MY first judging assignment on the second day of the competitions during the 10th Annual Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Weekend held last September 5 to 7, 2013, at the Baguio Country Club grounds was the Table Napkin Folding-Student Division competitions at 10:00 a.m. yet, so my husband Raff and I took our time to enjoy the breakfast buffet at the Veranda. This was my only judging assignment for the day, so I was pretty relaxed compared to the day before.
For breakfast, our first course was again fresh fruits. Pineapple, watermelon, papaya, and there was rambutan. I liked the taste of rambutan, which is close to the taste of lychees, but I didn’t like the way its inner skin, attached to the seed in the middle, kind of ripped off with the fruit itself when you bit into it and some of it would get stuck between the teeth, but the half-peeled rambutans at the buffet table looked really appetizing, so I got some. Well, the inner skin still came off with the fruit when I bit into it, but the rambutan itself was sweet and delicious, so I enjoyed it just the same.
Then I assembled a fresh garden salad with lettuce, tomato wedges, sliced cucumber and julienned carrots, and drizzled a vinaigrette dressing over it. I had it with Papaya Juice and then Raff and I proceeded to the main course. If there’s one thing you’ve got to admire about Baguio Country Club’s daily breakfast buffet, it’s the fact that all the breakfast staples that you’d look for are always there. There’s Corned Beef, Derecado Longganisa, Pork Tocino and Beef Tapa. But since I’m partial to fish and seafood, I went for the Daing na Espada. I always enjoy the Daing na Espada at Baguio Country Club because it’s perfectly cooked to a golden doneness, is crisp but not tough, and, most importantly, is not overly salty.
I found some Raisin Bread slices on the bread and pastry buffet and was pleasantly surprised to know that Baguio Country Club now makes a Multigrain variant of its famous Raisin Bread.
Before I knew it, it was almost 10:00 a.m., and so I rushed to the Multi Purpose Hall, where the contestants for Table Napkin Folding-Student Division, numbering 13 or 14, were already in place and ready to fold away. My fellow judges, Marie Garcia of Restaurant 9501 and Rowena Jose of Maribago Bluewater Resort-Mactan, Cebu, were also already there. So was Restaurant 9501’s Raul Ramos, who made all the judging assignments for everyone and who was an expert in table napkin folding and other details of restaurant operations.
So the contestants were asked to do 12 standard napkin folding designs – Birds of Paradise, Double Fan Fold, Ice Cream Fold, Clown’s Hat, Cardinal Hat, Pendant, Tulip Fold, Spear Fold, Pinwheel Fold, Cone Fold, Cap Fold and Simple Napkin Pocket – and see how many they can fold by memory within a three-minute time limit. The most anyone could finish was seven napkin folds but with only five correctly done. After that, each of them took center stage to show us how to make their original napkin fold, which they thought up themselves. Some of them were simple and elegant, others were elaborate and used multiple sheets of napkins and props, but in the end it was the simple and elegant designs that won the judges’ nod.
Marie, Rowena and I consolidated our scores and submitted the final score sheet to the assigned event OIC, and then we had free time before Raff and I had to shuttle over to the Atrium of SM City Baguio, where his events, The Filipino Carver on Stage-Professional Division and The Filipino Carver on Stage-Student Division, were to take place.
So we decided to hang around the Judges’ Room for a while. When we entered the room, everyone was raving about the Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies on the merienda buffet. Each was thoughtfully wrapped in Baguio Country Club’s signature paper wrap and lay nicely on a tray. “Taste it,” said the other judges, among them Philippine Daily Inquirer food columnist Micky Fenix and Restaurant 9501’s Myrna Segismundo plus Delize’s Chef Jill Sandique (who is also a FLAVORS Magazine columnist) and Tita Glenda Barretto of Via Mare fame. So we did. When I bit into it, I realized what the others were raving about. The Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies were really good. They were chewy but cooked through, they were not too sweet, really just right, and you could really taste the blueberries. Marvelous! I went out of the Judges’ Room and really looked for Baguio Country Club’s Executive Chef, Pio de Guzman, who was then supervising the proceedings of the Chef Wars Western-Student Division competitions, and asked him how the Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies were made. He gave the credit to Pastry Chef Art Nucaza, but, tough luck, Chef Art wasn’t around at that time. We had known both Chef Pio and Chef Art from years back when we all were invited to Ilocos Sur to judge in the Chefs on Parade-ISHORE culinary competitions annually staged in Vigan a few years back. The two chefs also had with them Baguio Country Club’s F&B man, Nap Arrieta, in Vigan back then. Too bad, though, the local government of Ilocos Sur had decided to stop staging the province’s annual culinary competitions.
