A slice of success

MANILA, Philippines – Grace under pressure. That’s how Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) chef instructor Carol Tentativa-Lavin managed to bag the bronze medal in the Dress the Cake live competition at the recent Food and Hospitality Asia (FHA 2010), the 17th edition of the largest and most comprehensive trade event for the food and hospitality industries in Asia, held recently at the humongous Singapore Expo in Singapore.

Chef Carol, who is also an active member of the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines (PAP), didn’t mind the scrutinizing eyes of the judges, the ticking of the clock, or the expectations of her students and colleagues. Instead, she focused all her energies on romancing the pulled sugar (with grace), which she used to decorate her chocolate moist cake — covered with marzipan and poured with chocolate mirror glacé — called “Reflections.” The base of the cake was a glass mirror, while the cake stand had lights. When you turned these on, you could see your reflection over the chocolaty confection.

 “I was so nervous. My hands were shaking while pulling the sugar,” admits the amiable chef. “I had to stretch and shape it while it was still malleable. I wouldn’t be able to do that when the sugar hardens.”

Chef Carol’s winning entry is inspired by Our Lady of Assumption.

“Before the competition, I dreamt of her. So I went to Narvacan, Ilocos Sta. Maria Church to pray. I was surprised when I saw her image. That’s exactly how she looked in my dream. The pulled sugar on the cake reminds me of her crown,” she explains.

Chef Carol and her student assistant Arthur Ong had sleepless nights prior to the competition. While they both practised every day, the hardworking chef felt they hadn’t given their 100 percent.

“The secret to winning in a live competition is practice, practice, and more practice. We just couldn’t afford to be too complacent. If we practised more, there was a big chance of winning the gold,” chef Carol adds.

Entries were judged based on preparation of the cake and cleanliness of the workstation, presentational and general impression, and technique and degree of difficulty.

“The latter is judged by the artistry, competence, and expert work involved in the execution or preparation of the exhibit,” explains chef Carol.

The timed practice sessions were indeed necessary to prepare chef Carol for the culinary challenge. In fact, this honed her efficiency and allowed her to maximize the two-hour session set for the competition.

The Reluctant Chef

Chef Carol used to work in a bank in Makati, where she first discovered her attraction to “dough.” During her spare time, she would dabble in the kitchen, and baked goodies to give to officemates, relatives, and friends. And so from counting dough, she moved on to actually kneading them.

“They loved my pastries. The positive response I got inspired me to hone my craft further,” she relates.

It was actually chef Carol’s husband, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) chief Ferdinand Lavin, who encouraged her to take formal culinary and baking lessons.

“He’s very supportive of me. He felt that my passion is really baking. I was reluctant at first, but he pushed me to take a two-year diploma course in baking and pastry arts, management, and one year in culinary arts, management at CCA, Manila. Well, he was right. I was destined to be a pastry chef,” she says with a grin.

From then on, chef Carol started to garner awards and recognition from various local and international competitions she joined.

“My husband is my biggest fan,” she notes. “He would make me tag along whenever he had trainings or conferences abroad. I took that opportunity and enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York, and the William Angliss Institute, Melbourne, Australia, for my continuing education.”

Then came destiny’s call. In 2006, chef Carol got an offer from CCA, Manila to be one of its chef instructors.

“CCA has opened many doors for me. The school officials bring out the best in each of their faculty members and students,” adds chef Carol who also runs LeCafaye, her home-based cakes and pastries business.

In fact, for the Dress the Cake live competition, Cravings Group of Companies CEO Badgie Guerrero-Trinidad allowed chef Carol to join the Philippine team (under the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines). She even graced the event to show her support, not only for chef Carol, but for the CCA team in general.

“That meant a lot to us. We will be forever grateful for the confidence and generous support she’s showered us all these years,” chef Carol enthuses.

Ready To Cook For The World

The Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) is a firm believer in the importance of competitions as venues for honing the skills of both its instructors and students. I guess this explains why the school regularly sends teams to culinary competitions — win or lose — here and abroad.

To train their students for local and foreign competitions, a school organization called Societe’de Excellance subjects them to rigid culinary training under time pressure.

For FHA 2010, CCA, Manila fielded three teams that competed in the Plated Desserts (chef instructor May Martinez, student assistant Sonny Mariano, and coach chef Carol Lavin), Plated Appetizers (chef Ritchie Custodio, student assistant Carlo Bernardo, and team leader/coach chef Melissa Sison), and Plated Dishes (chef Mira Cruz, student assistant Carlo Buenaventura, and coach Gigi Angkaw) categories.

Although the three teams didn’t make it (Singapore, the host country, dominated the competition), the hardworking chefs and their students charged everything to experience.

“As what most chefs say, ‘Competition builds character,’” chef Mira Cruz shares. “The pressure and physical demands are equivalent to years of hard work in the kitchen. Winning is part of the game; so is losing. Four months of grueling practice, research and development made us feel confident. We learned so many things from this experience and that definitely inspired each one of us to strive harder.”

“Win or lose I support them,” says Badgie. “Every time they compete I always remind them that the objective of the school is to expose them to new trends. Winning a medal is just a bonus, an affirmation that they did their job well. I hope that they learn more from the experience. Their team spirit shouldn’t wane.”

We eat with our eyes first. The number of visitors who took photos of Team CCA’s entries was already an affirmation that chefs May, Ritchie, and Mira succeeded in their mission of tickling the crowd’s palate and imagination through their plated works of art.