Carmina Villaroel cooks up a storm

CARMINA Villaroel: “I never thought I could be a good student.”

Better late than never.

Actress Carmina Villaroel finally learns how to cook. The former host of 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 recalled. “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. “Siya ang taga-kain. His job is to eat the dishes that 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 some realizations. “I never thought I could be a good student. I learned to be punctual, diligent and hard-working.”

As bonus, she clinched an endorsement deal with Del Monte Filipino Style Tomato Sauce for her and her 10-year-old twins Mavy and Cass.

On hindsight, she’s glad that she accepted the “Amazing Cooking Kids” gig. “I was inspired by the contestants in my old show,” she said.

Now, 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 wind-up doll. “He can cry on cue.”

She said that she’s also fond of her onscreen daughter Bea Binene. “I see myself in her when I was just starting,” she 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 taking in “mother” roles onscreen. “I’m a mother in real life,” she quipped. “It’s fine. I feel lucky that I am still here and that I still get good offers. Not everyone is as blessed.”

But will she consider sharing the screen with former husband Rustom Padilla who reinvented himself/herself as BB Gandanghari?

“Okay lang. But I really don’t know because I haven’t seen BB recently. But I have no problem with that,” she said.

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