Food Business Archives - Page 4 of 4

Is a Culinary Degree Necessary to Become a Successful Chef?

If you’ve been following our food blog for sometime now, you are well aware that Ken graduated from Global Culinary and Hospitality Academy. Since we wrote about them, we have received many inquiries about the kind of training they provide and if it’s well worth it.

With the way our food and beverage industry here in the Philippines is progressing today, it’s no longer a surprise that many of our youth and even adults are interested in pursuing a culinary career. But, does one really need a formal culinary arts education to become a successful chef?

One may argue that with many successful entrepreneurs, you only need guts, creativity and capital to start your own food business. We completely agree. However, if you are dreaming of taking on a job as a chef at any of the hotels and restaurants here in the country and abroad, a culinary arts education is a must.

Unless you have established yourself as a talented cook (yes, because chefs are professional cooks) without any culinary degree beforehand, your chance of being hired by renowned hotels and restaurants is not as immense as those who did go to culinary schools. Those who are doing the hiring are looking for individuals who received proper training in working the line and/or running a kitchen.

Ken was successfully hired by one of the hotels here in the Philippines. He has learned a lot from his culinary education at GCHA (which he has yet to write about), and combined with his creativity and precise skills, he has become an asset in their kitchen. A sister couldn’t be any prouder. 🙂

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See You at Foodgasm II at Mercato Centrale!

See updates and ticket information at the end of the post. 🙂

After last yearâ€™s Foodgasm event where Ken and I participated as blogger judges, we are looking forward to another night of yummy discoveries at Foodgasm II brought to us by UP Economics Society (UP EcoSoc).

Foodgasm is UP EcoSocâ€™s fund-raising project where they aim to highlight 30 up-and-coming food businesses / entrepreneurs through a food-tasting competition. This year, thereâ€™ll be a total of 800 foodies at the event, including some of our fellow food bloggers and chef judges.

The event is happening on March 9, 2013 at Mercato Centrale, and this month, there are still slots open for food business owners. If you are a startup entrepreneur in the food industry, this is your chance to get the word out about what you have to offer.

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Cucina Andare : First Food Truck Market in the Philippines!

From all my watching of American TV shows about food (Top Chef, No Reservations, Master Chef, etc), I learned the big part food trucks play in the food culture of Americans. It was something Ken and I believed would definitely suit us here in the Philippines considering we already love street food, food carts, and Jolly Jeeps 😉 . So, when we heard about Cucina Andare, the first food truck market in the Philippines, we got all excited!

Cucina Andare will finally be open tomorrow, December 14, 2012, and it’s located at the Glorietta Open Park (front of Glorietta 3, Landmark, Makati Shangri-La Hotel and 6750 Ayala Ave). It’ll be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 4pm to 3am, which is just perfect for my erratic schedule. I can’t wait to go during our 1-week holiday vacation! 🙂

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Top Picks at 2nd Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell

If there’s one day we allow ourselves to completely indulge on good food, it’s at the Ultimate Taste Test. This time is no different. Upon seeing the lineup of food purveyors that will be presenting their new products for the coming holidays, we couldn’t wait to be there.

Sadly, Ken couldn’t come because he had to work, so I invited a long-time friend of mine to join me. He’s a food lover too and we both genuinely enjoyed the experience together. Thanks, Alex! 🙂

Since I came from work, I wanted to take a few winks before I went to Rockwell. We finally started our UTT food trip at around 3pm and we finished past 6pm. Take note that we didn’t get to taste everything. Some of the purveyors there are already familiar, so we chose to head on over to the new ones that piqued our interest the most. Plus, the fact that we were already too full at 30+ food items tasted, we just had to skip some.

Just like before, it was hard to pick our (mine and my friend’s) top favorites since there were many standouts, but the decision on who makes it here was all on me. 😉 In no particular order, here are our top favorites from the 2nd Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell:

Bayani Brew Iced Teas

Since there’s only one beverage at the event that we absolutely loved (except for the beer, of course), I’m putting Bayani Brew on top of our list. Dubbed as Filipino iced tea, their line of products are made of nutritious, local ingredients from Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm in Bulacan. Their section at the UTT was mostly crowded because they were very enthusiastic in telling people about their products. And it’s good to see that many were genuinely interested, including us. 🙂

We were given a taste of 2 of their iced tea flavors. The original variant was a combination of calamansi, lemongrass and pandan. It has this refreshing aroma, and as soon as I took a sip, the exciting combination wanted me to drink some more.

The other flavor was Purple Leaf, brewed from sweet potato, purple leaf tops and lemongrass. What made this iced tea pink was the talbos ng kamote extract. It changes color after brewing, as we were told, thus, staying true to Bayani Brew’s promise of no artificial colors or flavors. If you like your iced tea with an extra dash of sweetness, you’d definitely love this one.

Ron Dizon, the Social Enterprise Head of Bayani Brew, said that they haven’t officially launched Bayani Brew yet, but the price is Php 35 per bottle when they become more readily available here in Metro Manila.