So, I went back into the Judges’ Room and had a good chat with some of the judges who were hanging around the place as well. We ended up some Blueberry Cookies for munching later before the Baguio Country Club wait staff came to take the tray away and replace it with a lunch spread. The judges’ lunch on the second day of competitions was lovely. Aside from the Lechon Baboy on the carvery (sorry, I really do not eat pork), the buffet offerings included Ebi and Fish Tempura, Beef and Vegetable Teppan, Cream of Watercress Soup, freshly steamed rice and lots of bread. For dessert, there were Chocolate Mousse cakes and Fresh Mangoes and Strawberries. I had a heaping bowl of Cream of Watercress Soup, then a platter of Ebi and Fish Tempura, Vegetable Teppan and rice for my main meal, and Fresh Mangoes and Strawberries for dessert. As always, mineral water and sodas were a-plenty. I got myself a bottle of Fiji Artesian Water to wash down my meal with. That’s a balanced meal!
After lunch, Raff and I made a quick stop at Raisin Bread, the coffee shop of Baguio Country Club, to make an advanced order of pasalubong items that I would take back home to Manila when we left morning of the next day. Competitions ran until afternoon of Saturday (September 7, 2013), with awarding ceremonies to follow, but Raff and I had to head back home to Manila already to honor other commitments. I had advised Raul about it ahead of schedule and was given permission to do so. Raff and I were planning to take the Deluxe Bus of Victory Liner, just like we did last year, but since Chef Sandy Daza and The Peninsula Manila’s Marissa Dowling, both judges, also asked to make an earlier trip back to Manila, Raul arranged for a van to take all four of us back to Manila on Saturday (September 7, 2013) morning. We had agreed to leave at 8:00 a.m. the following morning, so I had to make advanced orders of Raisin Bread for my sisters back in Manila, so I could just pick up my order at the coffee shop the following morning and go. I ordered Raisin Bread, Centennial Bread (Raisin Bread baked in half loaf size) and Banana Bread. Now all I needed to buy was Mountain Maid Strawberry Jam for my elder sisters Swanie (real name: Susana) and Mary, but I had no time to go all the way to the Good Shepherd store, so I was planning to look for some at SM Baguio later.
We took the shuttle of Baguio Country Club at about 1:00 p.m. and headed for SM Baguio. When we got to the Atrium, event OIC Nap Arrieta was there, and judges of the earlier competitions held there, Chef Jean Pierre “JP” Migne and Cebu’s Maricris Encarnacion were still deliberating and consolidating their scores. Chef JP said he had moved The Filipino Carver-Professional Division scheduled at 1:30 p.m. down to 3:30 p.m., which was the scheduled time for The Filipino Carver-Student Division, so that both competitions could proceed at the same time. There were only two competitors for the Professional Division anyway, and the space at the Atrium was enough to accommodate everyone. The competitors would have two hours to finish their vegetable carving designs, and there was no point in spending four hours in competition when it could be done in two.
With this arrangement, Raff and I had time to go around the mall and look for Mountain Maid Strawberry Jam. We headed for the Cordillera Souvenirs area of SM Baguio, where stalls selling local pasalubong items – food, T-shirts, keychains, refrigerator magnets, bags, local weaves, etc. – were located. I found one stall selling Mountain Maid Strawberry Jam and bought two bottles. My pasalubong items for my sisters were complete, and I was happy.
We went back to the Atrium a little before 3:00 p.m., and since everyone was there – judges and contestants – the competitions started at 3:00 p.m., 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Raff was judging with Chef JP Migne, Rowena Jose and former Tourism Usec Edu Jarque. By the end of the competitions, it was raining really hard, and Chef Myrna was calling Chef JP to say that dinner was going to be at The Hill Station. The Hill Station was owned and managed by Mitos Benitez, who also served as a judge and who also hosted a dinner for the judges last year.
I loved The Hill Station’s food last year and would love to indulge on its Filipino-Spanish cuisine once again, but Raff and I were leaving for Manila with Chef Sandy and Marissa early the next morning, so we decided to beg off. I made a quick stop at the fast-food area of SM Baguio to buy food for my and Raff’s dinner as the judges were busy computing their scores and deciding on their final scores, and then I texted the driver of the Baguio Country Club’s shuttle van to come pick us up. It was still raining hard when the van picked us up, but we nonchalantly braved the rains to get to the van and headed back to the country club. Raff and I had an early dinner that night, I worked on a blog entry for a while, and then we decided to hit the sack early to wake up early for our trip back to Manila the next day.
Not wanting to make a bad impression on our traveling companions by being late, Raff and I were down at the Veranda for breakfast at 7:00 a.m., with bags packed already packed in the room. Breakfast was straight to the main course this time, with Garlic Rice to go with Daing na Bangus and Espada, and Mushroom and Tomato Omelette with a glass of Pineapple Juice. Then we picked up our bags in the room, checked out, picked up our order at Raisin Bread and headed for the van. Chef Sandy and Marissa joined us not too long after, and we started on our smooth and uneventful journey back to Manila.
By 2:30 p.m., we were in Manila. Chef Sandy heaved a huge sigh of relief, as he was hurrying back to make it to the silver wedding anniversary celebration of his sister and our colleague in the publishing industry, Nina Daza Puyat.
The last part of our journey was a short cab ride from Katipunan Ave., Quezon City, to our place in Cainta.
Until next time, Baguio…
