Monster Kitchen Academy Graduation 2014

Monster Kitchen Academy is a Cagayan de Oro-based baking and culinary school that caters to people from different walks of life who desire to master cooking / baking fundamentals. There is no pre-requisite degree and age limit, no one is going to stop you if you want to enroll just after your high school graduation or after you've become a retired war veteran slash doctor slash principal. So long as you have the passion for it, you can enroll and experience life as chef-in-training (just like Masterchef, only less intense because your chefs don't go Hell's Kitchen on you).

Last March 30 (Sunday), some members of CDOBloggers were invited to the Graduation Ceremony of Monster Kitchen Academy. There, I was able to try some of the ambrosial goods that the grads prepared for us and their families to enjoy. 

Monster Kitchen Academy started offering their Baking Program in 2011 and their Culinary Program in 2013 but the school's popularity has reached many kitchens, not just in the local scene but nationally as well. People come to learn from them not only because they're affordable but because they also offer a Wilton Course on cake decorating that Chef Albert Chiu learned from Korea. There are only six institutions in the Philippines that are accredited. No doubt your tuition is really worth every dime because you get to bring home two certificates, one with a serial number given by the US that gives you an edge when you work abroad. Everything they teach is home kitchen ready, what you learned you will be able to use immediately.

Aside from their traditional 3 or 6 month courses, Monster Kitchen Academy also offers short workshops, called Lifestyle Courses, that last a day or two. These are workshops on very focused product making like Pasta, Cake or Japanese Cuisine. In the summer, they have weeklong workshops for kids. The cake making is their most popular lifestyle course (probably because you get to make an 8-inch cake that you get to bring home)

Also, we got hear an inspiring story of a 'Monsterpreneur' (love this portmanteau) and how Monster Kitchen Academy changed her life. Chef Geni Labadan didn't intend to become a chef in the first place but she became an monster entrepreneur and now, she lends her expertise as a member of MKA pioneer batch to her alma mater. Another noteworthy monsterpreneur is Cagayan de Oro's Silvana Authority, Pane e Dolci.

Mr. Jan Uy talks to us about Monster Kitchen Academy

Perhaps the secret to Monster Kitchen Academy's success is their dedication to teach their students what they know and challenge them to innovate the dish / pastry on their own. In a discussion we had with Mr. Jan Uy, Monster Kitchen's proprietor, he says "We teach the techniques and the mastery of it... In theory, in chemistry." Also, the MKA staff teaches their students how to be business-oriented. And students have reported in the past that they can gather their investment back in less than a year.

For more information about Monster Kitchen Academy, you may visit their Facebook page (they update their lifestyle courses there regularly) or follow them on their social media handles Twitter and Instagram.

Here I am. Muahahaha. Yes, the weight. Good thing I'm getting #CGYFit!

Shoefie of my Mango Boots lol (FEET CHRONICLES!)