MANILA, Philippines ? Forget dog grooming.

Our continuing obsession with good food and fine dining has made being a chef the hot new career choice for young Filipinos wondering what to do with their lives.

With slick new restaurants opening every week, entire cable channels devoted 24/7 to food and cooking shows, reality shows like the "Iron Chef? competition and the emergence of celebrity chefs from Wolfgang Puck to Emeril, the status of the once-lowly kusinero has been elevated to the same lofty heights once reserved for the more traditional professions. Not only that, the top-ranked chefs now have the potential to earn as much as dentists and business executives - more if they open their restaurants. Next to nurses and caregivers, food professionals are also among the most in-demand for employment overseas.

Small wonder then that culinary schools are sprouting like champignons. Ten years ago you could count the number of culinary schools on one finger. Today there are at least ten in Metro Manila alone, many with international connections. Some of them charge more per semester than the top private universities: another indicator of the professional chef's new-found status.

So, should the fresh high school graduate consider cuisine as a career?

The key, many newly-established chefs agree, is passion.

?Before entering culinary school, I asked myself if I really wanted this career,? says Paolo Sia, 25, corporate chef at Unilever Foodsolutions.

?Ask yourself a million times because being a chef is never a glamorous job. When you see chefs on TV, 'Wow! Ang galing nila!' But it's not always like that in the real world. For instance, when I was a banquet chef, I used to clean grease traps. I spent Christmas and New Year in the kitchen cooking 10 kilos of galantine. Sobrang hirap. Seven days a week, 15 to 18 hours a day in the kitchen, no days off depending on your functions and the season. It's never a glamorous job. It's really the passion that drives you.?

As a corporate chef for Unilever, Sia and his colleagues provide free consultancy services, cooking demonstrations, recipe development, menu planning, and kitchen layout for clients who want to put up a restaurant or catering service.

A graduate of the Center for Culinary Arts, Sia decided on a career in food shortly after finishing high school at De La Salle. For him, it was a necessary step toward his ultimate dream, which was to open his own restaurant.

?My parents asked me if I was sure I wanted to pursue culinary arts because the tuition was so expensive,? he recalls.

Sia was set on a career in food, however, so he went ahead and enrolled in a two-year culinary arts course.

?For me culinary school was very straightforward in teaching you how to deal with a professional kitchen, making food, making your kitchen efficient, all things concerned with putting up a restaurant,? he recalls. ?I was cooking already but I wasn't sure if I was doing the right things. When I entered culinary school, that was the time I formally trained, and eventually I corrected my mistakes.?

Culinary school also gave him a taste of the kind of grit and determination needed to succeed as a chef, because the course requirements were demanding, calling for long hours in the kitchen.

?There were 40 of us when we started out, but only 18 graduated,? Sia recalls. ?The rest dropped out because of the difficulty. It's physically, emotionally and mentally demanding and challenging. Sometimes you're demoralized because you burned the food, or your executive chef will scold you every day. Mentally, you need to think, you need to prep, you need to decide what to do first, soup, salad or entree. The whole system is exhausting. I used to work 15 to 18 hours. I'd be there 5 a.m. and leave at 12 midnight.?

But finishing his course was only the beginning.

?Before, the thinking was that if you graduated from culinary school you're already a chef,? he says. ?But that's not true at all. Culinary school is just the foundation; all the knowledge is there but you need to gain experience outside. So after graduating, I applied in different establishments. I went to Starbucks and Gerry's Grill, then I went into hotels, the Westin Philippine Plaza and Linden Hotel as banquet chef.?

Continues Sia: ?To launch yourself as a chef you have to become an apprentice first or become a student for life,? he continues. ?That's my principle. To be a sponge and learn everything, absorb. Even if I'm a corporate chef here, I still talk to other chefs, ask questions because I'm a student for life. Eventually you gain respect and you can launch your career.?

Sia also continues to hone his palate by eating local food whenever he travels, figuring out the local flavors that he can then incorporate in his own cooking.

Being a chef, according to Sia, is now on par with other professions.

?Unlike before, kusinero ka lang, but now it's one of the most highly-paid jobs in the country,? he says. ?Everywhere you go they're looking for chefs. Any establishment that has a food service outlet: airlines, hotels, hospitals, country club, restaurants, even fast food chains nowadays hire chefs as consultants. There are also a lot of opportunities overseas.?

But again, passion is still the key to success.

Chef Rob Pengson has become a recognizable face to television audiences through his cooking show ?Chef To Go.? He is also one of the teaching staff at the Global Culinary and Hospitality Academy, one of the new culinary schools in Metro Manila. He says that being a chef requires the same kind of passion and commitment that are necessary for success in any field.

