The right mix: Chef Nica Lucero turns winning Halo-Halo from Gordon Ramsay challenge into business

Not even a superstar like Judy Ann Santos or a well-followed content creator like Ninoy Ry were able to capture the palate of British culinary icon Gordon Ramsay at his Halo-Halo cook-off challenge during his meet and greet in Manila early this year.

The challenge’s winner is Nica Lucero, then a graduating student at the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) Manila that the school nominated as challenge representative. As winner, Lucero received an autographed merchandise from Gordon.

In an exclusive interview with DAILY TRIBUNE, Nica, who has already graduated from CCA and is now a certified chef, recalled that her only encounter with Ramsay was during the challenge onstage. She also did not know who she would be up against the “MasterChef”-like challenge.

The winning entry: Kamias Halo-Halo.

“We were briefed to come up with my unique ingredient for the contest and one thing that I thought was a sour flavor profile. So ang kamias, usually, ginagamit natin na pangsigang, (Usually, we use kamias for Sinigang) and it’s quite common in the Philippines, so I thought of incorporating something sour in the Halo-Halo as well,” she explained. “At the same time, prior to that, using kamias for dessert is an overlooked potential, so it gives people an idea that we can make use of this.”

To tame down kamias’ sourness, chef Nica turns it into a compote. She believes the unusual pairing of the sour kamias with the saccharine Halo-Halo had been her ticket to success.

After her win, she immediately received a great demand for her kind of Halo-Halo. Since then, she has been relying on family and friends to supply her with kamias straight from their trees.

Fast-forward to last weekend, the chef mounted her first ever pop-up store Say Halo! at the ArteFino Fair in Rockwell, Makati City. From Kamias Halo-Halo, she has also expanded her menu to include Turon and Buko Pie Halo-Halo flavors.

If there is another specialty chef Nica would like Gordon to try, it would be her pastries. Her Basque Cheesecake, she guarantees, is so good — and she has developed her own recipe for it even before becoming a culinary student. She hopes to showcase these specialties as she opens her first ever permanent stall later this year.

“Not that I want to become a chef. I just want to learn how to cook,” she clarified when asked if wanted to become a chef like Gordon since she was young.

“Try something! Experiment!” she advised those also dreaming to become a chef like her. “You don’t need to follow a certain recipe. Just let your creativity run wild!"