Iloilo’s Hercor College shines in Ajinomoto Visayas Showdown

COMING off its fresh victory in the inaugural Iloilo leg of the Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge, Hercor College brushed aside the jitters accompanying a visiting team and grabbed a bit of the spotlight in the Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge – Visayas 2013 (UCC-V 2013) last Sept. 21 at the SM City Cebu Trade Hall.

Hercor College lived up to its stature as Iloilo champion and turned up the heat on hometown-favorite International School for Hotel and Restaurant Management (ISHRM) as it proved to be more creative in maximizing the full potential and usage of the umami taste to win the Visayas Showdown for the Best Filipino Umami Dish.

The triumph landed Hercor College a berth in the national finals for the Best Filipino Umami Dish, which will be held in February next year during the 5^th Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge in Manila.

Expenses of the four-man Hercor College team to the national finals will be shouldered by Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation. Hercor College advanced to the Visayas Showdown after topping the Best Filipino Umami Dish category in the UCC-Iloilo last August.

Students of Benedicto College from Mandaue City, meanwhile, brought home the most-coveted Umami Bowl Award as it came out on top of the 20-team inter-school cooking competition after making the Top 3 in two of the three categories contested.

Benedicto College finished only second to ISHRM in the Best Filipino Umami Dish category but fashioned out the best “My Own Umami Creation” dish that propelled them to this year’s overall championship.

UCC-V 2012 overall champion University of Cebu – Marine Education Training Center came up short in its bid to defend the throne as it made the Top 3 only once, a third-place finish in the Best Filipino Umami Dish category.

Finishing second to Benedicto College in the My Own Umami Creation category was Cebu Institute of Technology – University, while Lapu-Lapu College settled for third.

In the Healthy Asian Umami Dish category, Cebu Technological University – Danao emerged No. 1, with Mandaue City College and Lapu-Lapu City College taking the second and third places, respectively.

The Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge is an inter-school cooking competition focusing on umami as the fifth basic taste.

Competing students in each category were given an hour to prepare and cook their dishes before presenting them to the panel of judges made up of chefs Dietmar Dietrich, Raki Urbina, Erling Rune, Sau del Rosario, and Ma. Lourdes Caudal, food and wine connoisseur Joel del Prado, writers Aissa dela Cruz and Edith Singian, and restaurateur Dr. Alfredo Malasomma.

Carenderia owners, food lovers, guests and the general public feasted on the snacks and drinks offered by the sponsors and learned new cooking and marketing skills from the informative seminars conducted by experts during the whole-day UCC-V 2013 affair.

Resident chef Russel R. Bautista, Food and Nutrition Manager of Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC), is the UCC-V Project Head, while Competition Director is culinary expert and cookbook author Nancy Reyes-Lumen.

The UCC-V is organized by APC, an affiliate of Ajinomoto Co. Inc. of Tokyo, Japan. The Ajinomoto Group is committed to safety and reliability and places importance on promoting “Food and Health” around the world through its innovative technologies derived from amino acids.

Established in 1958, APC lives by its promise to provide consumer products that will always make healthy and nutritious meals deliciously tasteful as embodied in the corporation’s new slogan: “Eat Well, Live Well.”

Products of APC include AJI-NO-MOTO® Umami Seasoning, Aji-Ginisa™ Flavor Seasoning Mix, Crispy Fry™ Breading Mix, Crispy Fry™ Seasoned Crumbs, Tasty Boy™ All Purpose Breading Mix, Aji Sinigang™, Aji-Shio Seasoning Mix, So-Quick Marinade Mix, Ajinomoto® Brand Chicken Powder, and Fres-C® Powdered Juice Drink.