Iya Villania And Drew Arellano Show You How To Be More Creative In The Kitchen

Being creative and experimenting in the kitchen is what real-life couple Drew Arellano and Iya Villania learned in the new season of their cooking show, Home Foodie.

 

It's the fourth season of Home Foodie, and together with chefs Llena Tan-Arcenas, Martin Narisma, and John Valley, Iya and Drew learn how to not only cook delicious food that they've labeled as "madalicious", meaning it's both "madali" (easy) and delicious, they also learned more technical skills. 

 

 

Chef Llena explains, "Home Foodie came to life with the thought to tap newbies in the kitchen, and I wanted men to cook which is why Drew was with the chefs in the first season." She further explains that their recipes featured on the show are always pantry-friendly, have short procedures that are very understandable, and are easy to follow.

 

A few of the dishes you can look forward to seeing being made on the show include chicken galantina, baked camote boats, longganisa pilaf, crispy pata tim, and pulled pork cuapao as well as tips and tricks to make cooking these dishes easy for you at home.

 

 

When they learned to cook these dishes, Iya and Drew share four lessons they learned on the show that they think home cooks should know, too:

 

1 Use prepared food products.

"As hosts of the show, we also learned to use, and we discover, new products and the different ways that it can be used. It's just not your typical "heat it in the pan", but you can also use it for other uses," says Iya. "There are products that are out there that's already prepared (timplado na). It saves and cuts down on cooking time so you don't have to make it from scratch since it's already seasoned and ready to use." 

 

2 Don't be afraid to be creative in the kitchen. 

"There are so many food options that are so conveniently packed that you can mix and match," says Drew, "so you can be the Pablo Picasso of your kitchen. You don't have to be scared [in the kitchen]."  

 

Many of the dishes featured in the show require minimal ingredients, so the couple makes use of ready-to-cook items from supermarkets and meat shops. With the help of the chefs, they are able to create a different dish by adding other ingredients to make it into something new. This is what makes these dishes much simpler and easier to make for the home cook.

 

3 Be open to experimenting.

For Iya, experimenting means discovering how to use food products in a different way. She particularly remembers a time when a pancake mix was used to make corn dogs in a previous season. There is also her discovery of using longganisa without the casing as a ground meat substitute.

 

4 Learn to cut an onion.

"What I learned during this season that I think was very important was actually how to cut an onion," reveals Iya. "You use onions in almost everything that you cook. You don't want to be cutting an onion for too long because it can make you cry. There's also a certain way of cutting it, so it doesn't suddenly fall apart or slide and cause you to cut yourself. Learning how to cut an onion in different ways I think is very important (for everyone to know)."

 

 

 

Watch out for the cooking show when airs its latest season starting June 11, from Monday to Friday on GMA 7.