Cooking for Christmas at The Maya Kitchen Culinary Arts Center

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’ve resumed joining events nowadays. Some fellow mom bloggers have, for sure! I’ve really been gone from the scene for years, but lately, I’ve been feeling the need to build me some sort of “life” beyond the four walls of our beautiful home.

I miss my blog and being able to meet new people and have fun doing other things — so when schedule permits, I’ve been saying yes, or in the case of The Maya Kitchen Culinary Arts’ Festive Filipino Dishes Workshop, I signed up under Mommy Bloggers Philippines.

Maya Kitchen Culinary Arts Center actually held a series of culinary workshops the entire November. I wanted to join the certificated Basic Baking Class but it was a 4-day class and I had work to do, and I missed the registration for the Festive Holiday Desserts Special. I considered the baking workshops first because I love to bake – I actually ran an unsuccessful pastry business when I first stepped out of the band circuit, and I have a son who is considering becoming a pastry chef!

In fact, he came with me to another Maya Kitchen workshop in 2016, and that was an enjoyable experience for both of us.

(READ: Judah and the Cupcakes)

Believe me, if I could, I would have signed up for all the workshops, but I could only go to the one that was offered on a Saturday – the Festive Filipino Dishes workshop, so I signed up for that.

I didn’t really know what to expect. I honestly thought that we could be taught to cook the usual Adobo, Menudo and Caldereta that I commonly see in traditional Filipino banquets on holidays.

Why you should join Culinary Workshops from time to time 

Not that I mind, really. I was really there for the fun and I know that there are always new things to pick up in culinary workshops. I’ve attended several already and no matter who was conducting the workshop or what kitchen it was, I’ve never been disappointed…..ever. It’s not really the dish, per se, though yeah, the dishes do matter sometimes; but the techniques you will be taught. You’d be surprised how many ways a dish can be prepared.

Anyway, I was wrong and the dishes turned out to be Spanish Cochinillo, Callos, Seafood Saffron rice, and the one I got most excited about – Lengua with Mushroom sauce.

They’re not exactly known to be “Filipino” but they are usually present in festive Filipino celebrations. Raise your hand if you’ve never seen any of these dishes in buffets!!!!

There were four of us in our group, but we were so lucky because we had a fifth member who joined us — Chef Cathy Blas-Yu! So aside from all the techniques that Chef Charina Cano was teaching us, we were also getting additional tips from Chef Cathy!

Spanish Cochinillo

Spanish Cochinillo is actually roasted suckling pig. I must admit, if it’s your first time seeing it, like it was for me, it can be a bit traumatizing to see a pink baby pig lying lifeless on a silver tray. I struggled to focus on what Chef Charina was teaching us at the front because of it. I’m telling you, in that moment, I understood how someone could suddenly decide to turn vegan.

But for most of us, all that goes away once you start putting the delicious pig roast in your mouth, hahaha!

One of the most valuable things that Chef Charina taught us that day was to not marinade the suckling for a day because, she says, salt will take out the moisture and you’ll end up with a dry Cochinillo instead of a delicious, juicy one.

It was also the first time I learned the difference between white and red onions. White are sweeter than the red ones.

Chef Charina also said it’s okay to use pork cubes for the stock because it can be an efficient, less time consuming way to do so, not unless you’re a purist, then you’d probably be boiling your meat for stock.

Other tips she gave us were to cover the ears of the sucking with aluminum foil before putting it into the oven, so they won’t get burned because they’re too thin. She also said that if you want to taste more of the Cochinillo, don’t put too much paprika so the natural flavors of a roasted pig will not be overpowered.

Unfortunately, the chefs said that my 48L tabletop oven cannot produce good results for Cochinillo. Chef Charina suggested that I do Lechon Kawali instead, but I think I’m going to apply the same ingredients and process on a Lechon Belly. I’m a little disappointed, I know that it won’t taste the same – but hey, perhaps one day, I’d receive a stove with an oven from a brand. (wink!)

Suckling pigs are not easy to find. Sure, there are some sold at S & R, but they’re really expensive. But according to Chef Charina, you can order them for a much lower price at Bakery Philippines in Baesa, Quezon City.

Here’s the recipe for Cochinillo:

Callos and Lengua with Mushroom Sauce

We didn’t get to try preparing and cooking the Cochinillos because we only had 3 hours to learn how to cook everything and Chef Charina tried to wait for the people who came late. So to save some time she only demonstrated how to marinade the suckling and put it in the oven to us.

The thing about the Maya Kitchen is that there’s a huge monitor right above the chef’s table, so if you can’t see behind heads, you can simply look up and see the entire demonstration on the screen.

The one really important thing I picked up from this was the layering of flavors when cooking. I admit that most of the time, I put in all the ingredients and seasonings in practically one go. The only thing I delay sometimes are the leafy veggies.

That’s why I feel so blessed to have Chef Cathy in our group because she made us taste and smell what we were cooking throughout the entire process, so we could distinguish the difference in each layer we add in.

Full transparency — I didn’t know the difference between a cooked tomato sauce from the uncooked until then, hahaha!

I haven’t had the chance to try these recipes at home yet, except for the Lengua which I served at our annual Christmas tradition, Family Thanksgiving Dinner, here at home.

I didn’t buy ox tongue, though. I sent Jay, my husband, to the supermarket to get it, but he sent me a picture of a really huge piece that I felt was a bit too much for us. So I just told him to get breakfast beef instead which the kids enjoyed.

I wish I can prep it for Christmas but we’ve made other plans, so I’m still thinking about it.

Here’s the recipe for Callos:

And here’s the recipe for the Lengua with Mushroom sauce:

Oh, before I forget. I also learned that all meat are recommended to be boiled for 3-5 minutes first. You take out the water, then boil again for another 3 minutes. That’s the one you can use for stock, not the water in the first boil because that would have blood and possibly, bacteria in it.

I didn’t know that. I thought you only boil if it’s frozen and you’re in a rush, haha! We do that now, and also the layering of flavors. As Chef Cathy said, it takes some patience especially because I always need to get back to my laptop to work, but I think now that it’s a necessary step to ensure that the meat is safe to eat.

Seafood Saffron Rice

Seafood Saffron Rice is actually Paella with Saffron. I’ve always wanted to learn how to make Paella but I haven’t had the time to learn it.

At Maya Kitchen, not only did I learn how to cook it, I learned what I needed to buy to make it and know where to buy them.

The necessary ingredients for the flavor are a bit expensive and I was told you buy them (and the chorizo) from Santi’s Deli.

It was also the first time that I saw rice being cooked the usual way. I mean, I’ve seen foreign vloggers cook rice similarly in pans, I just didn’t know it was how you cook rice for Paella, I thought they (the vloggers) just didn’t know how to cook rice, hahaha!

Here’s the recipe for the Seafood Saffron Rice:

Anyway, it was delicious! I can’t wait to have a day in the kitchen with my kids. I think I want us to have like a Spanish food cooking day so they can also learn what I learned. They do cook, you know. It was part of their homeschool to learn how to cook food for themselves.

Maybe one day, they will also take a workshop at the The Maya Kitchen!

If you’re interested to join these workshops in 2025, you may follow The Maya Kitchen on their official Facebook page here: The Maya Kitchen Culinary Arts Center  or you may visit their official website here – The Maya Kitchen for their schedule of workshops and training.

That was a really enjoyable time for me. Thank you The Maya Kitchen Culinary Arts Center and Mommy Bloggers Philippines for this.