FEATURE
A Souffle Industry
By Mio de la Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:09:00 07/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines – With so many cooking schools setting the local culinary scene on fire, it's bound to be the next casualty of the “hot pandesal syndrome,” where just about everyone rides on the current moneymaker. After all, with tourism pushing up the fine dining business, cruise liners demanding trained chefs and homecoming OFWs wondering where to invest their savings, students are flocking to culinary institutes to learn the hottest trade of the moment.
“It's today's trend,” says Rory Subida, directress of the Maya Kitchen Culinary Arts Center, who acknowledges the increase in the number of enrollees in cooking schools. “People who enjoy cooking have discovered that it can also be a source of livelihood.”
The Maya Kitchen, one of the oldest cooking schools in the country, has been drawing in new enrollees in record numbers, she reveals. “For some, it's probably because it's the “in” thing and everyone else is doing it, but others take up cooking lessons for more practical reasons - to set up their own business or to prepare for a job abroad.”
Unlike the major culinary schools that offer diploma courses to their students, the Maya Kitchen offers only short-term certificate courses, mostly for dishes that use the products of the culinary school's mother outfit.
The short courses are reasonably priced and attractive to housewives and aspiring entrepreneurs. A day-long cooking course costs only P1,500 to P3,000, while sessions that run for a week cost about P10,000.
The one-day special courses are for kakanin (local sweet snacks), Chinese and Japanese cooking, pasta, pizza, snacks, and international barbecue, while week-long courses cover basic culinary, proper hygiene, sanitation and safety, nutrition, stocks, soups, sauces, marinades, use of herbs and spices combinations, proper purchasing, storage, techniques of disjointing and boning poultry, filleting fish and meat preparation.
While most culinary schools in the country offer only short courses, a few of them offer both short- and long-term cooking courses, including the Center for Asian Culinary Studies and the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA).
The CCA, for example, provides lengthier curricula, including a full two-year program on Culinary Arts and Technology Management and a one-year Certificate Program in Baking and Pastry Arts.
Unfortunately, these courses are not for dilettantes who look at them as a hobby or a passing fancy before letting go when the trend passes or the passion ends. A two-year diploma course at the CCA can cost a fortune, from P750,000 to P780,000, while a one-year program ranges from P380,000 to P400,000.
But for those who have taken the course and persevered, the investment seems to be well worth it. Graduates of the two-year program may initially serve as line cooks or, at times, chefs de partie in fine hotels, restaurants, and other food establishments locally and internationally until they become head chefs or restaurant entrepreneurs or celebrity TV hosts, like Rosebud Benitez of “Quickfire,” Christian Encarnacion of QTV, Nino Logarta, Manuel Alba and Darlo Lopez.
“Tourism is the single biggest factor that contributes to the growth of cooking schools in the country,” says J.B. Bolanos, CCA marketing manager. “With tourism comes the need for more restaurants and other food joints that cater to the needs of tourists.”
Not everyone, of course, is prepared - or able - to splurge close to P1 million for a cooking career or a simple cooking lesson. So, how does one choose a cooking school?
A major consideration will have to be what you want out of your education. Are you just seeking to improve your cooking skills or are you looking towards a career? If it's simply improving cooking skills and seeking a healthy recreational outlet that you're after, then the smaller, short-course culinary schools like Maya Kitchen have more than enough cooking courses to satisfy your fancy.
But if you're after a definite career in the culinary field, then a special degree program may help you decide between the high-end Culinary Arts and Technology degree from the Center of Culinary Arts and the lower-end HRM and nutrition courses available in traditional colleges and universities.
In the end, your choice of a culinary school becomes a personal decision in terms of your budget and your reason for taking up cooking. If you are Judy Ann Santos and you love cooking, then your choice of the Center for Asian Culinary Arts was perfect no matter what the cost was. But for Ryan Agoncillo and Derek Ramsay who needed just a little exposure in cooking for their roles in the telenovela “Ysabella,” then a one-day sit-in at the CCA was more than enough.
If you are determined to take up cooking as a career, then it is time to list down your preferences and narrow down your choice to the best school that is going to give you the best culinary education your budget can afford.
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