Judy Ann on meeting Gordon Ramsay: "I will hold on to that feeling of joy & excitement for a very long time"

On a stage where she was among four contestants competing for Gordon Ramsay's sweet verdict on their halo-halo, Filipino superstar and chef Judy Ann "Juday" Santos was star-struck. She was almost melting like the shaved ice in her halo-halo confection onstage at the Newport Performing Arts Theater.

- JOANNE RAE M. RAMIREZ

"It was both crazy and nerve-wracking, it was happiness and excitement to be in the presence of Gordon Ramsay," she said in a text message. "Yung moment na kaharap ko siya, parang hindi pa rin totoo. Parang feeling ko, prank na hindi. But that feeling...I will hold on to that feeling of joy and excitement for a very long time."

For the halo-halo showdown, which took all of 10 minutes, Juday's special but not-so-secret ingredient (not now, anyway) was sesame polvoron.

"I have for you sesame polvoron halo-halo with some nata de coco. Nata de coco is like coconut juice that's fermented. I used coconut milk and evaporated milk for the ice and some leche flan," was how Juday described her halo-halo.

The award-winning actor also caramelized plantain bananas in butter and added them to the mix.

"It's good. It's really good. I love the black sesame seed," said Gordon after a taste of Juday's halo-halo.

According to her friend Bum D. Tenorio Jr., "Every first Sunday of the month, Juday invites friends to their house in the south to have breakfast after the Mass. The breakfast extends to lunch, then to dinner—with Juday lording it over in the kitchen. Happy tummy. Happy friends."

Juday, whose husband Ryan Agoncillo and daughter Luna were backstage, didn't win the halo-halo challenge, with Gordon declaring winner Danica Lucero, a student at the Center for Culinary Arts, Manila. Danica's secret ingredient was minatamis na kamias (kamias compote) to contrast with the sweetness in the halo-halo.