Join the Chinese New Year celebrations at SM Supermalls from January 18 to January 31! Indulge in a culinary journey featuring top Chinese restaurants and their signature dishes, perfect for making your festivities truly unforgettable.

Not sure where to eat out? Here are some delectable spots to celebrate the festivities:

Paradise Dynasty
SM Aura, SM Podium, S Maison

Ever wondered when the tantalizing umami flavor conquered Filipino taste buds? The roots of this savory sensation trace back to the early 1950s, marking the advent of Ajinomoto in the Philippines. In 1958, Ajinomoto Co., Inc. forged a partnership, giving birth to Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation—a name now synonymous with culinary excellence.

Ajinomoto, the esteemed Japanese seasoning company famed for its umami-rich monosodium glutamate (MSG), made its way to the Philippines through strategic business collaboration. This marked the beginning of a flavorful legacy, elevating traditional Filipino dishes to new heights. The partnership addressed the surging demand for MSG, a vital ingredient in Asian cuisine, fostering a culinary relationship that has endured the test of time.

Experience is the best way for kids to learn. The simpler it is, the fastest they will know about it. They like it easy, fun, and engaging. Practical and not theoretical is the most better word to describe it. Well, I learned it from my kids.

If you're going to look back and reminisce your childhood, you'll see that life is simple. We don't worry too much, and we don't complicate things. It's like the basics of Math one plus one is always equal to two. There are no extra parameters that lead to confusion. So, that's how I think, but of course, there are always different approaches to learning.

So, let your kids learn to cook at an early age? Is it a good idea? Well, for me, it's a great idea. If you're going to ask me why, well, I have these few lines to explain it.

1. Kids can develop more of their motor skills. The eye and hand coordination.
2. Kids learn to value the food they eat.
3. Kids can understand the process of preparing these foods.
4. Respect for all the people behind the preparation of these foods.
5. Kids to know that there are more flavors in life.
6. For kids to learn the basics of cooking.

There are more reasons why kids should learn to cook, but these six are just some that I could think of at the moment.

I mentioned at the beginning that experience is the best way for kids to learn, and since we don't want these kids to go jumble and clumsy at the kitchen, here are some games that kids can play and learn about culinary, the Open Restaurant and Penguin Cafe. You can find these games at CulinarySchools.Org. There are also other games online like the Diner Dash and Papa's Donuteria that can help kids understand the aspects of serving and preparing food.

With the games created by Culinary School, you can know that they have this game to create awareness of the games they offer and that culinary is also fun. Through these games, they let their website visitors experience the fun inside the kitchen through culinary games.

All you have to do is get into their website, check out the games for kids and start playing. That's how easy and accessible it is. So, you don't need to have an account to play the game, and you don't have to enroll in culinary school just to play their games. All that you need to do is visit and browse the website. In case, you might get interested in finding Culinary Schools in your place, you browse the website and find one near your area.

I remember attending this culinary event back then, where we created two dishes. The host Chef guided us from preparation to serving. Fortunately, the food tastes great, though it was only a matter of a day, still, it was a remarkable experience. This is probably a few perks that bloggers get when we get invited in an event.

So, would I enroll my kids in culinary school? Perhaps yes, if the budget permits and if Covid is gone already. But for now, we will have to settle for the games. At least they would know what happens inside the kitchen.

Few days ago Kwento Ni Toto went to an event where cooks are considered idols and creativity are put into cooking. It’s a clash of wits and taste buds aspiring to be The Next Cusina Idol. It’s Melawares Culinary Clash, unleashing the cooking talent of participants, students and aspirant cook. Armed with their cooking skills and fueled by their passion for food, ten (10) cooking enthusiasts and culinary students joined to battle it out on “The Next Cusina Idol Cook-Off Challenge.” The event is hosted by Melawares, the popular high-quality melamine tableware and Urban Kitchen, the complete restaurant and food service solution.

Last August 26, under the unpredictable weather a blogger barge in deep somewhere in Makati. It was easy but an unfamiliar area. The blogger headed at Walter Mart and straight up to the 5th floor. Thank goodness there’s an escalator functioning. 5th floor is 5th floor, especially if you came from work and went through a lot of exhausting effort just to be there.


The event was held at the Magsaysay Institute for Hospitality and Culinary Arts or coned as MIHCA. The institute is indeed walking what they are talking. Part of their name is the HOSPITALITY and they really know how to be hospitable with their guests. The blogger was amazed because it started by simply showing to them their seats. They even explained to the blogger the food that he was about to eat and also ask if the blogger like to have one of it or not. After experiencing this, the blogger just hope that MIHCA could encourage more people to learn in their institute and spread the true Filipino hospitality.


While the blogger is having a very great time with his food, the charming Chef Jeremy Favia were already making a cooking demo of one of the recipes. It is an easy-to-cook succulent culinary delight with Doles line of tomato sauce. As a background, at first the blogger were amazed because for him Dole was all about pineapples and now they are lining with tomato sauce. The recipe that Chef Jeremy demonstrated was called the Cherry Tomato and Eggplant Ragu Penne. Yummy! Pasta is the bloggers favorite and Penne is just another kind of pasta. The cooking demo was easy simple enough for the guests to memorize. So after the demo five guests were invited to be part of the Clash, a Culinary Clash.








Five were chosen err who got the guts to be part of the clashing Chef to bes, good for them because they will have the chance to be judge by Chef Jeremy. It was Jeman, Lariza, Enzo, Ryan and John Doe (the blogger didn’t get his name). With guts they will sure have the glory afterwards. After some few minutes of chopping and tossing the ingredients in the sauce pan they all finally finished and even made a very good plating of their dishes.


Five plates were aligned in the bar area. Same dish, same ingredients, different styles, and different cooks! One by one and plate by plate a taste was done. Thinking, murmuring and at last the judges made a final decision and Chef Jeremy with a little bit of explanation of why finally pinpointed the plate of the victorious Chef to be, it was Enzo! Enzo of Juan Manila was announced winner of the Great Dole Cook-Off!


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If you want to know more about the recipes that check out Kwento Ni Toto’s Kwentong Pagkain.