Filipino Dishes Prevailed During the Banchetto de Victorias Cook Off

Victorias City, Negros Occidental recently celebrated the 3rd Kalamayan Festival. And one of the highlights of the event is the Cook Off sponsored by the Victorias Foods Corporation. This year, the exciting cooking contest is entitled Banchetto de Victorias Cook Off, which is a much bigger competition between restaurateurs of Victorias City.

The contestants were tasked to come up with their own recipes using products by Victorias Foods Corporation. The contestants underwent a preliminary competition and then attended a Dine Victorias seminar held at 21 Restaurant in Bacolod City. The speakers were Adolf Aran and Chef Jam Melchor.

Here are the six entries:

Midori Health Wrap and Creamy Seafood with VFC Ham
Coffee Alley Special Pinangat
Sardines Pesto
Victo Grill Aglio Olio Pasta
Bacon and Ham Roll
Marjhun’s Restaurant Shrimp Jubilee with Honey Mustard and Green Peas Sauce
Pinakbet Paella
Victorias Cansi Haus Mongo with Ubad

The contestants prepared their dishes within 60 minutes only and were given the chance to explain their entries to the judges. Out of the eight entries, only three became the top winners. At the end of the day, the top two winners were those who prepared Filipino dishes–Pinangat (using gabi leaves) and  mongo with ubad (banana core). The grand prize winner won P25,000 in cash, the 1st runner got P20,000, while the 2nd runner got P15,000. The winner entries are:

1st Prize – Coffee Alley’s Special Pinangat

1st Runner Up – Victorias Cansi Haus Mongo with Ubad

2nd Runner Up – Marjhun’s Restaurant Shrimp Jubilee with Honey Mustard and Green Peas Sauce

The judges were esteemed professionals in the food industry, food writer Ige Ramos, Chef Martin del Prado, and Chef Sharwin Tee.

Kalamayan Festival

Kalamayan Festival came from the root word Kalamay, which means sugar. Negros Occidental, being the sugar bowl of the Philippines, is producing more than half of the country’s sugar output. And since the Victorias Milling Company (VMC) is the pillar of the sugar industry in the city, it is but fitting that they claim the name of this festival for their own.