2 Baking Contests held in Jimenez

Mario L. Cuezon
April 8, 2008

Two baking contests were held during the first of the two day Araw ng Jimenez celebration last April 7 at the municipal hall of Jimenez, Misamis Occidental.
The 2nd Araw ng Jimenez municipal-wide contest was held in the morning while the 1st Pilmico Open Invitational Baking Contest was held in the afternoon.
A total of 110 food entries were brought for scoring by more than 40 participants in the two contests. Some 65 food entries slugged it out for the top three prizes in each of the nine categories of the municipal-wide contest. Some 45 food entries battled it out for top three positions in four bread categories for the open invitational contest..
The contests were held at the town hall’s second floor.
The morning program was emceed by Liza Lerasan of Dezee’s Bakeshop. Eduardo Magadan, the president of the Jimenez Bakers and Other Food Processors Association, welcomed the participants to the contest which started last year with only five categories.
Dr. Carolyn Galleros of the municipal health office announced the winners of the Cleanest Bakery contest. Her staffers inspected the town’s 14 bakeries and declared the winners.
Cleanest Bakeries
Adjudged the cleanest bakery was Edwin Ukay’s Bakeshoppe. Second prize went to Sunny Bee Bakeshop of John Serino and managed by his sisters. Third prize went to Three Sisters Bakery of Jerail Delos Santos. Three Sisters Bakery started in Bonifacio town and had since expanded to two branches in Molave, Zamboanga del Sur and one in Jimenez town.
Last year’s first prize winner, Magadan’s Bakery, came in fourth in the ranking as repairs were still going on when the inspection occured. Three Sisters Bakery was second while Edwin Ukay’s Bakeshop was third in the cleanest bakery contest last year.
Vice-Mayor Norma B. Lim said that the contest showed the town’s culinary tradition. She said that the baking contest last year was municipal-wide while this year, it had gone province-wide. She was optimistic it will go region-wide next year and later, nation-wide.
Mayor Ranulfo B. Limquimbo said that the LGU had offered the food processors a way to market their products.
Limquimbo had funded the last year’s contest which gave out plaques. It was the first baking contest for professional bakers ever staged by an LGU in the province. This year’s activity was allotted a budget of P50,000.00.
Mario L. Cuezon of the Department of Trade and Industry talked about the number of participants in the nine contest categories.
Judges
Judges for the morning contest were Nenita Yuzon, Filma Bautista, Carmen Handugan, Dr. Myrna Yu, Rustica Macalisang and Eden Romero. Yuzon, Bautista and Handugan were also the judges in the 1st Araw ng Jimenez Baking Contest and the 1st Fiesta Baking Contest last year. Yu, Macalisang and Romero were among the judges in the 1st Ozamiz Fiesta Baking Contest last year.
Yuzon, Bautista, Romero and Macalisang are retired home economics teachers while Handugan is presently teaching the subject at Jimenez Central School. Dr. Tan is a medical doctor specializing in pediatrics.
Yuzon, Bautista and Handugan judged this year the traditional torta, modern torta, suman, bibingka and puto bugas categories. Yu, Macalisang and Romero judged the chiffon, chocolate, patatas and cookies categories.
They judged 65 food entries in various shapes, sizes, colors and tastes.
In the afternoon, the 1st Pilmico Open Invitational Baking Contest was held. Some 45 food entries from 15 bakeries of Ozamiz, Clarin, Tudela, Sinacaban and Jimenez were judged by Pilmico quality assurance division staffers, Dan Kristin Labucana and Samuel Cabanilla. Most of the entries came from the biggest and the best of Ozamiz bakeries like Naomi’s Bakery, La Europa, Superable’s Bakeshoppe, Madelicious Bakeshop, and City Bakehouse.
The categories were best pan de sal, best pan de leche, best ensaymada and best new bread.
The judges were Labucana, Cabanilla and DTI staffer, Julius Verdadero.
Before the day closed, the winners were read to the participants who waited the whole day.
WINNERS OF MUNICIPAL-WIDE CONTEST
The top prizes for the best traditional and modern torta was won by a retired elementary school teacher. Mrs. Luz Sumena, the wife of the former barangay captain in Santa Cruz, a poblacion barrio, led four of her barangay mates who joined and won in various categories of the contests.
Winners will get plaques and cash prizes amounting to P1,000 for 1st prize, P800 for second prize and P500 for third prize.
