Meet the person who is all behind these heavenly cravings (for sinful delights!) – MARIELYS DURANO LUZADA. At an early age, Marielys was already fond of tailing behind her mother in the kitchen, where she had the rare opportunity of collecting and treasuring old recipes. Marielys graduated with a bachelor's degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management at the UP College-Cebu and pursued her culinary s
tudies in the former Tete-de-Ran Culinary School in Switzerland. After she graduated and kept practicing her skills in culinary, she came back to Cebu, and together with two other local enterprising partners, ventured into the cake and pastry business, the La Patisserie. The outlet which specialized in various cakes, pastries, and pastas was located along Ramos Street (near the Robinsons building in Fuente Osmena). Among other recognitions, the La Patisserie was well known for its turnovers and lemon squares. The outlet moved to Juana Osmena after a few years when the owner of the Ramos building decided to reconfigure and reformat the infrastructure. Marielys left the business sector and decided to join the culinary team of the Cebu City Marriott Hotel as one of its pioneer associates in the Food and Beverage Department in the Pastry section. She mastered her craft truly well and didn’t stop exploring the culinary world. She enjoyed preparing cakes and pastries for the hotel’s lavish and bountiful buffet setups (of which the hotel is very well known for). Marielys’ creative and innovative side shined with her all-out engagement in the different pulled sugar designs that decorated the dessert buffet of the hotel’s restaurant, notwithstanding the risks of burning her hands while perfecting her craft. Marielys left her hotel career when she was pregnant with her one and only daughter, Marieska Daniella, but this was after a thoroughly thought process. As she is prone-accident, she had a couple of falls in the kitchen workplace while she was on the first few months of pregnancy. These incidents, according to her, were signs that needed her to stay put and concentrate on motherhood. While the family moved several times due to her husband’s work, Marielys didn’t stop adventuring within her space in the house—the kitchen. She went back to her mother’s old favorite recipes and picked and perfected the Torta de Cebu, a recipe that had been preserved by the family through generations. When I asked my wife if she shares her recipes, this was her reply: “I do not; not that I’m selfish but I value my recipes, especially those that are handed down from generations to generations. I treat it like a PIN to my ATM account or password to my email!
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