Everyone knows her as Juday the artista, but there is more to Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo now than her television shows and movies. She is a loving wife to Ryan Agoncillo. She is a doting mom to Yohan, Lucho and a third one coming up (she is in her first trimester of pregnancy). She is also a chef and has recently launched her own cookbook called ‘Judy Ann’s Kitchen’.
Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo at the launch of her cookbook, ‘Judy Ann’s Kitchen’.
In one of her book launches sponsored by Anvil Publishing Inc. and National Bookstore, Judy Ann reveals the celebrity chef side of herself and her passion for cooking. Let us get to know Chef Juday more…
• Her ‘love affair’ with cooking started when she was about seven or eight years old. As a child actress, she would hitch a ride with food caterers to go to her shooting location sites. The caterers’ kitchen was her playground in-between takes at location shoots.
• She wants to have her own cooking show but said she cannot imagine herself talking in front of the camera while cooking. She said she is kinda serious and ‘suplada’ (snobbish) when she cooks.
• She is open to the idea of putting up her own restaurant once she is able to give it her full attention and focus – maybe when her kids are all grown up.
• Her culinary idol is her mentor, Chef Gene Gonzalez, whom she said has been very patient with her and taught her a lot of tricks in cooking.
Even while pregnant, Judy Ann is determined to complete her culinary course. She posted this photo of her Thai cooking class on her Instagram account @officialjuday
• She took a break from showbiz to take up a grueling six-month culinary program at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies. She still has a few units left and plans to finish them while pregnant, so she can finally graduate.
• A second cookbook about healthy cooking and eating may be in the offing. It will be an expanded version of Chapter 5 of her book, ‘Health and Discoveries’, featuring recipes for healthy and diet-conscious eaters.
• She cooked all the food, photographed by Raymund Isaac, in her book ‘Judy Ann’s Kitchen’. The shoot took about six days (on and off). She shared that she even cooked over a dozen dishes in one day at one time. The whole book took two years to publish.
• She used to help her mom in the kitchen as a child. Now, she also lets Yohan and Lucho work with her in the kitchen. They even have their own small cooking utensils. Her toddler son Lucho can already whip up his own omelettes. Her rule for her kids in the kitchen is that “they should eat what they cook”.
Judy Ann’s kids, Yohan and Lucho, know their way around the kitchen and can prepare simple meals for themselves. Photo from her Instagram account @officialjuday
• She enjoys being her husband’s personal cook. She makes it a point to prepare Ryan’s ‘baon’ for his daily TV show ‘Eat Bulaga’. The ‘Wifey Duties’ chapter in her cookbook features romantic meals and her ‘baon’ recipes for Ryan. Her advice when cooking for a special someone? Forget everything except the “two most important ingredients: passion and lots of love!”
• Chicken sopas (soup) and champorado (chocolate porridge) are her comfort foods along with other home-cooked meals from her childhood days such as ‘Ginataang Ginisang Munggo’. She has a whole chapter of comfort food recipes in her book.
• She does not want her food recipes to be intimidating like gourmet food. She wants ordinary people to be able to follow and cook them easily. And she encourages people to tag her Instagram account (@officialjuday) when they have tried her recipes.
• She experienced growing up hard, so she knows how to cook with a tight budget. She and her siblings used to have to come up with a decent meal for the family with just Php100. She says they came up with meals like ‘tinolang walang manok’ (chicken stew without chicken).
• Now heavy with a child, she said she does not want to eat what she cooks, so she hardly cooks and just eats out most of the time. However, she still cooks baon meals for her kids and husband.
Judy Ann signing a copy of her cookbook. Another book signing session is scheduled on July 18, 2pm at National Bookstore Glorietta 1.
If you want to get to know Judy Ann really well and get all the back stories about her culinary life plus her easy-to-do recipes, grab a copy of her book. It sells at Php599 at all National Bookstore outlets. As Juday says, ‘cook with love!”
