Culinary TV show launches in May

The show is Chef TV and the subtitle is “The Food Show”. That’s to emphasize that the program as not just a cooking show but also explores the many aspects of the food industry. It includes segments that puts cuisine in a historical and cultural context, visits places where one can buy ingredients, discusses etiquette on the table and explores scientific explanations for the way ingredients react.

Hosts of Chef TV: The Food Show are Myrna Segismundo, Jill Sandique and Michaela Fenix. Each one tackles different segments in the show with the other two joining in for support or to give added information. Their rapport is largely due to their similar interests (food) and their friendship.

Myrna Segismundo is the director of Restaurant 9501, the corporate dining outlet of ABS CBN. She is a food writer and the producer of this television show. She has years of experience and expertise in the culinary field, served as officer of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines, was manager of a group of chefs who competed in several culinary competitions both here and abroad. She imparts all that in the program’s interviews, information segments and cooking demonstrations.

Jill Sandique is a chef consultant to several food companies, is the program director and lead trainer of the US Demonstration Kitchen and Learning Facility of the US Department of Agriculture in the Philippines. She also owns her own pastry shop, Delize. She conducts most of the Cooking Basics segment of the show which includes her vast knowledge of cooking chemistry.

Michaela Fenix is a food writer and so also serves as the scriptwriter of the show. She writes a column, “Country Cooking,” for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, edits cookbooks, is contributing writer to several food books and magazines and researches on regional as well as foreign cuisines. She provides most of the historical and cultural notes on the cooking, the ingredients used and the practices.

This culinary TV special series is directed by Bong Agustin, a veteran director for television. His work has brought him to Malaysia and Singapore.

Chef TV will airs on the Lifestyle Channel every Wednesday. Its season of 13 episodes will be aired weekly with replays on Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. Some of those episodes tackle a picnic, formal dining, apartment entertaining, classic cuisine and putting the Filipino menu on the map.