Better late than never. Actress Carmina Villaroel finally learns how to cook.
Carmina, who used to host the GMA 7 show “Amazing Cooking Kids,” admitted that she was encouraged to enroll at the Magsaysay Institute of Hospitality and Culinary Arts (MIHCA) after seeing children whip up complicated dishes on the set.
Now she could prepare the same recipes that once daunted her. “I had my final exam recently,” she said. “It had both a written and practical component.”
For the hands-on part of the test, she prepared Provençal herbed chicken, clam chowder and shrimp citrus salad in vinaigrette.
Partner Zoren Legazpi, she said, thoroughly enjoys her new hobby. “His job is to eat the dishes I make when I practice at home.”
She dreams of a kitchen makeover soon.
“Maybe we could expand my kitchen,” she enthused. “I’d like a bigger work space: a stainless steel work counter, a heavy-duty stove and oven and a SubZero refrigerator and freezer.”
Going back to school has offered several realizations: “I never thought I could be a good student. I learned to be punctual, diligent and hardworking.”
On hindsight, she’s glad that she accepted the “Amazing Cooking Kids” gig.
She is likewise motivated by her young co-stars in the new Kapuso afternoon soap opera “Pahiram ng Isang Ina.”
She described Martin de los Santos, who appeared in the international film “Mammoth” with Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams, as a gifted windup doll: “He can cry on cue.”
She said that she’s also fond of onscreen daughter Bea Binene. “I see myself in her when I was just starting,” Carmina confessed. “She’s going through the same struggles… But I don’t really have to give Bea and Martin tips because they’re pros.”
She has no qualms about accepting “mother” roles onscreen. “I’m a mother in real life (to 10-year-old twins Mavy and Cassy),” she said. “It’s fine. I feel lucky I’m still here and I still get good offers.”