DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, October 10 (PIA) -- A total of 33 recipes from the different local government units (LGUs) and schools in the province are set to vie for the best cuisine in a battle of culinary talents dubbed “Flavors of Sidlakang Negros” on October 19, 2023 at Freedom Park, Dumaguete City.

The provincial government will launch this year’s Buglasan Festival cooking competition in two categories from the 12 LGUs, which starts at 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. for the seven schools.

The 12 chefs from the towns and cities are ready to whip up their main course of fish flavors in the inter-LGU category.
Culinary talents from the seven participating schools include STI, ACSAT, St. Paul University Dumaguete (SPUD), Silliman University (SU), TeamSkills, Foundation University (FU), and Negros Oriental State University (NORSU).

The inter-school category will feature three menus from each contestant that includes appetizer, main course, and dessert.

Provincial Agriculturist Emmanuel Caduyac, cooking competition committee chair, said that since the schools are offering culinary courses, they are expected to demonstrate their skills in three menus in culinary arts.

Participating chefs from the LGUs who submitted their recipe entries to the Provincial Tourism Office are from Sta. Catalina, Tanjay City, La Libertad, Ayungon, Tayasan, Bindoy, San Jose, Valencia, Dauin, Sibulan, Bayawan City, and Mabinay.
Entries from the LGUs are endorsed by the local chief executives, while the student chef competitors are approved by their respective schools.

The use of ingredients such as monosodium glutamate, canned goods, imported products, and artificial seasonings are not allowed. 

The competition aims to discover new culinary talents from the participating schools and the LGUs.

Caduyac said hosting a cooking competition is an innovative way to increase local community participation in work-based learning.

Winners will receive cash prizes of P15,000 for the 1st place; P12,000 for the 2nd place; and P10,000 for the 3rd place.

Non-winning entries will get P5,000 each as consolation prize. 

The three judges of the competition for the two categories are well-known restaurateurs and chefs in Dumaguete City, namely: Matt Villamil of UnKwn Kitchen, Edison Manuel of Adamo Restaurant, and Richie Armogenia of Estorya resto. (JCT/PIA7 Negros Oriental)