Julia Barretto channels her love for cooking in Viu’s ‘Secret Ingredient’
Tomorrow, April 30, is the streaming premiere of Viu’s “Secret Ingredient,” a six-part mini-series starring our very own Julia Barretto. She co-stars in the multinational co-production with South Korea’s Sang Heon “SH” Lee (star of the Netflix global hit “XO, Kitty”) and Indonesian heartthrob Nicholas Saputra (a.k.a. the George Clooney of Indonesia), who is also popular in Malaysia and Brunei.
The series evolves around Maya, played by Julia, an aspiring chef who wants to win a cooking competition so she can use the prize money to pay for her mother’s medical bills. Unfortunately, head chef/boss Arif (Nicholas) feels that Maya is not ready to compete. Ha Joon (SH) enters the picture and tries to help her qualify for and win the competition. To spice things up, a love triangle seems to be brewing, too.
For her role in “Secret Ingredient,” Julia took an intense culinary course at the Magsaysay Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts (MIHCA), where she trained under chef Mae Montalban. Many of the show’s kitchen scenes were also shot at the center’s facilities in Mandaluyong City.
I had the chance to visit the set last January and chat with Julia, who was glowing and blooming then (and still is now). Here are snippets from our conversation.
What was your reaction when the role was offered to you?
“I normally ask for the script when a project is pitched to me, but this one I immediately accepted. There were two things that excited me about it. One, I love to learn new things for a character I will be portraying. And two, this is the first time I am working with Viu.
“This being a regional project, I have the chance to work with a Korean director, with SH and Nicholas. We will also be able to showcase lots of Filipino dishes that are yummy.”
How did you prepare for the role? Your mom, Marjorie Barretto, is a very good cook. Did she give you any tips to portray one?
“I’ve always loved to cook, and I got more into it during the pandemic. Mom shared some tips with me, but it was the three-day intensive course that I took in MIHCA that brought my cooking skills to a higher level.
“I had to learn how to use the knife and familiarize myself with the hustle and bustle of what goes on in a kitchen. I had to build my confidence since this is the first time I will be playing a chef.”
What was it like working with a Korean director, a Korean star and an Indonesian star?
“It was a very collaborative effort. Everyone was just very easy to work with, from our showrunner, Corinna Vistan, to our Korean director Cho Young Gwan, and the actors. I love how our director would ask us to add these little touches and his attention to detail is so amazing that it actually makes the scene better.”
What’s your current state of mind?
“It’s January and this is my first project for the year, and I am genuinely happy that I am doing this. This is giving me a boost and I feel so recharged doing this.”
As for Julia’s leading men, I only had a brief meeting with SH, who speaks English very well since he lived and studied in the US. Based on stories shared by the production staff, SH enjoyed his stay here and was able to unwind after tapings by experiencing the night life in BGC and Poblacion.
He was also adventurous when it came to food as he was game to try kwek-kwek, fish balls and kakanin. Despite all the eating, SH made sure to drop by the gym every day to work out. On his days off, he would visit a wall climbing facility to (you guessed it) climb walls.
Nicholas, on the other hand, enjoyed his anonymity while he was in Manila. He took advantage of the fact that nobody recognized him here and even went to Divisoria to look for tiger print textiles to use in a play that he was producing in Bali, Indonesia.
Unfortunately, the tiger print was not in season, so he left Divisoria quite disappointed. He also had a hearty appetite and ate everything that was served and was not picky at all.
Catch “Secret Ingredient” when it premieres tomorrow, April 30, at 12 noon on the streaming platform Viu. New episodes will be available every Tuesday (May 7, 12, 21, 28 and June 4) thereafter.
“Secret Ingredient” is Viu’s first original regional show and is a cross-cultural collaboration among three countries with four languages (English, Korean, Filipino and Bahasa) in the script. It is written by Korean writer Baek Dong-Hoon and directed by Korean director Cho Young-Gwan, with Ian Takashi as director of photography and Corinna Vistan as series creator and showrunner.
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