Heny Sison

Philippines

(SPOT.ph) Chef Heny Sison is one of the most recognized names in the Philippine culinary scene. She was one of the first "celebrity chefs" years before the term was coined.

Sison gave up a career in finance to pursue her love of the culinary arts. She established the Heny Sison School of Cake Decorating and Baking in 1985. Now known as the Heny Sison Culinary School, the institution offers intensive programs and short courses on different aspects of cooking, baking, and the food business. She’s also hosted a TV show, A Taste of Life With Heny Sison, and is known as the baker to the stars. “[Today,] I run my cooking school, I also do food styling for commercials and print ads and digital commercials," she says. "That's what keeps me busy aside from being a wife and a mother to our two daughters.”

Sison isn't from Ilocos Sur. Her interest in the province's cuisine was sparked by a run-in with an old schoolmate, former Ilocos Sur Vice Governor Deogracias Victor “DV” Savellano. "[Many] think when you say Ilocos Sur it's just bagnet and pinakbet, but there’s a lot more," she says. "Ladek, kwarek-kwarek, dinugdaraan—a lot. They can try it in the restaurant. We serve authentic [cuisine] and some of our ingredients [come all the way from] Ilocos Sur. It's like farm to table because my business partner helps farmers in Ilocos Sur. They also have a farm where we get our ingredients. Even our fish is from Ilocos Sur. We have malaga, which is a fish that is abundant in Ilocos Sur."

Heny Sison

Philippines Chef