Cagayan de Oro City’s luxury boutique hotel and the Philippines leading food service company have been undertaking the enviable goal to level up Northern Mindanao’s culinary experience.
For the last decade, Limketkai Luxe Hotel and Unilever Food Solutions Philippines (UFS Philippines) have been conducting product demonstrations and trainings to make life easier in the kitchen for the region’s chefs and cooks, improve margins for hoteliers and restaurateurs, with the bottom line of making more nutritious and better serving dishes that patrons and guests can enjoy at their most convenient time.
“At Unilever Food Solutions, we are dedicated to inspiring, supporting, and helping you progress in the ever-evolving world of food service. As we look to the future, we are excited to share with you our vision for this year’s food service landscape and the latest menu trends that will shape it,” said UFS Philippines Country Executive Chef Kenneth Cacho, who has been one of the regular fixtures of Cagayan de Oro’s Kumbira!, the annual culinary festival and competition organized by the Cagayan de Oro Hotel and Restaurant Association (COHARA) showcasing the talents of the chefs and food service personnel from the various hotels and restaurants in Mindanao, now on its 30th year.
Explained COHARA President and Limketkai Luxe General Manager Jerome de la Fuente: “Unilever has been with KaVe (Limketkai Luxe’s exclusive Restaurant and Bar which prides itself in fine dining at affordable prices) since I came aboard. They train our staff, not merely demonstrate, because our chefs will execute the new trends.”
Sharpening the Saw
As coined by Stephen Covey as Habit 7 in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, dela Fuente stressed the need to inclusively “sharpen the saw”.
“I’ve always had this mentality: If I want to position Cagayan de Oro next to Cebu, I need to train more people, I need to sell in Manila. We need to continuously train because if we don’t do this, sasabit ako. Although they come here to train our chefs and understudies, it is open to the public because I want everyone to participate regardless of whether they are Unilever supporters or not. Anyone in the tourism industry, including supermarket owners, who’s in Misamis Oriental and the surrounding areas are welcome.”
To cope with the constant turnover of experienced chefs and cooks to more lucrative careers elsewhere, Limketkai Luxe has continuously absorbed all culinary graduates from two of the region’s leading culinary schools.
“We understand that running a food service business is not an easy task, and we are here to provide you with the support and resources you need to succeed. From recipe ‘inspiration to culinary training, we offer a comprehensive range of services to help you grow your business,” Chef Kenneth stressed.
Among the Trending Chef Courses and Skills offered by UFS Philippines are Kitchen Basics, Food Safety and Hygiene, Food Photography & Plating, Cost Management, Food Delivery, F&B Marketing, and Menu Planning.
During the latest demo and training held August 18 at the Limketkai Luxe Emerald Ballroom, some 80 chefs from around the region joined Unilever Country Executive Chef Kenneth Cacho, and Senior Sous Chefs J. Brando Santos, Carlos Felipe Aluning, and Paulo Sia who each introduced trending dishes in Borderless Cuisine, Culinary Roots, Diner Designed , and Street Food Couture.
Sous Chef Julius Primor, who’s been with KaVe for the past decade, details how each of the Unilever Chefs demonstrated one each of the future trends dishes.
“For example, the Stuffed Inasal Wings by Sous Chef Pipo Aluning introduced their new Knorr Professional Crispy Breading Mix with the innovative CrispLock Coating for crispiness that lasts up to 3 hours,” Chef Julius noted.
“Like all the dishes they demonstrated, these products simplified our food preparation and significantly reduced time spent, without sacrificing taste and texture which we can count on for consistency compared to previously preparing each ingredient separately with no assurance of consistency and costing,”.
The other dishes featured in the event included Sinaing na Maya-Maya by Chef Kenneth Cacho; Fried Bistek Burger with Truffle Bistek Sauce by Chef Paulo Sia; and Beef Humba Tacos by Chef Brando Santos.
I had the opportunity to taste these four dishes highlighted during KaVe’s Friday Seafood Buffet on August 19 and one can hardly notice any difference with similar dishes made with ingredients prepped the traditional way.
For the past decade, Limketai Luxe’s KaVe and UFS Philippines have collaborated in sharing their experiences in issues encountered and best practices to address them to sustainably serve the constantly changing culinary landscape.
“Our expert team of global and regional chefs have been hard at work-researching and developing innovative and trendsetting dishes that cater to the evolving tastes of Filipino diners. We are confident that these menus will not only delight your customers but also help you stay ahead of the competition,” Chef Kenneth assures.
UFS Philippines conducts a year-round Culinary and Marketing initiative that incorporates various trend-sharing and ideation sessions. For KaVe’s chefs, it conducts culinary masterclasses on the latest Future Trends incorporating their new and innovative products.
Limketkai Luxe Hotel is the tallest and biggest hotel in Cagayan de Oro with 213 keys. Endorsed as the first Gold Hotel in the Philippines, it has also been certified as the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building in the Philippines as certified by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2013 and 2014.
Chef support – for chefs by chefs
Unilever Food Solutions is a business built by Chefs focused on inspiring, training and providing chefs with the best products solutions to make their lives a little easier.
Drawing from their extensive experience in professional food services, UFS’ team of over 300 Chefs create dish solutions that balance great taste, convenience and nutrition with a consistently high standard.
Its global network of food service professionals help source the best sustainable ingredients, develop quality products, create inspiring & trending recipes, and provide chef training and support.
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