Pass the Plate... to Me!

What becomes when a 21st century food magazine teams up with a product from the 19th century?

This my friends:

The event was cunningly called:

Pass the Plate: A Cooking Demo with Knorr and Yummy

I had a once in a blue moon opportunity to be invited to this cooking demo last November 24. It was held at the Activity Center of Ayala Center Cebu and was organized by Yummy Magazine.

Haven't heard of Yummy Magazine? Yummy is a modern food magazine for anyone who loves to cook and eat. It features easy cooking guides for everyone. Also, they have a nice online presence - do check out their website (or not - coz it will just make you hungry. Hehe). If you want food related things and more, visit their website, like their facebook page, follow them on twitter, or pick up the latest Yummy magazine.

It was my first time to watch this kind of event live, and I was expecting to see a potbellied mustachioed guy with a French accent declaring "Délicieux" every time he tasted his dish.

Blame it on Disney. (Photo courtesy of Disney)

But (and a good but)...

Instead, they featured two stunning chefs - Knorr's resident chef Chef Dianne dela Cruz and Yummy's contributing chef Chef Katherine Jao. Take out the cookware and the aprons, and one couldn't really tell if it's a cooking demo or more like a women's talk show event.

 

Left: Chef Dianne dela Cruz preparing the Moringga-Squash Cream Soup. Right: Chef Katherine Jao adding ingredients to her Mexican Tortilla Soup.

For the demo, Chef Dianne cooked Cream Dory Fillets with Sofrito (sofrito, commonly known here as ginisa), Binalot na Tilapia sa Pechay (Sinanglay, a Bicolano dish), and Moringga-Squash Cream Soup. While Chef Katherine brought in a Mexican flavor with her Mexican Tortilla Soup and Barbecue Chicken and Veggie Quesadilla.

After every food demo (every time a meal has finished cooking), I could hear myself saying "Please, please. Pass that plate...to me...to meeeeee!" Indeed they passed samples. Albeit small, the flavors were undoubtedly - for lack of a better word - flavorful. Like flavors hyperactively dancing crazy to Dubstep, except that they're party-rockin' in my mouth.

Close enough. (Photo taken from 1funny.com)

However, no sample for Cream Dory Fillets with Sofrito, and Binalot na Tilapia sa Pechay. Anyway, I've ranked the samples we tasted from best to good:

BEST

Moringga-Squash Cream Soup

Really tasty and can be prepared in just 30 minutes.

BETTER

Barbecue Chicken and Veggie Quesadilla

Wish I had more.

GOOD

Mexican Tortilla Soup

The flavors were fighting. Cilantro ownage.

Here are other photos from the Pass the Plate event:

Giveaways... for participants who answered the questions correctly.

After wrapping up, guest bloggers had the opportunity to take pictures of the dishes. I did too:

Cream Dory Fillets with Sofrito

Binalot na Tilapia sa Pechay
The lemon grass serves as tie and flavor.

Moringga-Squash Cream Soup

Mexican Tortilla Soup

Barbecue Chicken and Veggie Quesadilla

But what I really planned was to look for a container and take home this orphaned good looking dishes (with permission of course!).

 Journey to the Center of the Table: The Search for the Take-home Container.

Good thing Chef Katherine was kind enough to give me a small round plastic container which was used for the sugar. With quickness I replaced the contents with two slices of Cream Dory Fillets and two of the Binalot na Tilapia. For me and my date.

What to eat for dinner? Solved!

YUMMMMYYYYYY !!!