A novel cuisine experience @ Singapore's Coriander Leaf

I love to eat. There is no question about my love for food. I am even a fan of food shows in the Lifestyle Network. I love looking at executive chefs and sous chefs preparing masterpieces in Iron Chef America and I am entertained by Wolfgang Puck's cooking antics.

I don't know how to cook though and don't know my way around the kitchen. I can't identify cooking utensils, much more know how to use them! Imagine my shock then when during a media familiarization tour to Singapore sponsored by the Singapore Tourism Board, we participants, 10 bubbly personalities from different magazines and newspapers, were made to attend a cooking class!

You bet I was scared! My fear wasn't much on making mistakes during the class. I was scared because the group had to eat the food that we were going to cook! Oh, don't get me wrong. I had so much faith in the group of people I was with because all were foodies. I was scared for myself, I might poison them!

So when our tour bus stopped at River Valley Road in Singapore's Clarke Quay on our way to Coriander Leaf, The New Asian Food Hub, I told one of our groupmates, Bheng Loretizo of Nancy Harrel and Associates, Inc., that I prepared myself to go hungry that day. She just laughed off my worries and said the experience would be fun.

And fun it was! My fears started to melt away as we were handed paper toques and aprons made of plastic. Everyone was already in a playful mood as we donned our chef's attire. Samia Ahad, Coriander Leaf's owner and culinary director, was also a calming figure. She said there is really nothing to worry about because she will help us every step of the way.

Our menu that day was one of Samia's creations in what she calls her Screen Cuisine specialty, The GodFather Menu from Mario Puzo's The Godfather. Samia took inspiration to create a menu based on the movie because the movie in itself has over 50 scenes that involve food and drinks.

"Learn to cook this menu which represents some memorable scenes in the movie - with an emphasis on Sicilian food," Samia's recipe guide says.

The Godfather Menu consists of grilled vegetables with an olive oil and balsamic dressing, Tonno al Pomodoro or tuna with tomatoes, Lamb alla Corleone, mashed potatoes with confit of garlic and cannoli with ricotta filling.

We were divided into two groups and each group was assigned dishes to prepare. "Just like Iron Chef," I said and Cecille Lilles of Philippines Star smiled in agreement.

My groupmates were Cherie Mijares of Food Magazine, Edwin Aguilar of Cook, Margaux Salcedo of PDI and Edward Basilio of Mindanao Daily Mirror. We were tasked to prepare the vegetables, the tuna and the mashed potatoes. Yeah, we chose the dishes which were easy to do!

After almost two hours of slicing, grilling, marinating, mashing and what have you, in the Coriander Leaf's kitchen, the group had a hearty lunch. The dishes we prepared turned out perfect and I did not go hungry that day!

Coriander Leaf, The New Asian Food Hub is located at 3A River Valley Road #02-03 Clarke Quay Singapore. For more information, visit www.corianderleaf.com