Culinary competition
features adobo dishes

Food is more than just nourishment for the body, its also art and passion for Filipinos. An example of pride of our palate is specialties found in the provinces. Bacolod offers barbequed chicken and Bicol has laing while Cebu has suckling crispy lechon.

Phoenix land Inc. introduces its premiere project Las Haciendas. It is an estate that presents a laid back provincial lifestyle offering communities in harmony with nature and the comforts of modern living. The community strives to make adobo a dish that will make you come back and ask for more in the locality of the Mabuhay Probinsya property.

A cook off to seek out the best tasting abodo recipe was recently launched in the area. There were 25 culinary students who participated in the competition. Each student had to create a distinctive adobo recipe in front of the judges and audiences within 30 minutes, given pre-selected ingredients.

The criteria for judging: 50 percent adobo taste; 35 percent for uniqueness of the dish and 15 percent for creativity of presentation. The judges were: Chef DJ Santos, Cherly Justiniano, McCormick product manager and Joseph Tanchee.

For the Best Seafood Adobo, Honey Mae Aldana from La Consolacion Tanauan was honored for her Adobong Tanique sa Gata. Under the Best Exotic Adobo category, credit was given to Mary Grace Paunil from Arellano University, for her recipe Adobong Tangang Palaka. And for the Grand Adobo Master, the award went to Paul Jordan Bautista from ABE who won for his recipe Roasted Pork Adobo with Coconut Ginger Sauce. He also received 50,000 cash prize and a trophy plus P25, 000 for his represented school.

"This cook off event is definitely something we plan to continue as a yearly affair. Next year we will add more sizzling categories and prizes, so spread the word to all kitchen gurus who have the passion for cooking and sharing delectable delights," says Donnie Pile, president of Phoenix land.