The AJINOMOTO® Umami Culinary Challenge 2013 (UCC 2013)

The fourth year and fifth implementation of the AJINOMOTO® Umami Culinary Challenge welcomes thousands of visitors and 450 student-competitors at the SMX Convention Center. 43 universities and colleges in Metro Manila and nearby provinces showcased their mastery of achieving umami taste in their culinary creations to vie for the coveted Umami Bowl Award.

Competitors try their hand at Eat Well, Live Well.® Cooking to create healthy and tasty dishes

 In each of the five (5) competition categories, HRM and Nutrition students were given an hour to prepare and cook their dishes. Judges decided based on intensity of umami taste, culinary technique and creativity, dish preparation and plate presentation. One of the major criteria of this competition is Eat Well, Live Well.® Cooking. This criterion refers to the integration of culinary skills and nutrition knowledge to create a delicious and nourishing umami dish.

Apart from the culinary competitions, foodies and other guests enjoy exhibit booths from sponsors and participated in catering and meat processing seminars. Ms. Kathryn Bernardo, the new AJI-NO-MOTO® Umami Seasoning endorser, also made a special appearance to congratulate all the participants for a job well done.

The event finale is the awarding of winners, which names Arellano University – Jose Abad Santos as the Umami Bowl Champion for garnering the highest average score and excelling in the competition categories.

Arellano University – Jose Abad Santos wins the Umami Bowl Award for the Ajinomoto® Umami Culinary Challenge 2013

The AJINOMOTO® Umami Culinary Challenge 2013 is presented by Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation, in partnership with the Food Caterer’s Association of the Philippines and sponsored by La Germania, Solane, Whirlpool/Fujidenzo, Sweetlink, Masflex and Anvil Publishing.

Food Demonstration with Selected media friends: 

During the food demonstration with the media. Chef McRhyan Rodrigo explains the value of Umami on our dishes.

  Select media friends gather to witness the umami-licious dishes being prepared by Chef Rodrigo

 Lucky for me! I was given the opportunity by Joyce Mendoza to plate the 2nd dish!!

Plating during the food demonstration with the media at the 4th Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge 2013

 Finished product!!

 Chef Jajie (that's me!) with the finished product.

Explore and experience umami at the AJINOMOTO® Umami Culinary Challenge 2013

450 HRM and Nutrition students from 43 universities and colleges in Metro Manila and nearby provinces are set to showcase their culinary skills and mastery of the umami taste at the Ajinomoto® Umami Culinary Challenge (UCC) 2013. The whole day event will be held on February 2, 2013 at Hall 2 of the SMX Convention Center.  

Participants exhibit their cooking skills during the competition

 

Now on its fourth year, Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation has established UCC as the first of its kind, interschool, multi-category culinary competition that focuses on umami, the 5^th basic taste alongside sweet, sour, bitter and salty. UCC is growing bigger each year. “We want more aspiring chefs to discover how deep understanding of umami effectively develop their skills to attain culinary excellence.” says Chef Russell Bautista, Project Head of UCC.

 

Contestants will be engaged in five (5) competition categories: 1) Umami Bento Meal, 2) Healthy Asian Umami Dish, 3) Best Filipino Umami Dish, 4) My own Umami Creation and 5) Umami Potter. Criteria for selecting the winning dishes are intensity of umami taste, culinary technique and creativity, dish preparation, plate presentation and Eat Well, Live Well.® Cooking, which refers to the integration of culinary skills and nutrition knowledge to create a delicious and nourishing umami dish.

Culinary luminaries like Chef Seiji Kamura (Executive Chef Mana Clinary Fusion), Chef Joey Herrera (ISCAHM Chef), Chef Ed Quimson (Chef Patron M Catering & Fine Foods), Chef Eugene Raymundo (Food stylist and part owner of Five Cows Restaurant and Kitch Café), Chef Babes Austria (Executive Chef, Taal Vista Hotel Tagaytay), to name a few, will serve as competition judges. 

 

 

Student participants during the competition

Foodies and other guests will enjoy seminars on food safety and food processing, umami cooking demonstrations, interactive booths from sponsors and other exciting activities. UCC also welcomes caterers and meat processors as the event is staged in partnership with the Food Caterers Association of the Philippines (FCAP) and the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).

The Ajinomoto® Umami Culinary Challenge 2013 is presented by Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation and sponsored by La Germania, Solane, Whirlpool/Fujidenzo and Masflex.