Kitchen Discovery: Do you have what it takes to cook?

My answer to that question is I'm not sure. While I've pretty much documented my incapacity to whip up anything edible from scratch -- not instant -- I've also had delusions of preparing something special for the family, such as a five course meal.

If you're in a similar bind (culinary delusions, that is), you can find out if you have the aptitude for cooking by taking Center for Culinary Arts' (CCA) Kitchen Discovery Class.

Last Saturday, CCA invited bloggers, including myself, to take the class. While I had trepidations, (mainly making an idiot of myself), it wasn't hard for me to accept the invitation when I discovered who my possible teacher would be:

Tristan Encarnacion -- Need I explain more?

Rosebud Benitez -- I love her! Too bad she left QTV's cooking show, Ka-toque, to host her own show.

Just to give you a background, CCA is a culinary school in Katipunan, right across the Ateneo Gym. (The school is also behind the restaurant, Cravings, and I don't just mean geographically.)

All CCA students go through an admissions test to find out if they have the aptitude, not only for kitchen work, but also for either of these two areas: cooking or baking. What CCA did was make this admissions test a class in itself, hence, the birth of the Kitchen Discovery Class. So yep, through the class, you also get to find out which of these two areas you enjoy more.

Call time was 9 a.m. After a quick registration, we were provided with our "outfit" -- a white shirt, blue apron and a chef's cap -- and our recipes.

For our morning session, which would run until 12 noon, we were tasked to make a Caramelized Salmon with Orange-Shoyu Glaze, with mixed Sauteed Vegetables, Soba Noodles, Lemongrass Beuree Blanc and Balsamic-Soy Reduction.

This dish had me at "caramelized."

For the afternoon session from 1 to 4 pm, we would bake Saffron Panna Cotta with Citrus Caramel Sauce and Almond Tuile.

It had me at "tuile" which was good because it meant I actually got through reading its entire name.

We changed into our outfit and proceeded to a classroom for introductions. We all got excited because it felt like being in school again and I had my friends and acquaintances as classmates -- Fifi, Giff, Giles, Ruby, and from Multiply, Jerome and Jerome. In total, 11 of us were bloggers and 3 were new CCA students, so you can just imagine if you have your whole barkada with you, it'd be a blast!

After a brief intro by Anne, CCA PR Manager, we were finally introduced to our chef. I held my breath as I was about to learn if it would be Chef Tristan (aaaaay!) or the lovable Chef Rosebud....

.... but of course, you'll have to wait until tomorrow for my entry on that :-)

Plus!!!
-- who was the "repeat student," who naturally, got bullied for it by the entire class?
-- who reminded the chef of Bianca Lapuz and Beth Tamayo? (Bonus tidbit, they are guys, LOL)
-- and do I have what it takes to be a culinary student?