MANILA — Soldiers fight well with full stomachs.
With this old adage in mind, the Armed Forces of the Philippines conducted its first “AFP Battle of the Kitchen Warriors” last May 28 to June 1, military public affairs office chief Col. Noel Detoyato said over the weekend.
The goal of the five-day competition is to come up with a truly unique Filipino cuisine, which can be integrated into the AFP Commissioned Officer’s Club (COC) and provide soldiers and the AFPCOC staff with opportunities to improve their cooking skills, as well as their professional networks, he added.
This is aside from boosting the morale of AFP personnel by enhancing AFPCOC and its counterpart service providers in the Major Services’ capability in developing and promoting high standard of food services for the soldiers and its guests.
Detoyato said the five-day event was organized by the AFPCOC management in partnership with the Center for Culinary Arts, Manila.
He added that kitchen personnel from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and AFPCOC participated in the cooking contest.
Declared as overall winner was Team AFPCOC, composed of Jessie Magcalas, Nonie Santiago, and Allen James Bernardez, who prepared the following cuisine: malunggay-tinapa bites or malutina for appetizers; stuffed and steamed boneless bangus (milkfish) with malunggay pesto, also called the “Marawi Tower,” for main course; and bikoron (biko and turon) with langka (jackfruit) and latik sauce for dessert. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
