From the archive: This is how Philippine culinary teams deal with the complexities of international contests and competitions | via FnBReport
Photos by Patrick Segovia and courtesy of James Antolin and Josh BoutwoodThe expansive banquet hall of Milky Way Café on Arnaiz Avenue—where chef James Antolin has gathered the Filipino representatives competing at the Food & Hotel Asia Singapore Culinary Challenge 2016—seems ready-made for reality television.
Competition is, of course, a classic pillar of sports. That it also applies to the food industry is a hallmark of both disciplines’ cutthroat nature. Whether for glory, patriotism or, at times, vindication, competitions drive people to their limits. In the case of chefs, culinary competitions aren’t necessarily a requirement to unlock personal success or validate skills; in certain circumstances, they’re warranted.
The PCC is a great leap forward from the irreverent and increasingly irrelevant method of simply picking chefs based on recommendations, connections, and biases. Not that issues have been reportedly happening within chef circles. “We’ve been doing that for the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines [since] way back in 2010 when we first organized a competition,” says Antolin, “and thenOne storyline within the NCTP emerges as a prime example of the competition’s fair standards.
When asked if this was enough time, Antolin says, “You want to train for as long as you can because practice makes it better, but with the caliber of chefs, it’s more than enough for them to reach what we’re trying to do.” A typical training block, Miguel shares, simulates the actual competition each participating chef has to go through. “For the live category, we really try and keep it to the exact time of their competition.
“Once, in 2007, we went to the government for financial support. It wasn’t very pretty,” confesses Antolin. “It was an experience you don’t want to do again. We’d rather go to friends, private people, and suppliers who support us 100 percent than get aid from someone who doesn’t know how things will work out.”Nana Nadal
“In 2007, we joined the Gourmet Team Challenge of the Hong Kong International Culinary Classic and the competition is a buffet, a selection of 27 dishes,” says Nadal. “Every time you practice, you have to create the buffet. Imagine the cost involved.” It paid off, though, when they won gold and the Best of the Best title in 2007 and then silver in 2009. As Antolin concedes, raising funds is labor intensive: “Funding is the hardest. I have to raise P1.
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