Gardenia hails “Next Big Sandwich Hit” 2015 masters

PWU – Winner

From a total of 20 teams from prestigious colleges and universities who showcased their creativity and cooking skills in a battle of culinary expertise, one team was hailed as the “Next Big Sandwich Hit” (NBSH) 2015 champion. The team D’ Pidabest Duo, with members Juan Carlo Caparas and Jodi Jacinto from Philippine Women’s University with their recipe, ‘Gardenia Bentolicious,’ emerged as sandwich masters after a grueling “School Hop” elimination round held at each of the schools, as well as challenging Business Implementation phase and semi-final rounds. They were followed by runners up Team Funtoastic from La Consolacion College Manila with members John Pestin & Adryx Ivan Royz Rafols at first place, and Manila Tytana’s Team Lubdub, with members Elaine Francisco & Ramon Eloriaga, at second place.

The themes during the top 20 semi-finals are inspired by Philippine seasons such as “Nutrition Month,” or sandwiches that will keep you healthy and fit; “Valentines,” or gourmet sandwiches that are perfect for a romantic night out; “Christmas” or holiday-inspired sandwiches ideal for the Yuletide season; “New Year” or lavish sandwich treats with layers of new and surprising ingredients for the last meal of the year; “Summer” or fresh, fruity and flavor-filled tropical sandwiches; “Holy Week” for meatless sandwiches that everyone will enjoy; “Halloween” for spooky, yet flavorful sandwich treats; “Rainy Day” or heartwarming and comforting bread recipes perfect for the cold and wet season ; “Chinese New Year” for breads stuffed with Chinese-inspired ingredients; and “Back-to-school” or sandwiches on-the-go but with a twist.

La Consolacion – 2nd Place

The students’ sandwich creations were judged based on taste (50%), interpretation of the theme (20%), creative use of Gardenia breads (20%), and food plating (10%). The winners during the Top 20 semi-finals round advanced to the Top 10 round, where they were tasked to come up with another “Price Challenge” recipe, but this time for a full Gardenia Bento Meal with ‘Sexy, Savory, and Sweet’ components.

The “Next Big Sandwich Hit” is a culinary competition started by Gardenia Bakeries Phils. Inc. (GBPI) two years ago because of their commitment to continuously inspire and ignite the passion of aspiring practitioners in the food industry. Gardenia did not only challenge the culinary students to become more creative and innovative in creating sandwiches but also let students understand the importance of the qualities of bread—from taste to aroma to texture to freshness and to all the nutritive goodness. Indeed, we can say that a good sandwich starts with a good bread.

Manila Tytana – 3rd Place

For details about Gardenia’s The Next Big Sandwich Hit, visit its website at www.gardenia.com.ph; Facebook page at /Gardenia Philippines; Twitter@gardeniaph; and Instagram @gardeniaph.