I know lots of people nowadays are busy with their work, some are busy with their Christmas shopping and at the end, they are all victims of Christmas road bumper to bumper traffic. Majority of us knows how to cook but no time to prepare because of our hectic schedules. Some people are too tired to think of what to serve for their Christmas party or for their Christmas Noche Buena. These people tend to buy fast food goods just to have something to serve at their Christmas table. I know your work is very important, thinking and buying gifts as well. But you can now disregard the stress of thinking of...

During my last checkup, my doctor told me that I need to lose weight if I wanted to avoid serious health problems. That’s the reason why I enrolled myself again in a gym and decided to hire personal trainer to help me achieve my weight goals. My trainer said I should avoid carbs during dinner and instead, replace it with any veggie salad so I could lose weight faster. Having grilled meat, especially fish, or seared shrimps along with it is okay – but not fried. I was wondering before why salads are usually so expensive versus typical meat dishes. Here’s what I found out: Vegetables...

Do you want to know how to bake and then pack and tag them artistically? Then here’s a great opportunity to learn from Maya Kitchen as they will be having a demo this coming Saturday, November 29 at 9am-1pm. Maya’s guest lecturer, Linda Marty and Loury Lacson will be demonstrating on how to pack your baked gifts in tsutsumi style. Tsutsumi is a Japanese style of gift wrapping using cloth, just like furoshiki. I really don’t know the difference between furoshiki and tsutsumi that’s why I’m planning to attend this demonstration in order for me to learn more about the art of...

Here’s one of my favorite recipe that Chef Miguel de Alba made during his demonstration in one of the Maya Kitchen’s monthly cooking activity that features famous chefs in the Philippines. Chef Miguel is a son of a very well known chef and restauranter Chef Don Anastacio de Alba of Alba Ristorante de espanol here in Manila. Alba Ristorante is very known for their Spanish cuisine especially their Paellas. Paella is a Spanish rice dish mixed with various meats cooked in a shallow pan called Paella Pan. On this recipe, Chef Miguel made an extra ordinary viand of paella. Paella that uses lamb...

This November 23, Maya Kitchen’s guest demonstrator will be Chef Fernando Aracama. He’s one of the known chefs in Manila. A long list of bars and restaurants to his name like Aracama Filipino Cuisine, Opus, Republiq & Café Republiq, MYTHAI Kitchen, Lucky Niku Café, The ChopHouse, The Tides Hotel Boracay as well as previous spots Restaurant UVA, Encore/Embassy & Member’s Only and CANTEEN simple+good food. A graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Administration from University of the Philippines and took further studies at The New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont USA and...

These tips apply only to certain types of paella pans like polished steel and Pata Negra Paella pans. To get rid of that sticky label stickers on the pans (usually on the new ones), just warm the bottom slightly and peel the label off slowly. Boil several cups of water in it just to remove the clear protective seal or finish. Wash and rinse them thoroughly with kitchen detergent soap and dry it with cloth. Brush small amount of vegetable oil on the pan just to prevent them from rust. Care and Storing Paella Pans After using, wash them with detergent soap and non scratch net sponge to avoid scratches...