?I really got into what I was doing... and I would like to stress... really got into it,? he says. ?Most people go in half-heartedly. I am not that type. If I go into it, I want to make waves, I won't settle for a life of mediocrity. I want to suck out the marrow of life, I want my life to be my prayer of thanks to the Lord who lent me this life. I want to be an inspiration to myself that I can achieve all, if not more than, what I dreamed of.?

The youngest of three children, Pengson grew up around food. His parents and grandparents were ardent foodies.

?I guess I got my love for food from them,? he recalls. ?I was a terrible student in grade school and high school but a very good one later on in life when I found what it is I really enjoy - food and entrepreneurship.?

Pengson knew early on that he was meant for a career in the culinary field.

?I saw a brochure of the California Culinary Academy back in the '90s. There was no such thing as a Filipino chef (at least I thought so), you had to be white or Chinese. But as I read on about how thousands of Americans and international students were doing it professionally, I realized 'hey, maybe I can do it too.'?

Pengson agrees that chefs now get the same respect as other professionals.

?It's about time, too. Five years ago, chefs in the country were looked down upon, now they're celebrated. Chefs share the same situation as musicians - they're in it for the passion. I believe that to be very admirable.?

And rewarding. Although as in any other profession, there is a learning curve that needs to be mastered.

?My starting salary in my first job in the Philippines was a little over P8,000/month,? he recalls. ?It stayed that way for a little over a year. I would say the beginning is very tough, especially if you spent hundreds of thousands of pesos on culinary school. But like most things in life, sacrifice and discipline, and learning and proving yourself are required if you want to keep on getting paid better. It's a gradual climb. If you're smart, it never stops climbing. If you're afraid, too cautious or too closed-minded, it doesn't go very high.?

Pengson notes, however, that the culinary school graduate has more options now than ever before.

?To get into food, you can be one or many things together. For example, you can be head chef of a hotel/resort/ship/restaurant somewhere and earn $3,000 to $6000. You can also partner with an investor and put up a nice restaurant and get paid P80,000 a month plus 5 to 15 percent share in profits. You can also teach and earn P400 to P1,000 per hour, or you can consult and earn up to P300,000 for helping someone put up a restaurant. You can be a caterer, a food supplier, stylist, culinary school operator, food consultant, own your own fast food or food stall business, go on TV (but if you want to be on TV as your main plan you're in trouble from the start - those things just happen, they're not to be planned). You can do one, or a combination of these things. But usually the successful ones are: 1) good at their craft; and 2) creative beings who can make waves and conjure up spells.?

In order to succeed in the culinary world, continues Pengson, the chef needs to gain some street smarts.

?Being a chef or working around food can turn out to be a beautiful career,? he says. ?Chefs are skilled workers, and skilled workers get paid to do their craft. The better ones get paid more than the bad ones. It is my belief, however, that skilled workers are prisoners of economics, or you can call it trends, the environment, globalization, whatever. If they really want to make it in this world, skilled workers should educate themselves in the things that affect the craft so they can influence the workplace and not just be people who are affected by it. For example, they can take finance, marketing, accounting, entrepreneurship, and many other classes so they can be a creative force in the industry instead of being just a human resource.?

What advice would Pengson have for a young student who is thinking of going into the culinary arts?

?If you're young... grow up! Plan to stop depending on your parents in two to four years and mean it. Go easy on gimmicks and understand what it is to have a vision and a five-year plan. Afterwards, have the courage to create your dreams but be realistic at the same time. Be hard on yourself but forgive also; be obsessed but take time to smell the roses; be smart but not arrogant; be honest and honorable; and stay away from dishonest and bad people.?

Words to live by. As for more specific advice, Pengson has this to say:

?If you're just out of high school or college, enroll at a professional culinary school (and not just any culinary school - do your research). It will take 7 to 15 months to finish. Do well in school so you get accepted for a good on-the-job training (OJT). Do well in OJT (remember, you're competing with many other students) and make an impression so they hire you. Know the kind of chef you wish to become and learn from someone who is already that person you want to be - make him your mentor. Be bold but have a plan. Plan and plan and plan until it's perfect, then work at it, work at it and work at it. Be flexible. Don't sell yourself short.?

In the end, it all boils down to passion.

?I know I may have overstated it, but having a life vision-mission and knowing your core values is probably the most important thing anyone can do,? he says. ?The sooner students understand this, the sooner they will make it big. One more thing, no matter what the situation is, the passion should always be there - doing things just for the heck of it and wanting to be the best.?