Le Cordon Bleu Ateneo hosts "Tableya" tasting competition by Gawad Tsokolate ng Pilipinas

In support of the development of gastronomy and the preservation of Philippine culinary heritage, Le Cordon Bleu Ateneo hosted the "Tableya" tasting & competition by the Gawad Tsokolate ng Pilipinas last 25 October.

It was a profound learning experience for the students of Le Cordon Bleu Ateneo who cooked & came up with the best recipes for the 8 competing brands of tableyas. The 8 brands were carefully selected by the sociology students of renowned sociologist, Dr Fernando Zialcita of Ateneo de Manila University.

Together with Dr Zialcita, Ms Estela Duque, a certified chocolate taster and competition judge in Europe, conceptualized the event in preparation for a national level competition next year.

Ms Duque has been successfully working on introducing Philippine cacao and chocolate to the European market.

Dr Felice Prudente Sta Maria, food historian, author, and cultural heritage advocate in the Philippines led the 5-member board of judges, which included Mr Oscar Mejia III, Filipino perfumer; Ms Carla Villanueva of Chocolate 1919; Ms. Rosario Juan of Commune Coffee; and Mr Jancy Kilayko of Philippine Coffee Board.

In her remarks, Le Cordon Bleu Ateneo Institute Director Liza Hernandez-Morales emphasized the importance of appreciating and celebrating Filipino heritage ingredients such as the Philippine tableya and for their culinary students to be familiar with it.

Staunch advocate of Philippine culinary heritage & President of Mama Sita Foundation, Ms Clara Lapus, graced the event and served their special traditional champorado made of balitanaw heirloom rice from Philippine north uplands and tsokolate from Mindanao. The topping of pinipig from Central Luzon provided the crunch and texture to the extra-ordinarily fulfilling dish.

Seen supporting the event were Dr Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu, Dean, Dr Rosita G Leong School of Social Sciences; Dr Patricia Abu, Chair, Department of Information Systems and Computer Science; Mr Erik Akpedonu, Faculty Member, Ateneo Fine Arts; Chef Annalisa Mariano-Diaz, Program Director, BS Restaurant Entrepreneurship Program; Mr Leofel Vergara, Faculty Member, BS Restaurant Entrepreneurship Program; and Dr Emma Porio of the Ateneo Department of Sociology.