There’s one thing that Ron said that resonated in me – the fact that foreigners are more aware about the hard work of our very own Filipino farmers and the abundance of quality local ingredients that we have available. The beautiful lady pictured above is French, and she was very eager to tell us about the product and what they do, which is just amazing. That’s why we appreciate events like the Ultimate Taste Test where those businesses who can’t go on full-blast marketing are given a chance to let us know that they exist or what they have to offer.

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See You at the 2nd Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell!

Last year, we went to the first Ultimate Taste Test in RockwellÂ (UTT 6.0) and we feasted on a ton of delicious new discoveries like Carmen’s Best Ice Cream, Tina Pie’s tarts, Theo and Philo Chocolates, and more! It was indeed a very memorable foodie experience and we cannot wait for Rockwell’s 2nd Ultimate Taste Test, as presented by Our Awesome Planet and San Miguel Lifestyle Brews!

This time, instead of just one day, this Ultimate Taste Test will be for TWO DAYS to accommodate 2,000 foodies. The 2nd Ultimate Taste in Rockwell will now be on September 15, 2012, Saturday, ONLY! At UTT 6.0, the whole Rockwell Tent was packed with food lovers ready to take on what 50+ food purveyors at the event had to offer. We know you would be excited about the 2-day this food tasting event. Double the fun! 🙂

This is just perfect for the upcoming holidays. I’m sure many of you enjoy gifting goodies come Christmas and New Year like us, so this is your chance to discover something new from established food suppliers / businesses or from up and coming entrepreneurs. 🙂

Tickets are now on sale! Here are the details:

When: September 15 to 16, 2012 – Saturday and Sunday – 11am to 9pm
Where: Rockwell Tent
Php 585 per ticket per day.
If you choose to come on both days, you’d get a discount. Just Php 1,000 for 2 days.
The ticket price includes the following:
– Food tasting of products from at least 40+ food vendors and Power Plant Mall’s restaurants.
(They should provide different products per day)
– A bottle of San Miguel Super Dry, Premium All Malt or Cerveza Negra (for 18 years old and above)
Maximum of 1,000 foodies only per day.
For tickets:
– Rockwell Customer Care: call 898-1702 during mall hours
– Creative Juice Office: call 570-7827 during office hours

If you are a food business owner and you would like to be part of the Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell, check Anton‘s post on Our Awesome Planet. It’ll be a great opportunity to showcase your products.

Ken and I will be there on the 16th, Sunday, probably in the afternoon (he’s currently working). We can’t wait! 🙂 Since the event will be on the 15th, I think it’s just going to be me and a foodie friend. Ken has to work.

See you at the 2nd Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell and let’s all be food critics for a day (or two). 😉

Check our past posts about the Ultimate Taste Tests we’ve been to:

Asia Food Expo, Food and Drinks Asia 2012 : Win FREE Tickets Here!

This September is looking like a very eventful month for foodies, food businesses and new entrepreneurs alike. I guess everyone is getting ready for the coming holidays, and we’re as excited as you are. Among the many events, the Asia Food Expo 2012 and the Food and Drinks Asia 2012Â are the food expos we’re looking forward to the most. And, together with Breakfast Magazine, we’re giving away TEN (10) tickets to these 2 events, so read on. 🙂

If you are planning on opening up a business or you’re thinking about expanding a current one, then, you’d be glad to know that these 2 events are specially focused on different sectors of the food industry.

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Foodgasm : A Competition for Food Entrepreneurs

Â Updated: See ticket prices below the post.

We’ve posted about this before – we support up and coming food entrepreneurs, young and old, because we believe that there are many more creative foodie minds out there that need exposure. And in what we believe could be the yummiest event this year, we invite aspiring food business owners to join Foodgasm, a food entrepreneur competition brought to us by UP Economics Society happening on August 25, 2012 at Mercato Centrale.

The deadline says August 4th and on their Facebook page it says August 11th, but they’re still accepting registrations, so contact them.

If you own a food business, we encourage you to join Foodgasm 2012. It’s a wonderful opportunity to gain more exposure for your products and a way to show people what we can expect from you. Here are the mechanics:

MECHANICS:

Foodgasm is open to all young and aspiring, up and coming food business owners â€“ student entrepreneurs, food business existing for no more than 4 years, and those who just previously launched a new product.

Each participant should serve free samples of their best seller during the event, which will serve as their official entry to the competition.

Participants are also allowed to sell additional products in the event, provided that their allotted space will be able to accommodate the additional products. The allotted space will have dimensions of 2.2 x 2.2 meters. This may change depending on the number of participants.

Each entry will be carefully judged by all 1,000 foodies which includes bloggers and judges from Knorr and San Miguel Foods.

Certified Foodies will be one of the 13 food blogs that’ll be gracing the event as part of the panel of blogger judges. The winners will get a chance to be featured here. And, if your products also stood out during the event, we’ll write about you here too. 🙂

This is a competition, so as a food entrepreneur, give us your best shot for a chance to win prizes, awards/trophy and a feature on Appetite Magazine! Here’s a teaser video about UP Economics Society’s Foodgasm event:

For more information on how to register as a participating food business, visit Foodgasm’s Facebook page.

