CEBU, Philippines — Still haven’t devoured the first Filipino Netflix Original series?
For an appetizer, here are “Replacing Chef Chico” lead stars Piolo Pascual, Alessandra de Rossi, Sam Milby, along with director Dan Villegas and showrunner Antoinette Jadaone who talk about their comfort food, kitchen expertise, dealing with critique, and how the show’s props were such a temptation to wolf down.
Do you cook in real life?
Alessandra: Ako nagluluto talaga. Meron nga ako 2013 sa Instagram, naka-hashtag The Alessandra de Rossi Cooking Show. I forgot about that while doing this show, it was my friends who reminded me.
Sam: I am very good at scrambled egg with cheese, instant noodles, and French toast pwede rin, hash brown, just simple food.
Piolo: I played a chef in another movie. I love to cook. But for me, it’s really savouring my food. I take my time to eat it and appreciate it.
Lessons in cooking that you apply in other aspects of life:
Alessandra: I’m the type na kung anong nandiyan, lagay mo diyan, try mo ito. In your head, at least alam mo na tama yung timpla, tama yung temperature, tama yung pag-blend – ok ang lahat. You can do anything, ika nga. Just be sure they blend well together.
Sam: As with anything in life, if you do shortcuts while cooking, the end product is not going to be as good. So if you really take your time and put love into whatever you’re doing, it’ll come out much better.
One dish you’d like to master to serve for a special someone:
Alessandra: Once ko lang ginawa pero kailangan kong ulitin, yung callos [beef tripe or ox feet stew]. Nagtagumpay ako doon. Pero mahirap siya ha.
Piolo: I love chicken adobo. Especially when you’re abroad, you crave for that. Comfort food eh, so anytime of the day, you can eat it.
Sam: Since it’s for someone that I love, yung favorite ng fiancée ko is sinigang. So even if I’m not a huge fan of sinigang, I’d learn it for her.
Favorite dish featured in the show:
Antoinette Jadaone: Weirdly, nagustuhan ko yung laing. When you look at it, it’s not visually appetizing. But when we were shooting the episode, nakakatakam talaga siya.
Dan Villegas: Arroz caldo because it reminds me of rainy days during my childhood. Gagawa yung mom ko and you’ll feel warm and the love of your family.
Piolo: I love how laing was cooked in the series. The way it was prepared made me want to eat laing.
Alessandra: Lumpiang sisig. And dinakdakan na empanada – yung medyo naluhaluha ako noong kinagat ko. Tama yung combination, napakasarap. Yung alam mong pwede mo ipatikim sa foreigner na walang alam. Hindi sila masa-shock kaagad. Something familiar, yet different.
Sam: One of my favorite Filipino food is laing. And also the kare-kare risotto, it was so good. I love peanut butter.
What was the most challenging in doing ‘Replacing Chef Chico’?
Alessandra: Una yung pangalan ko sa call sheet. Meaning, I have the most scenes out of everyone. Ang hirap pala yung ganito. Balik na lang ako sa supporting, kasi mas maaga akong umuuwi. Hindi yung umpisa hanggang dulo nandoon ka. And also, it was hard not to eat the props. Bagong luto eh. Minsan nga nandoon pa lang eh, ‘Chef, pwede pa-prito? Chef, gawa ka nga ng sawsawan…’
Sam: Yes, to stop eating the props. The food was so good.
Piolo: Another hard part was shooting in the kitchen because it was so small and we were a lot. And Direk Dan was doing a lot of different shots and angles.
In the food industry, critics can make or break careers. How do you handle critique towards your craft?
Piolo: As long as it’s objective, you gotta listen. You have to know so you can grow. If you’re close-minded, there’s no room for learning.
Alessandra: Ako balance lang. You should know who to listen to. Hopefully, you’re not surrounded by yes people who are always saying ‘sobrang galing mo, ang ganda ng lahat ng ginagawa mo.’ Parang weird naman yung ganoong klaseng life. Filter out the noise. You will know if it’s just noise.
Sam: I find myself always a student so I’m always wanting to learn. Everyone is entitled to their opinion so when it comes to criticism, I try to accept it. But also if I feel so proud with what I did, I take it as a positive. If someone says they don’t like my acting, I always take it as a chance to grow.
Antoinette: I keep a trusted group of friends whom I know na kapag nagbigay sila ng critique, hindi para laitin ako or to make me feel bad. I know that it’s because gusto nila na sa susunod na gawa ko, maging mas maganda. At the same time, these are the people na kapag kailangan mo ng tao na magpu-push sayo dahil sobrang down ka, feeling mo ang pangit ng ginagawa mo, sila yung mas nakakakilala sa akin.
Dan: You have to be open. Never stop learning because the moment you do, you won’t improve. You also have to be self-aware with the flaws and strengths of your project. Isa din sa ginagawa namin if we have a movie, we watch it in the cinema with the real audience para malaman namin if tumatawa or umiiyak sila at the right time. — (FREEMAN)