MANILA, Philippines ? Anyone can cook. But not everyone has taste. And so lies the difference between those who eat and those who eat well, between the gourmand and the gourmet; between those who cook and those who cook well, between the skilled professional and the master.
How do you cross over from ordinary to extraordinary? One word spells the difference?and it is the same answer from almost all successful chefs I?ve interviewed: passion.
You start with the basics. Ed Quimson shares that when he was much younger, his mother would challenge him to slice ingredients blindfolded. Beth Romualdez says that if you don?t know how to use a knife, you won?t get anywhere. Myrna Segismundo once said that you must first go basic before you go fusion or you end up with confusion! And celebrated Singaporean chef Justin Quek shares in his book that to get the best results in the kitchen, you will need a working knowledge of the principles of good cooking and an understanding of how to work with, and respect, the very best produce. He emphasizes in his book, ?Passion and Inspiration,? that the basics may not be the sexiest part of a cookbook but familiarizing yourself with these will help you become a more sensitive and instinctual cook.
Some are privileged to learn the basics at home, by watching their mothers, grandmothers, fathers or grandfathers cook. Quimson learned from his mother and grandmother; while Beth Romualdez? recollections are with her dad. In her book ?Cooking Lessons,? she recalls, ?As a young girl of eight, I often tagged along with my father whenever he found time to do the marketing and the cooking. He always liked to pick his own ingredients. Saturday mornings would find me accompanying him to the market, listening and watching as he handled the different fish, meats, and vegetables... At other times, I would come home from school to find a freshly slaughtered goat or wild boar hanging in our backyard... I would later learn that these animals would first be injected with a vinegar solution, then hung upside down and drained. Though why the boar had to be sliced a certain way before being cured and air-dried, I was never told.?
Others have to go to school. Back in the day, it was utter nonsense to go to culinary school, especially for the señoritos and señoritas. Cooking was for the indios and the household help, under the strict supervision of lola. And there was no such thing as a celebrity or even a plain chef; there was only a kusinero or a kusinera. Today, thanks to international celebrity chefs and globally telecast culinary shows, as well as the booming restaurant industry, the culinary arts has become a sought-after course.
So much so that parents are paying in the hundreds of thousands per semester just to teach their children how to cook! At Enderun College, tuition fees go as high as P300,000 for a year of training. Of course, this includes a full course not only in cooking but in hospitality management. That means you will be trained not only in the basics but also in the management aspects of running a restaurant or hotel, like cost control. You also get exposed to other flavors of the world which you may not necessarily learn in the confines of your home, no matter how great a cook your grandmother is. So the amount may sound stupendous to some but for those who seriously want to get into the business, enrolling at a school like this is an investment.
And, at the risk of sounding like an ad, I dare say that it is obvious that while you invest in a school like Enderun, it is also comforting to know that Enderun invests in you. Determined to be the primary hospitality school in Asia, this once-quaint educational center on one floor of a building in Ortigas has moved to Bonifacio Global City with two buildings already operational and a building for a Culinary Center in the works. This ?culinary center? will be in ?accordance with the philosophy of Alain Ducasse, the Michelin-renowned chef who ?treats cooking like religion.?
Personally, I could never bring myself to spend so much on learning to cook. I?m of the Good Will Hunting philosophy that everything?s in the books and that by sheer hard work and exposure (plus a little luck), you can be as good as anybody out there. But I guess if you want to be the best and can afford to, you might as well invest. The environment at this school allows you a certain focus that you may not otherwise achieve. Interaction with the best culinary teachers always helps. Plus, the school?s program includes an internship either here or abroad, with an option to do both with the school?s hotel partners, opening a door to those who would like to train and maybe eventually work abroad.
Of course, at the end of the day, it all boils down once again to that one essential. Ed Quimson, Margarita Fores, Myrna Segismundo, Beth Romualdez and Rachael Ray never had any formal training and they are some of today?s best chefs. But they do have that one thing that even the best schools cannot teach and which has made them the best: passion!
Enderun Colleges. 1100 Park Avenue, McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 1634 Philippines. (632) 856 5000 (632) 638 5555. www.enderuncolleges.com.
Discover flavors from the country?s best chefs who don?t own restaurants (or who own restaurants but are experimenting with other flavors) at Pink Kitchen 2 at the Rockwell Tent from. Oct. 18-19 with hospitality from Enderun College. Visit www.icanserve.net for details or www.margauxlicious.com for updates.
