MANILA, Philippines—It is proud to be Pinoy. While other institutions boast of their foreign ownership or connections, the Center for Culinary Arts of Asia (CCA), Manila, the pioneering cooking school in the country, is happy to be 100 percent Filipino-owned.

And, according to Jesus Anthony Bolaños, CCA marketing manager, it is the only school offering Filipino cuisine as a subject.

But, although its graduates now run some prestigious kitchens both here and abroad—in embassies, five-star hotels and corporate headquarters—the school continues to dream big for its students.

A new feather added to its cap recently will give its graduates a better chance of landing jobs in the United States and other parts of the world than those coming from schools that openly used their tie-up with foreign institutions as a come-on for students, says Bolaños.

First for an Asian

In 2007, on its 11th anniversary, CCA’s academic programs were accredited by the American Culinary Federation, which has reportedly a membership of 19,000. The distinction, the first for an Asian culinary institution, reinforces CCA’s slogan: “Conquering the global foodscape.”

It “allows our graduates to virtually work anywhere in the world as certified culinarians,” CCA points out in its brochure. The federation is the only regulatory agency offering accreditation for post-secondary culinary institutions. Accredited programs are deemed to have met, even exceeded, industry standards.

After 12 years, the school set up by Susana “Annie” Guerrero, who founded the bakeshop Cravings, has developed a menu of programs that caters to almost everyone interested in the culinary arts whether for hobby or business.

While most of its graduates and students are primarily people wanting to go into the restaurant business or pursue careers as professional chefs or bakers, CCA also has trained individuals of all ages who simply want to learn to cook for pleasure or leisure.

Special needs, too

Recently, it even graduated its first hearing-impaired student, working with a Miriam College teacher for the deaf to get the trainee through the full baking course. Bolaños said the graduate hoped to open her own bakeshop.

The offerings range from two-year programs for those wanting to make careers in the culinary arts to short-term courses for hobbyists. During the long school breaks, for instance, it offers classes for children to keep them occupied as they await the start of another academic year and to explore their interest, if any, in cooking.

Celebrity students

A recent vacation program counted the daughter of television personalities Christine and Julius Babao among its students.

One-on-one instructions are also available, adapted to people whose work schedule would not allow them to sit through regular classes.
Actress Ai-Ai de las Alas, a restaurant owner, has been leisurely going through the paces of a two-year program that will hopefully make her better prepared to cope with the challenges of being a restaurateur.

CCA, Bolaños says, is also the first school to collaborate with a hospital, the Makati Medical Center, in developing a course that would make chefs dietitians or vice versa. The program is designed to change the image of hospital food as being healthful but bland, uninteresting and unappetizing.

Although the school has come up with innovative takes on popular recipes, particularly Filipino dishes as showcased in its Classic Cuisine restaurants, Bolaños says recipes are used mainly to demonstrate certain cooking principles and techniques rather than the end goal of instruction.

By developing the correct work methods, he says, graduates can do any recipe or develop their own. This is also the reason the French language, taught in collaboration with Alliance Française de Manilla, is part of the curriculum, he says.

Since French cooking techniques are among the fundamentals of culinary arts, students have to learn the language to get a better grasp of the instruction.

Similarly, Bolaños says the school also puts a premium on sanitation, hygiene and food safety using United States standards.

No student can graduate without committing to heart those standards, he says.

A year or so ago, CCA opened a school for short-term programs at the Farmer’s Market in Cubao, Quezon City. Here students are not only instructed on cooking techniques but also on actual marketing to ensure that they only got the right, the best and freshest ingredients.

Bolaños says CCA instruction means providing students knowledge, skills, values and discipline.

The Center for Culinary Arts, Manila is at 287 Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City; tel. 4264840/41; visit www.cca-manila-com.