Knorr brings cooking shows into the 21st century

Another TV cooking show? Unilever Foods Philippines (CMC) managing director Eileen Araneta says it’s not just another cooking show. Knorr’s Makuha Ka Sa Tikim, telecast over ABS-CBN every Saturday at 10:30 a.m., is a unique cooking show with a twist.

"Whereas in other cooking shows, the star is the dish, this time the star is the cook herself," Araneta explains during the press launch held recently at Unilever’s Cilantro Culinary Studio in Manila. The show is meant to inspire women, recognize and showcase their cooking skills, and honor their creativity.

It is also a cooking competition.

"It’s a cooking showdown," senior brand manager Oliver Sicam clarifies. Auditions were held all over the country, and from hundreds of aspirants, 27 finalists were chosen. Each week, three contestants compete, cooking up their own original recipes based on the show’s theme for the week, which is announced only during the show itself. The theme may revolve around an ingredient, or a type of dish, or even an occasion. Hosted by telenovela stars Jean Garcia and Eula Valdez, the fast-paced show is engaging, as well as entertaining.

The contestants are given 20 minutes to do their marketing for the ingredients. They then return to the studio to prepare and cook the dish and plate it for presentation to the judges. Scoring is based on taste (60 percent), presentation (20 percent), and creativity (20 percent). A jury of 10, composed of ordinary people who are best suited to judge the dishes based on the given theme, accounts for 25 percent of the final score.

For example, in the episode where the theme was "pancit," the jury was made up of residents of Chinatown. The balance of 75 percent comes from a panel of experts composed of a celebrity guest, a guest chef, and a certified foodie from Knorr.

The weekly winner goes on to compete in the monthly finals, the winners of which will in turn vie in the grand showdown in December for the title of "The Ultimate Cooking Diva" and a grand prize of P1 million.

While the concept is reminiscent of the popular cable TV cooking show, Iron Chef, it is different in the sense that the show features not only original recipes, but also the cooks’ stories – about their families, their relationships, as well as their struggles and personal triumphs.

In the episode where "pancit" was the theme, the winner, Analiza Pueblo, is a 35-year-old housewife from Iloilo City whose first-born is a special child. When she was a teenager, her sister often asked her to do the cooking for the family, and her skill improved through the years. This now serves her well in caring for her own family. Her winning pancit scored high not only for taste but also for presentation. For seasoning, she used Knorr shrimp cubes and Knorr liquid seasoning.

The Knorr chicken cube is the most popular among the different Knorr cooking aids, Sicam discloses. However, the other flavors, like pork, beef, and shrimp cubes, offer endless possibilities. There are no hard and fast rules and you can be as innovative as your creativity will let you.

For example, you can use Knorr sinigang mix to perk up your sweet and sour lapu-lapu. There’s a wide variety of sinigang mixes such as Knorr sinigang sa sampalok, with gabi, with sili, sa kamias, which is good with fish, and sa kalamansi, which is good with shrimps, and Knorr liquid seasoning, which works well with any dish.

"It’s a woman’s secret weapon," Sicam remarks.

The Knorr fish cube is great for soupy dishes. Recently, the Knorr meaty seasoning mix was launched, adding to the already wide range of Knorr cooking aids.

"Cooking should not be a chore," Araneta remarks. The Knorr cooking aids help the insecure or inexperienced cook to overcome her fears and allow those who are stressed to relax. They learn to see their kitchen in a whole new light, as a place where they can express themselves and give way to their creativity. It becomes a source of joy, especially when their efforts are appreciated by their family. It promotes healthy relationships, especially between wife and husband, particularly in cases where the mother-in-law is herself a good cook.

"We would like to penetrate more households and find Knorr cooking aids on more Filipino tables," Araneta remarks. "We would like them to experiment and be more innovative in the kitchen. Most of all, they should love to eat."