Pinoy Food & Other Cuisine :: Food PhotoBlog and Events |

Last Saturday, I was invited to attend the Dona Elena Cuisinera Club Celebrity Cook-off at Annabel’s Restaurant, Tomas Morato. For those of you who haven’t heard of it yet, the Dona Elena Cuisinera Club is a free weekly cooking class that teaches moms and other interested individuals how to incorporate olive oil and other healthy ingredients into everyday meals. The past couple of Saturdays were spent teaching club members healthy, simple, and tasty recipes, but this Saturday was different. Four members of the Dona Elena Cuisinera Club, two members of the media, and two celebrity guests would be divided into two teams and take part in a one-hour cook-off. The objective of the competition is to make creative use of Dona Elena olive oil and incorporate them into a tasty dish made on the spot. Little did I know that I would have a rather interesting role in this competition.

Before the cook-off began, we were given a short talk by Prof. Luchie Callanta, the official nutritionist of the Dona Elena Cuisinera Club. It seemed as though the members of the club had already heard this lecture before, but a lot of the things discussed were new to me. For instance, I didn’t know that extra virgin olive oil should be used to toss salads and for other dishes that don’t require cooking. Extra virgin olive oil goes through a cold-pressed refining process that doesn’t introduce heat, meaning that its nutrients and flavor is still intact. Pure olive oil, on the other hand, contains a mixture of extra virgin olive oil and refined olive oil. This type of olive oil can be used to deep-fry meat.

I expected to be a member of one of the competing teams, but it turns out that I was going to be one of the four judges for the cook-off! The criteria for judging included the taste and texture of the dishes, its physical appearance, creative use of Dona Elena Olive Oil, and overall professionalism. I couldn’t wait to start tasting the food.

Each team was to have a chef consultant who will guide them and give them advice on how to prepare their respective dishes. However, the chef consultants are not allowed to prepare the ingredients or cook the food itself; their job is to stand in the background and tell the team members what to do. The first team was called Hijos y Hijas and had celebrity Gladys Reyes in it. When I was a kid, I used to watch Mara Clara with the household help, and I found myself rooting for her character, the contrabida Clara, rather than the weepy Mara (played by Judy Ann Santos). In person, Gladys Reyes is very spunky, feisty, and nice.

Team two, Don y Donas, had celebrity Bernadette Allyson, who I recognized from TV commercials.

By some coincidience, both teams decided to prepare a cream dory dish. This made me even more excited about my role as a judge; I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a big fish person, but I do enjoy dory fish.

After one hour, the Don y Donas group presented us with their finished product – a cream dory fillet with a side of seafood lumpia and crunchy noodles. This was the first time I tried eating a non-pasta dish prepared with olive oil, and I was impressed at how the olive oil really brought out the flavor of the fish. The crunchy noodles were also an excellent addition, and the seafood lumpia contained clam meat – another first for me.

Hijos y Hijas also had an exciting dish in store – instead of pasta noodles, they used egg noodles for their dish and topped it with a dory fish fillet deep-fried in olive oil. The name of the sauce they used escapes me at the moment, but it contained mushrooms, tomatoes, veggies, and a hint of olive oil.

Judging both teams was really tough, and I had a hard time deciding what scores to give them. In the end, I gave a higher score to Don y Donas. I liked how this team prepared three different dishes rather than one; they showed me how versatile olive oil can be and how it can bring out flavors better than ordinary cooking oil can. I’ll definitely make sure I use olive oil in all the dishes I make from now on!