Filipino chefs and students gathered in Manila today in a bid to break the Guiness World Record for 'The most number of dishes on display in a single day'.As the event held at the Araneta coliseum was sponsored by Kraft Eden cheese, the culinary experts were required to come up with 5,000 meals containing cheese to beat the previous record, set by India in 2007, of 4,668 dishes.
Cooks from local esteemed culinary institutions including Regina Carmeli, St. Paul College, Centro Escolar University, Emilio Aguinaldo College, La Consolacion College and Arellano University all tried their best to come up with innovative and tasty cheese treats.
Prior to the record attempt, Alex Tacdera, the category manager for cheese and spoonables at Kraft Food Philippines, said: 'We believe that in this time of challenges, it is important to remember not what we have lost but what we still have as a nation.
'We hold in our hands the innate Filipino creativity and love for food that when put together can empower our pride for our country.'Guinness World Records confirmed they are waiting to receive evidence from the event before they will be able to confirm whether the group have broken the world record.
When the plan to attempt to break the record was announced last month, guests were treated to dishes including beef tenderloin baked in Eden cheese, roasted vegetables and cheese terrine served with tepenade, pineapple cheese sorbet with a lemongrass coulis and praline chocolates with a cheese filling.
Mr Tacdera explained: 'As we officially kicked off this project from Kraft Eden, we commissioned a chef from Manila Hotel to create a full-course meal that featured cheese from appetisers, to main course, to desserts.'
Kraft Eden are also organising the first 'Keso de Gallo', which will see people attempt to use the cheese to create a feast for families who have been affected by the recent Ondoy and Pepeng typhoons and may not have the resources to celebrate this Christmas.