At least 30: Estimated number of culinary schools in the Philippines listed in the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) website, as of May 2010.

20: Number of culinary schools in Metro Manila alone, according to Tesda.

22: Number of chefs at the Heny Sison Culinary School.

8: Number of months to complete the Diploma in Culinary Arts program offered by the Global City Innovative College. The program includes demo classes, hands-on, practical knowledge, field trips, culinary competitions, community service, career development seminars and chef mentoring.

15: Maximum number of students accepted by the First Gourmet Academy per diploma course, with two instructors per class. They follow a teacher-student ratio of 1 to 7.

Around 5,000: Number of foreign and local buyers and visitors who attended the 2009 International Food Exhibition (IFEX) Philippines. The event featured more than 400 local and foreign food manufacturers and generated $58M worth of sales.

P45,000: Rental rate of a 2-meter by 2-meter booth at the 2010 World Food Expo (WOFEX), held from Aug. 4 to 7 at the World Trade Center and SMX Convention Center.

6: Number of ?Iron Chefs? featured by ?Iron Chef America.? The Iron Chefs of America are Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto, Cat Cora, Jose Garces and Michael Symon.

300,000+: Number of copies of ?I?m Just Here for the Food? by Alton Brown, host of ?Iron Chef America,? sold to date. The book won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Cookbook in the Reference category.

$368: Estimated dining cost per person at the Aragawa restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, one of the most expensive restaurants in the world. The restaurant offers Kobe beef prepared using the charcoal-broiling method.

13: Total number of tables in the Gordon Ramsey restaurant in London, England. Opened in 1998, they charge $183 per meal.

Compiled by Schatzi Quodala, Inquirer Research
Source: tesda.gov.ph, henysison.com, firstgourmetacademy.com, ifexphilippines.com, worldsfoodexpo.com, foodnetwork.com, altonbrown.com, associatedcontent.com, PDI Archives