To our fellow food lovers who want to come, tickets will be on sale very soon, so stay tuned! And see you at UP EcoSoc’s Foodgasm in Mercato Centrale! 🙂

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UPDATE:

If you’d like to be there, tickets will be available during the event:

Pre-selling and door price until 8pm: Php 200
Door price after 8pm: Php 220

Program strictly starts at 7pm, so be there early so you can sample the products that are available for food tasting.

For tickets and inquries,Â contact 0917-885-0738 or email upecosoc.finance@gmail.com. You can pre-order your tickets now.

See you! 🙂

6th Manila Foods and Beverages Expo : Back to Basics (Win Tickets Here!)

On June 13 to 17, at the World Trade Center Metro Manila and WTCMM East Wing, the biggest and most anticipated food event of the year is set to satisfy every food enthusiast with yet another impressive line-up of activities in this 5-day expo – it’s the 6th Manila Foods and Beverages Expo or MAFBEX 2012.Â You’ll bear witness to the skils of culinary experts in the scheduled cook-offs, learn from the seminars led by the food and beverage industry experts, and sample a wide variety of international cuisines from renowned local and international chefs.

With the gaining popularity and enthusiasm of Filipinos towards discovering new dishes inspired by flavors from around the world, it’s no wonder businesses in the F&B industry continue to grow and we see more and more people delving into the world of food. And through MAFBEX, this potential is maximized. It’s exclusively dedicated to food suppliers, distributors, manufacturers and retailers that cater to food service and hospitality industries.

This year, the theme for MAFBEX is “Back to Basics“. Since the demand for organic food and healthier choices are increasing and becoming more popular all around the world, it’s important to showcase the organic and healthier food products that are out there and are available for us to consume.

MAFBEX is organized by the leading exhibition and trade show organizer Worldbex Services International (WSI), in cooperation with the De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) and for the benefit of ABS-CBN Foundation. This year, there’ll be over 500 booths that should keep all expo-goers busy. Last year’s turnout was at 50,000 visitors, and this year’s MAFBEX is bigger with the addition of the World Trade Center East Wing as an extension venue for the seminars and competitions.

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Malabon Kulinarya Festival 2012

Before I tell you what happened at the launch of the first ever Malabon Kulinarya Festival last Tuesday, we’d like to invite you first to the bazaar happening until tomorrow, May 18th, 8am to 5pm, at the parking lot of Malabon City Hall. It’s a 3-day event, but I only got to post today, so you only have until tomorrow to come to the bazaar. There’ll be 30 food and non-food establishments participating. So, if you like anything you see in this feature, you might want to visit the Food Bazaar and Tiangge.

On May 21st, which is the official Malabon Day celebration, there’ll be a cooking competition among senior citizens and cooking enthusiasts aged 18-35 years old at the Malabon Amphitheater. Pinoy Junior Master Chef finalist Miko Manzano will be there for a cooking demonstration too. His family originates from Malabon, which is most likely one of the reasons why he has such passion in cooking at a very young age of 12. Miko was also present at the launch of Malabon Kulinarya Festival 2012, which was held at Dampa sa Paseo restaurant.

The launch of Malabon Kulinarya Festival was aimed at showcasing the diversity of Malabon cuisine and our rich culinary tradition. We’re originally from Navotas and we moved to Malabon 6 years ago, but we can honestly say that the flavors that Malabon has to offer have played a big part in our love and passion for food. And we do hope that this project by the city government, headed by Acting City Mayor Lenlen Oreta and the Malabon Tourism Council, would indeed boost the tourism and economic activities here in Malabon.

The launch of the festival was graced by none other than Annie Pascual-Guerrero, the founder of Center for Culinary Arts, Manila. I was surprised to learn that she is from Malabon, and she couldn’t be any prouder. She told us stories about how growing up here in Malabon and being influenced by her mother developed her deep passion for cooking.

At the event, Ms. Annie Guerrero shared her recipes for Sumpia with Garlic Vinegar Dip and Adobong Pusit Malabon Style (we’ll share these recipes on our next post). She was assisted by Chef Mira Cruz (she’s also from Malabon) and Chef Melissa Sison (not in the photo) from CCA. They gave really helpful tips on cooking, which I know the audience appreciated.

I didn’t get to taste these dishes, but our nanay also prepares them at home and they have almost the same recipes, so I know they are delicious. My fellow bloggers who were there could attest to that. 🙂

If you ask me about the food in Malabon, I would tell you that we serve ultimate Pinoy comfort food. You might be all familiar with Pancit Malabon, Dolor’s Sapin-Sapin, and Arny-Dading’s Peachy-peachy (they have products at the event too, but I wasn’t able to take photos), but there are so much more food that we have to offer. Let me share some of them that were showcased at the launch of Malabon Kulinarya Festival 2012.

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