Torta is a kind of cake placed on Japanese paper laid out in molders. The traditional torta uses third class flour, pork oil or mantika, native eggs, sugar and milk. Traditional tortas, especially small ones, rise like the Mayon Volcano and sometimes had breaks at the top. The modern torta uses cake flour so the resulting product does not rise. On fiestas, torta is offered as merienda and given to visitors to bring home together with suman, cookies or viands.
Last year’s first prize winner in the torta category, was third prize in the modern torta category. Eurlyn Serino who won second and third prizes in last year’s torta contest got the second prize for the modern torta category this year. Ukay Bakeshop, which bagged second and third prizes in the best sandwich last year was third place in the traditional torta category this year.
A surprise winner was Emerita Manlangit-Bigcas, a housewife from barangay Corrales, who copped second prize in the best traditional torta. Housewives in this town usually bake torta during fiestas.
The first and second prizes for best chiffon went to Janice Luzano who copped the top prize in the best cakes category in the Araw ng Jimenez baking contest last year. She also got the second and third prize in the best chiffon in the Fiesta Baking Contest last year. She presented three chiffons and two chocolate cakes in this year’s contest but only two chiffons were awarded.
Third prize for chiffon cake went to Leonila Berhay with her pandan chiffon. Berhay won last year the top prize for best torta category.
The chocolate cake category this time was lorded over by Edwin Ukay whose refreshment store is known for suman, bolobod, kapeng bisaya and various breads, but not chocolate. Ukay is married to Arlene Galindo, a Jimeneznon, whose mother had a painitan offering their popular suman and bolobod.
A new entrant to the contest, Cheryl Maghuyop, copped the second and third prizes.
The patatas category had only three entries. First prize went to Rom El Daily Bread of Elna Putis based in barangay Dicoloc. Putis is a former OFW from Taiwan. Second prize went to Sally’s Bakeshop of Merlyn Maghuyop-Corpuz. Third prize went to Magadan’s Bakery owned by Nemesia Magadan and managed by son, Eduardo. Eduardo used to work as a seaman before.
Adjudged the best cookies were Mila’s Cookies of Mila Macalisang-Yamba whose cookies had been one of the town’s favorites for quite some time now. The second and third prizes went to Yamba’s barangay-mates, Delia Pasok and Eurlyn Serino.
In the suman category, the surprising winner was Virginia Masay from Seti, a barangay on a plateau seven kilometers from the poblacion. Second prize was shared by Pedrita Panganoron of San Isidro and Teresita Lasta of Taboo. Third prize went to Ildefonsa Pang-an followed by Edwin Ukay Bakeshop.
Lasta won first prize last year in the best native delicacy (home based food processors sector) with her moron.
The best bibingka came from Narcisa Caylan of San Isidro. Following her were Anita Lagulos of Gata and Rufina Balagot, who got the second and third prizes respectively.
Anita Lagulos who joined last year and lost also won the best puto bugas category this year. Second prize went to Nena Sitoy of San Isidro and Teresita Lasta of Taboo.
Most of the winners come from barangays Santa Cruz, San Isidro, Gata and Taboo.
WINNERS OF OPEN INVITATIONAL CONTEST
As for the 1st Pilmico Open Invitational Baking Contest, most of the prizes were hauled in by Superable Bakeshoppe of Apolinario Superable who operates the Western Mindanao School of Technology and Naomi’s Bakery.
Superable won two first prizes in best pan de leche and best new bread while Naomi’s Bakery won two first prizes also in best pan de sal and best ensaymada. Superable actually won seven prizes. It also won second and third prizes for best pan de sal, second prize for pan de leche, second and third prize for best ensaymada.
Superable won four prizes in the Ozamiz City baking contest last year.
Naomi’s also won second prize in best new bread.
La Europa Bakeshop got the third prize for best pan de leche while Madelicious Bakeshop won third prize for best new bread.
Both Naomi’s and La Europa did not join in the Ozamiz contest last year.
Madelicious was the most awarded bakery in the Ozamiz baking contest last year, with five plaques, including two first prizes for best lean and sweet breads.
The affair was the first provincial-wide baking contest in Misamis Occidental.
First prize winners will get a plaque and a sack of flour from Pilmico Foods Corporation. Second and third prize winners will get plaques and cash amounts of P700 and P500 respectively.
Pilmico’s sales manager, Jerson Laban, came to hand the cheque for second and third placers to the Jimenez municipal treasurer’s office.

