Sibling Revelry: Meet the Cooking Kids

Danielle and Yanna Quililan are birth sisters and culinary siblings. The girls have been attending Kids Kitchen Camp classes at the San Miguel Pure Foods Culinary Center (SMPFCC) regularly for two years now, and are showing no signs of retiring from the kitchen anytime soon.

Danielle Quililan is 3rd from left with Ate Rowena Balanga and her KKC teammates.

Danielle attends culinary lessons because “the recipes are easy to make plus the ingredients are easy to find.” She enrolled for the first time at the age of 9, and it was mom Gemma who influenced this early decision to learn in a structured but more creative class setting. Now 11, Danielle loves home-cooked meals, and has grown to enjoy baking so much. While kids her age rely on grownups for snacks and merienda, she has made yummy baked goodies on her own, putting into practice the tips and tricks she picked up from a baking class at the culinary center.

Her 13-year old sister Yanna says attending the classes is fun “not only because I like cooking but also because I love to eat. We make time to attend the classes because we learn a lot and we also get to eat the samples afterwards.” If you think that young enrollees are learning nothing more than garnishing a burger or creating fancy-shaped pancakes, then you and your kids are in for a pleasant surprise. Yanna learned the recipe for Torpedo Steak Sandwich and had her friends try the snack. Parents know that kids can be such picky eaters, so the verdict of Yanna’s peers was quite heartening for a young chef like her: “They all liked it and asked for more…”

Yanna Quililan is 3rd from right with Chef Kai Verdadero, Kuya Manny Parba and her KKC teammates.

It may be too early to tell whether or not the siblings would pursue a career in the culinary arts. For now, they are simply looking forward to exciting cooking and baking classes with SMPFCC. Would Yanna recommend the classes to her friends? She replies with the good sense of a grownup: “If they like to cook, this is a great place to start because you will really learn a lot."

* Join the 2008 Kids Kitchen Camp for JUNIORS, ages 6 to 8 years on April 9-11 and SENIORS, ages 9 to 11 years on April 23-25. It’s three days of fun-filled learning, cooking and baking experience for Little Chefs like you! For inquiries simply log on to www.mygreatfood.com or call (02) 632-2000, (02) 640-5453 or (02) 672-8558.

* To view the Torpedo Steak Sandwich recipe, please click here.

Posted on April 08, 2008