a morning in Sabrina's Kitchen

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I love watching cooking shows. My Sunday mornings back in the day were dedicated to watching the Chinese lady cook with her wok on RPN-9. I had no idea what was going on because she spoke only in Chinese and the show had Chinese subtitles! I also looked out for the weekly episodes of "Wok With Yan" that used to air right before "MacGyver", still on RPN-9. On the local front, I am always looking forward to Sharwin Tee's "Curiosity Got the Chef" because of the food and the cool and colorful gadgets (just can't get enough of that red fridge!).

And then there's Sabrina's Kitchen. I watch it because she makes cooking look easy for people who are clueless in the kitchen (like me before I went to culinary school!). Sabrina Artadi makes cooking and hosting a meal for friends look fun too! Her show's vibe, for me, is a mix of Nigella Bites (Nigella Lawson), The Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten), and Everyday Italian (Giada De Laurentiis). Very homey; very artistic.

Isn't it obvious that my telly is switched on to the Lifestyle Network for significant amounts of time? :)

So guess how excited I was when she dropped by the lab months ago to discuss heirloom rice and to explore how this could be used in her show. Of course she just had to taste the colored rice that I had prepared specially for the initial visit! A few weeks later, she came back with her crew to shoot two episodes focusing on heirloom rice. I dropped in a few times before lunch because (1) I get a kick at seeing a cooking show from the production/technical crew's vantage point (yeah, nerd); (2) I was on call in case there were questions about cooking and eating quality aspects of rice; and finally (3) Sabrina pulled me, Sharlene, and Gladys to taste the food at the end of the episode. I'm not kidding! 

The food she cooked on camera was so delicious that it left me speechless. I normally can describe food adequately but I only mustered one word while eating the meal she had prepared: 'yummy!' -- I totally zoned out! Hello, blooper reel! 

As if spending a few minutes that morning with a celebrity chef wasn't a good enough way to end the week, in came Basti, Sabrina's brother! His band, Wolfgang, is one of the most famous Pinoy rock bands ever... and he was on campus! Basti's visit just made the event feel more like a family gathering rather than a shoot (in my view, at least).

Taking a break after the morning shoot. :)

Later in the morning, I just had to have a souvenir photo taken under the tree by the NCBL Building. It's not everyday that I end up being flanked by two stars, after all. There's a second musician in the picture, of course. It looked like Matty (who's into jazz) and Basti were in deep conversation about music by the time the morning shoot packed up. Gladys and I were surrounded by artists. What a morning!

That's what happened when I stuck around (albeit intermittently) in Sabrina's Kitchen!

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