Winners in the Municipal-Wide Contest

Best Traditional Torta
1st Prize-Luz Sumena (Santa Cruz)
2nd Prize-Emerita Bigcas (Corrales)
3rd Prize-Ukay Bakeshop owned by Edwin/Arlene Ukay (Agora)

Best Modern Torta
1st Prize-Luz Sumena (Santa Cruz)
2nd Prize-Sunny Bee Bakeshop managed by Eurlyn Serino (Agora)
3rd Prize-Leonila Berhay (Santa Cruz)

Best Chiffon Cake
1st Prize-Janice Luzano,orange chiffon (Nacional)
2nd Prize-Janice Luzano,pandan chiffon (Nacional)
3rd Prize-Leonila Berhay (Santa Cruz)

Best Chocolate Cake
1st Prize- Edwin Ukay Bakeshop-owned by Edwin/Arlene Ukay(Agora)
2nd Prize-Cheryl Maghuyop (Taraka )
3rd Prize-Cheryl Maghuyop (Taraka)

Best Patatas
1st Prize-Rom El Daily Bread owned by Elna Putis-Agustin (Dicoloc)
2nd Prize-Sally’s Bakeshop owned by Merlyn Maghuyop-Corpuz
3rd Prize-Magadan’s Bakery owned by Nemesia Magadan(Rizal)

Best Cookies
1st Prize-Mila’s Cookies-Mila Macalisang-Yamba (Santa Cruz)
2nd Prize-Delia Pasok (Santa Cruz)
3rd Prize-Sunny Bee Bakeshop managed by Eurlyn Serino(Agora)
Best Suman in Banana Leaves
1st Prize-Virginia Masay (Seti)
2nd Prize- Pedrita Panganoron (San Isidro)
-Teresita Lasta(Taboo)
3rd Prize- Ildefonsa Pang-an (Corrales)
4th Prize-Ukay Bakeshop owned by Edwin/Arlene Ukay (Agora)



Best Bibingka
1st Prize- Narcisa Caylan (San Isidro)
2nd Prize-Anita Lagulos (Gata)
3rd Prize- Rufina Balagot
Best Puto Bugas
1st Prize-Anita Lagulos (Gata)
2nd Prize-Nena Sitoy (San Isidro)
3rd Prize-Teresita Lasta (Taboo)

Winners of the 1st Pilmico Open Invitational Baking Contest
45 food entries

Best Pan de Sal
1st Prize-Naomi’s Bakery (Ozamiz City)
2nd Prize-Superable’s Bakeshoppe/Western Mindanao School of Technology
3rd Prize- Superable’s Bakeshoppe/WMST (Ozamiz City)

Best Pan de Leche
1st Prize- Superable’s Bakeshoppe/ WMST (Ozamiz City)
2nd Prize- Superable’s Bakeshoppe/ WMST (Ozamiz City)
3rd Prize- La Europa Bakeshop (Geege Megamall, Ozamiz City)

Best Ensaymada
1st Prize-Naomi’s Bakery (Ozamiz City)
2nd Prize- Superable’s Bakeshoppe/ WMST (Ozamiz City)
3rd Prize- Superable’s Bakeshoppe/ WMST (Ozamiz City)

Best New Bread
1st Prize- Superable’s Bakeshoppe/ WMST (Ozamiz City)
2nd Prize-Naomi’s Bakery (Ozamiz City)
3rd Prize-Madelicious Bakeshop (Ozamiz City)