MANILA, Philippines?Take it from ?First Chef? Cristeta Pasia-Comerford: The world?s most powerful household is ?just a regular family? at the dining table, preferring simple meals and homegrown vegetables.

Though extremely guarded in revealing the eating habits of US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle and their two young daughters, the Filipino-American culinary expert Monday gave a glimpse of what?s cooking at the White House kitchen.

?They like healthy meals?steamed vegetables, steamed brown rice,? Comerford, 46, said in a press conference after receiving the BPInoy Award at Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

For ?cooking her way? to Washington and for her ?outstanding achievements in the field of culinary arts,? Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) named Comerford one of this year?s BPInoy awardees. Also honored were international banker and economist Eli Remolona and painter Anita Magsaysay-Ho.

Accompanied by husband John, who is also a chef, Comerford was in the country on her first homecoming since the Obamas retained her as White House executive chef early this year.

She came for a four-day visit just for the award and it took BPI officials about a month to get her here since her trip had to be cleared with White House lawyers.

Looking like she would rather be in the kitchen than field questions (like whether Obama is a regular beer drinker, or whether she had taken orders for midnight snacks from the First Family), Comerford would only say how the Obamas have become very proud about growing their own vegetables right at the South Lawn.

Beauty of working there

Even fellow BPInoy awardee Remolona joked that he would rather use his time at the forum to interview Comerford than talk about himself.

Still, Comerford, who had also cooked for the Clintons and the Bushes, was spare in giving juicy details.

?Whatever they do in private at the First Residence, I?m not really at liberty to talk about, just being respectful of their private dining habits,? she said.

?Whatever transpires in the dining room, whatever they talk about, that?s amongst themselves. And one beauty of working there is you get to see a lot of these and you get to keep it [there] and that?s where it remains,? she said, pressing her hand against her chest, as though taking an oath.

?But you know, they are simple people who like simple meals, simple food,? Comerford said. ?[The Obamas are] actually a very nice family to work with.?

Cooking for the Obamas, especially for the youngsters Sasha and Malia, is just like cooking for her own family, said Comerford, who has an 8-year-old daughter, Danielle.

?You keep it healthy. That?s pretty much what I do for the First Family,? she added.

Michelle Obama can be very hands-on when it comes to ensuring only a healthy menu gets served, Comerford noted. ?They?re very big on organic products, making sure that the sources of food that we get are pure.?

Lately, Comerford said, the vegetables have come straight from the South Lawn patch, which made headlines when Michelle started tending the garden in March.

The harvest has since included okras, tomatoes, eggplants and other veggies, the top chef said.

?We pick from the garden what they are going to eat [on the same] day. So how good is that!? Comerford said.

Growing the greens on White House soil, she said, is like coming home to her parents? homes in the provinces of Bulacan and Batangas, where they grew the crops they ate.

Comerford was also noncommittal when repeatedly asked whether she had cooked Filipino dishes for the Obamas. ?It?s my secret,? she said.

But Comerford conceded that a certain Filipino flavor may somehow find its way into the dishes she prepares for the First Family, whether the Obamas notice it or not.

?It doesn?t have to be obvious like adobo, for example. It could be a filling in a pastry bun; I can?t name it but it?s always there. It?s a part of me because it?s something I?ve learned from my parents. So even though it?s French classical cooking, there?s something there that is Filipino,? she said.

?I?ve been in the States for more than 25 years, but in my heart I will always be Filipino,? Comerford said.

Values learned from her parents and shared with her 10 siblings, like the importance of family and community, have molded her into the person she is today.

Bush?s paunch

A food technology graduate of the University of the Philippines, Comerford migrated with her family to the United States in the 1980s.

She received further training in Vienna on classical French and American cuisine, worked in the kitchens of famous French and American restaurants, before becoming an assistant to then White House executive chef Walter Scheib in 1995 during the Clinton years.

In promoting Camerford to executive chef in 2005, making her the first woman and Asian to hold the post, then First Lady Laura Bush noted: ?Her passion for cooking can be tasted in every bite of her delicious creations.?

In a light moment during the 2006 Asia-Pacific Economic Leaders Summit in Hanoi, then President George W. Bush reportedly told President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo how Philippine-American relations have turned for the better because of the Fil-Am chef at the White House.

Bush remarked that he had grown a paunch perhaps because Comerford?s cooking was ?very, very good.?

Comerford said she was humbled and honored to be named this year?s BPInoy awardee together with Remolona and Ho, and past awardees like Lea Salonga, fashion designers Monique Lhuillier and Josie Natori, entrepreneur Diosdado Banatao, heart surgeon Jorge Garcia and BBC news anchor Rico Hizon.