Chef Ernest Reynoso-Gala challenges students to Bake It Happen! in URC Flour contest

Top culinary chef Ernest Reynoso-Gala sees URC Flour’s Flourish Pilipinas: Bake It Happen! contest as a chance for future master bakers to learn and test new ideas.

Top culinary chef Ernest Reynoso-Gala believes that aside from awarding prizes and an internship with one of the country’s prestigious hotels, the Flourish Pilipinas: Bake It Happen! Nationwide Baking Competition 2016 offers budding bakers an opportunity to learn more about their craft.

As one of the judges of the baking contest organized by Universal Robina Corporation (URC) Flour, Chef Ernest sees more value in lessons learned rather than in winning. “In every competition, you will not always win, but you will learn new techniques and ideas. The things you have never explored, you will explore in a competition and you will gain valuable knowledge from that, all while having fun.”

“I’m so happy to be part of Flourish Pilipinas because this is a program that really supports the Filipino chef,” added the 36-year old chef from the Reynoso-Gala family of culinary experts. Chef Ernest is also the managing director of GalaStars Culinary School.

Flourish Pilipinas: Bake It Happen! is a bake-off among culinary arts students to showcase their bread- and cake-making skills. To join the competition, Culinary Arts or Hotel and Management course students are encouraged to submit original recipes in the Breads or Cakes categories.

Baked creations should incorporate a non-functional ingredient and make use of any of the URC Flour brands such as Blend 100 Flour, Continental All-Purpose Flour, Daisy Cake Flour, FibrA+ Whole Wheat Flour, Globe First-Class Flour, My Rose Soft Flour, and Sampaguita Soft Flour.

Chef Ernest appreciates how Flourish Pilipinas: Bake It Happen! promotes the use of quality ingredients to create unique and proudly Pinoy breads and pastries. “In any baking contest, the choice of ingredients and the quality of flour is very important. If the quality of your flour is not good, the outcome will not be good. But if you’re using a top product, more or less, the result will always be good.”

Shortlisted teams will vie in the Flourish Pilipinas: Bake It Happen! Visayas/Mindanao and GMA/Luzon regional competitions. These will be held at the University of Mindanao in Davao City and Center for Culinary Arts in Manila, respectively. All finalists will be given a challenge and a surprise ingredient to use during the bake-off.

Chef Ernest looks forward to judging in the various legs of the competition. “I am very excited about the competition, especially the eating part. I love tasting the good stuff that participants make. I really enjoy other people’s food. So I’m looking forward to that.”

Trophies, certificates, and more than Php300,000 worth of prizes await the winners while regional grand champions will also be featured in Yummy Magazine and receive internships at one of the most prestigious restaurants in the country.

With the prizes and invaluable opportunities that it offers, Chef Ernest hopes to see more budding bakers joining the Flourish Pilipinas: Bake It Happen! Competition. Complete contest details and mechanics, as well as downloadable entry forms can be found at the Flourish Pilipinas 3 Facebook page. Deadline for submission of entries is on September 30, 2016.