Food Showdown, an annual culinary competition of TV Food Chefs, the corporate food subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. Now on its fourth year, National Food Showdown is slated on Sept. 10 and 11 at the Venue Events Hall in Makati City. This year?s theme is ?A Quest for Culinary Excellence?. There are five Regional Eliminations in NCR, Calabarzon, Luzon (Baguio), Visayas (Cebu) and Mindanao (Cagayan de Oro).
Chef Wars Competition requires a team of three and is open to both the professionals and students. The theme for professional is Classical
(European). Chef Wars is almost similar to America?s popular Iron Chef where the secret ingredient is revealed during the actual competition. In Chef Wars, the main ingredient and the pantry list are given a week before the competition so participants have all the time to create the dishes. Chef Myrna Segismundo, Chairman of National Food Showdown, conducted the recipe writing of the participants a day before the competition with strictly no notes allowed. The main ingredient should be used in all three dishes and only the items in the pantry list can be used as supplementary ingredients. This is quite challenging for junior chefs but they get all the mentoring from their Executive Sous Chef before the actual competition.
The Shangri-La?s Mactan Resort & Spa team included three young service associates: Gypsy Amores from the Kitchen and Japanese section of Tides, Karima Ilupa from the Commissary/kitchen and Coleen Mikin also from Tides. Rica Rellon, Shangri-La Mactan?s assistant Marketing Communications manager told me that their participants are relatively fresh faces in the resort. With the skillful training and coaching of Italian Executive Sous Chef Gianluce Viscigilia, the team delivered an excellent performance that brought home the gold. They prepared an appetizer, pasta and main course that made use of the main ingredient, fresh fish roe (eggs). Creating the recipes and then cooking it live with a cheering audience must have been one of their greatest challenges in their budding culinary careers.
The appetizer was Beer Battered Fish Roe in Sage served with Creamy Lemon Foam and Tomato Tartare. The delicate fish roe was wrapped in sage, secured with a toothpick, battered and deep-fried. Pasta was Fish Roe and Black Kalamata Olive Gnocchi Tossed with Asparagus and Shrimp in Saffron Sauce. Gnocchi are small dumplings made from potato and semolina flour. The Main course was Sun-dried Tomato Crusted Sea Bass Fillet with Fish Roe Veloute (rich white sauce thickened with cream and eggs) and Cinnamon Apple. The interplay of flavors of the fish roe, the ingredients called for in the pantry list and the winning culinary performance of the Shangri-La?s Mactan Resort & Spa team captivated the judges.
