Gardenia’s Search for “The Next Big Sandwich Hit”!

As a couple, we love bread. It’s our morning staple with a cup of coffee when we’re not having garlic rice as a Filipino breakfast habit. So we were ecstatic when Gardenia invited Seats For Two to cover their big event “The Next Big Sandwich Hit“. It reminded me of the “Happy Bread Day” I attended years ago as well.

Gardenia The Next Big Sandwich Hit
Seats For Two w/ Chef Nino Logarta & Chef Tristan Encarnacion
Who will be the "Next Big Sandwich Hit"
Who will be the “Next Big Sandwich Hit”?

Gardenia’s “The Next Big Sandwich Hit”

In celebration of World Bread Day, Gardenia Bakeries Philippines held its highly-anticipated culinary school competition, “The Next Big Sandwich Hit” at White Space in Makati.

Participating schools in this year’s competitors include Adamson University, Far Eastern University, La Consolacion College, National University, Philippine Women’s University, St. Paul Quezon City, St. Scholastica Manila, University of the East, University of the Philippines, and University of Sto. Tomas.

All the schools offer Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM), culinary and other similar courses; a prerequisite in joining the competition. Gardenia intends to promote the healthy goodness of eating sandwiches and to teach our young culinary students the value of hard work and to likewise develop their entrepreneurial skills.

Gardenia The Next Big Sandwich Hit
Gardenia: The Next Big Sandwich Hit

During the just concluded Elimination Round, a total of 50 student teams, 5 from each university, joined the Sandwich Showdown Eliminations where contestants needed to create tasty, mouthwatering sandwiches with the themes – the “Power Sandwich” and the “Wild Card Sandwich“.

Only one team per school will advance to the next round, the Business Trial Round and then, the finale.

Gardenia The Next Big Sandwich Hit-019
Sandwich Entry from Adamson University

Power Sandwich‘ is basically a full-meal sandwich that used any or a combination of the following Gardenia Breads: Gardenia Classic White Bread; Gardenia High Fiber Wheat Bread; Gardenia High Fiber Wheat Raisin Loaf; Gardenia Wheat Cranberry Loaf; Gardenia Slim n Fit Wheaten Bread; Gardenia Wheat Pandesal; Gardenia Premium Pandesal.

Gardenia The Next Big Sandwich Hit
Gardenia Sandwich Entry

On the other hand, a ‘Wild Card Sandwich‘ is a sandwich that best defines a Happy Bread Day sandwich. For this theme, the contestants had to use any or a combination of the following breads: Gardenia Classic White Bread; Gardenia High Fiber Wheat Bread; Gardenia High Fiber Wheat Raisin Loaf; Gardenia Wheat Cranberry Loaf; Gardenia Slim n Fit Wheaten Bread; Gardenia Wheat Pandesal; Gardenia Premium Pandesal; Gardenia Flavored Breads.

Each team presented two sandwich recipes: one full-sized sandwich per theme and 8 bite-sized sandwiches for the judges, the media and the general public for tasting.

I sure hope we could get a copy of the recipe so we could share them here on the blog. 😛

Besides the sandwiches, each team also had to present the recipe and equipment used as well as the product costing prior to the start of the competition. Each team was given 40 minutes to prepare their sandwiches. Taste, interpretation of the theme, and food plating and presentation were the main criteria for judging.

Gardenia The Next Big Sandwich Hit
Who will be “The Next Big Sandwich Hit”?

That same day, the winners of the elimination round were announced. Here is the list of winning teams and the student names of the winners who will cook their way to the finals:

School

Representative Team

Name of Students

Unviersity of the Philippines

Tea Na Pie

Samantha Camille D. Porras

John Morris Garcia

Uniersity of Sto. Tomas

The Breaders

Paolo Gabriel C. Teodoro

Jay Freedom B. Gumayan

Far Eastern University

Bread Sisters

Micaela Y. Labalan

Jan Ivy R. Garrovillas

Philippine Women’s University

Dream Team

Jose Mari U. Tanglao

Roven Jayson A. Amistad

Adamson University

Incroyable Cuisiniers

Noslen P. Orate

Norman Jed P. Royo

National University

Bianessa Team

Bianca Mae Cadizal

Vanessa C. Andrada

St. Paul University

Midnight Snack

Ralph Anthiony F. Romasanta

Eleazar M. Amador

St. Scholastica’s College

S and S

Karishma Q. Aswani

Maria Milaella B. Galve

La Consolacion College

Sexy Chefs

Marie Beatriz B. Sarte

Adryx Ivan Royz P. Rafols

University of the East

Pastry Enthusiasts

John Suijin V. Crisolo

Danalorah April S. Lapore

Gardenia The Next Big Sandwich Hit Winners
Gardenia The Next Big Sandwich Hit Winners (Elimination Round)

It was a pleasant day of food tasting and camaraderie amidst pressure and competition among the student contestants. You can see the passion of cooking and preparing food in their eyes and action.

Congratulations again to the winners! For the Chamionship finale, which school do you think will earn the title as Gardenia’s “The Next Big Sandwich Hit“? Catch the excitement and taste good breads at the Championship finals to be held in SM Mall of Asia on October 18, 2014! See you there!

Marjorie Uy

Marjorie Uy is the wifey in the SeatForTwo.com tandem. She is passionate about food, recipes, cook books and dessert is her favorite part of the meal! She's a coffee person. She loves to cook and has collected recipe books for more than 15 years now; the latest is entitled "Everything Peanut Butter" Jonel gave her on their wedding day. She used to work as a Civilian Nurse in a military hospital and as NCLEX Coach for a U.S based company. Today, she's a full-time housewife and blogging become her hobby.

2 thoughts on “Gardenia’s Search for “The Next Big Sandwich Hit”!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *