Who Saved the World from Boring Foods? - Its McCormick!

Have you heard the latest news?? YES! The rumor is true. Finally, the best ingredient for your food is now available in just 1 click away. The famous "Green Bottles" in everyone's kitchen, the McCormick products, is now finally taking its steps in the cyber world with their very innovative McCormick Online Store.

Last May 17 2014, I  had the privilege to attend McCormick's Online Store Launching held in one of Metro Cebu's finest Mexican Resto- MAYA, located in Crossroads Banilad, Cebu City. McCormick is finally bringing their store closer to its customer with their tagline

"BRINGING PASSION TO FLAVOR."

The program was divided into 3 parts.
-Education
-Inspiration
-Action

EDUCATION

Many people use the terms herbs and spices interchangeably to mean any product of plant origin used primarily for seasoning food, which I am guilty about.

McCormick invited a food stylist and a chef with over 20 years of experience in culinary, no other than "The" chef Gigi Angkaw to EDUCATE everyone about the basic of Herbs & spices and how to properly store them.

These are the few things I learned during the chef Gigi's talk. By definition “a spice is an aromatic seasoning obtained from the bark, buds, fruit, roots, seeds or stem of various plants and trees.” and "herb is the fragrant leaves of any of various annual or perennial plants that do not have woody stems.”

At first I only knew a couple of herbs & spices. Those are the ones that I usually see in our kitchen. The spices that I knew are pepper, Anise seeds, curry powder, chili powder, Cinnamon etc, while the herbs I knew are parsley, mint, oregano, rosemary, basil etc. Little that I know that there are a number of spices and herbs available in the market and McCormick Philippines definitely have a wide range of selection. (See products here) 

According to chef Gigi, Proper storage of both is really important. A trendy and beautiful spice rack may look fantastic on a kitchen counter but dried spices should NOT get stored on your kitchen counter. Dried spices should be stored in a cool, dark, dry environment, away from direct sunlight, in air tight containers. Inside a cupboard usually works well. Be sure that the cupboard is away from the heat of the oven/microwave.

INSPIRATION

Now to inspire everyone, McCormick also invited MAYA restaurant's Executive Chef, chef Wade Watsons, to talk about his journey in becoming a world class chef and his success story. According to him in order for you to survive in a food industry, you need to have the HEART for food and guess what?---- A THICK FACE! You need to have a passion for food and never limit yourself to try new things in cooking  and to always taste the food is an S.O.P. in the food world. 

ACTION

Kim Deunice R. Gillesania, McCormick's Product Manager for Food & Services, was also there to walk us through 0n their McCormick Online Store. She talked about the convenience their online store has to offer (Talk about saving time & money).

 Imagine yourself getting all the herbs and spices that you need for your recipe in just one click. Spare yourself from the hassle of walking and pushing your cart in a grocery store looking for the items that you need and end up not finding them. Spare yourself from long lines and the best part...SAVE money! (applause!). McCormick offers a cheaper price in their online store since they can give you their factory prices. You will also get 100php from your online orders upon successful registration.(YEY! Applause!). PLUS, for every 5,000php worth of products, you will get a FREE DELIVERY! (Bravo!)

The McCormick Online Store is very easy to navigate. The layout of their online store is simple yet is fully functional and useful. You wont have any problem navigating your way in their online store. If you have any question about product details, delivery, processing orders and the likes, you can check their FAQ's. If you like cooking or you're looking for a new recipe, feel free to browse on their "Chef's Corner".  

And Oh! By the way, before I forget... The event was hosted by the bubbly, witty, and oh-so-handsome Mark Suntay! 

To know more about the products, you can visit McCormick's website. For meal inspirations, you can follow them on Facebook and Pinterest or you can simply contact them at:

McCormick Phils. Inc.,
SYSU Center 145 Panay Ave.,
Quezon City
(+632)-310-6265
store@mccormick.com.ph


P.S.
Some photos credit to my dear friend, Fred Dimaro. You might also want to visit his site. Just click here.