Cebu's culinary geniuses clashed in Culinary Olympics

CEBU, Philippines -   Cebu's culinary geniuses once again took center stage as Cebu Goes Culinary opened in conjunction with the province's One Cebu Expo last August 3 at the Cebu International Convention Center.

According to Marco Polo Plaza Cebu's General Manager Hans Hauri, the event highlighted the best of what Cebu's culinary scene can offer, including budding culinary virtuosos as the contest reserved special categories for culinary students.

Hans Hauri is the president of the Hotel, Resort, & Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC), the organizer of the event.

This year, the event brought to the spotlight Cebu's heritage.

"We want to show off to the world a good recipe from (Cebu)," he told The FREEMAN, adding that many of the recipes of the food enjoyed by Cebuanos are difficult to come by "because they are treasured by the people who cook them." For this Hauri said that Cebu Goes Culinary hoped to draw those recipes out and encourage the Cebuanos to show off their specialties.

"If we understand where we are coming from in our culinary journey, then probably we would better know what direction we want to go," he added.

Another first for this year's event was its holding in conjunction with the One Cebu Expo of the Province of Cebu.

"This is where it belongs, it should not be separate," Hauri explained. "Tourism and the food industry are growing so our event is growing too."

Close to 300 participants joined the event this year, including Cebu's top properties like Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, Shangri La's Mactan Resort and Spa, Cebu City Marriott Hotel, Crimson Resort & Spa Mactan, and Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu.

Participating schools included, among others, Bacolod City's La Consolacion College, University of Cebu - Main, Banilad, and Lapu Lapu - Mandaue Campuses, Northeastern Cebu Colleges, Southwestern University, Philippine School of Culinary Arts, and St. Therese-MTC Colleges-La Fiesta Site.

The over-all champion for the professional category was Shangri La's Mactan Resort and Spa, while for the student category, St. Therese-MTC Colleges grabbed the toque, so to speak.

Cebu Goes Culinary is a bi-annual culinary event that pits together the best in Cebu's culinary arena. This effort by HRRACI helped in putting Cebu in the world's culinary map. The next event will be in 2014. (FREEMAN)