Following the successful launch of “Buhay Carinderia… Redefined” last month, the search goes in full swing for candidates, participants, entries and contenders from the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Regions to compete for the following categories of the nationwide food tourism event: the Philippine Tourism Millennial Ambassador, Mentoring the Students, Best Food, and Chefs and Cooks Cook-off. Erwan Heussaff Content creator and the face behind “Buhay Carinderia Redefined” Erwan Heussaff has been scouring the different parts of the country looking for the best and maybe the least known carinderias in the Philippines featuring them on videos with the hope of giving them the attention that they truly deserve. Philippine Tourism Millennial Ambassador “Buhay Carinderia” is looking for a male and female resident of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera regions, 18- to 25 years old, fluent in the dialect of the province, influencers in their own right (on social media, in school and in the community), to be the first ever Philippine Tourism Millennial Ambassadors. Auditions will end on May 30. There will be 15 pairs of qualifiers from the auditions who will undergo schooling, mentoring, and personality development training which will be conducted by personality development, speech and image enhancement professionals. The finalists will then be part of pre-pageant events as well as promoted on Facebook and Instagram. Online voting will be conducted from June 24-28, one like will amount to one vote. Coronation of regional winners will be held on June 30 at the Vigan Convention Center in Ilocos Sur. Winning pairs will compete in the national search happening in November. The ambassadors will also be featured in Erwan’s videos. Mentoring The Students This is the segment where students of Culinary Arts, Hotel and Restaurant Management or any food industry related courses from universities and colleges in the participating provinces of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera get the chance to showcase their cooking skills of basic Filipino dishes using indigenous ingredients from the provinces. Five qualifiers from the cook-off will be mentored by a professional chef and will earn another chance to compete during the semi-finals round in San Fernando City, La Union. The final cook-off event will be held in June in Vigan City Convention Center in Ilocos Sur. The grand winner will then compete in the National Mentoring of Students Cook-off during the “Buhay Carinderia…Redefined” event in November at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Search for the Best Food For the participating provinces of the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera Administrative Region, there will be competition of carinderias that will be able to serve the best tasting and uniquely prepared Filipino staple viands namely, adobo, longganisa, sinigang and pancit. The best five regional finalists will then compete at the Vigan Convention Center in June. Winners of the Best Adobo, Best Longganisa, Best Sinigang and Best Pancit will qualify in the “Buhay Carinderia… Redefined” National Search for the Best Food happening in November at the SMX Convention Center. Chef’s and Cooks Cook-off competition The Chef’s and Cooks Cook-off competition is open to individuals who are currently employed as chef or cook at any carinderia around Region 1, Region 2 and Cordillera Administrative Region. Contestants during the pre-qualifying round, will be required to bring one pre-cooked Filipino dish and must present the recipe of that dish. Judges will get three Best Chefs per region who will compete in the finals.