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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/entertainment/02/03/piaculinary_020316.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Pia Wurtzbach (second from left) poses for a photo with her friends at CACS. <em>Cacschef.com</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – Pia Wurtzbach’s chef mentors at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies (CACS) in Manila believe that her culinary arts training helped her win the coveted Miss Universe crown.</p><p>The operators of CACS – top local chefs Gene Gonzalez and his son Gino, and Junjun de Guzman – looked back at Wurtzbach’s life as a culinary student, noting that she displayed passion, perseverance and elegance at an early age.</p><p>The elder Gonzalez described Wurtzbach, who was 19 years old at the time, as a “silent worker who got things done.”</p><p>“She was not afraid to ask if she did not know certain procedures and did not pretend to know. This was probably [why] despite all the intrigues as she was barely 20 years of age, Pia was voted Executive Chef of their Legacy Buffet event… And she pulled this off, making the necessary purchasing requests, cooking schedules and other logistical measures to make this event successful,” he said in a <a href="http://cacschef.com/CACSwp2/2016/02/02/miss-universe-pia-wurtzbach-studying-at-cacs/"><strong>post</strong></a> on the website of CACS on Tuesday.</p><p>“Her persevering soul as a student is definitely what catapulted her to the title of Miss Universe,” the chef added.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/entertainment/02/03/piaculinary2_020316.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Young Pia Wurtzbach (second from left) takes a break from cooking with her friends at CACS. <em>Cacschef.com</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>De Guzman, who was Wurtzbach’s pastry teacher, noted that she would come to class early and “always be complete in her uniform which was well-pressed and neatly organized.”</p><p>(LOOK: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/01/07/16/look-pia-cooks-adobo-sinigang-for-staff"><strong>Pia cooks adobo, sinigang for staff</strong></a>)</p><p>“In class, she was very diligent with her work and with the food she had to present. She did very well in pastry,” he said, adding, “I only saw her again last year when she had lunch in Café Ysabel and she was not so different from the Pia I knew before – so articulate, intelligent and very confident… A true Miss Universe.”</p><p>Gino Gonzalez, meanwhile, praised Wurtzbach for respecting her mentors and knowing how to follow directions.</p><p>“She knew how to follow directions which is one trait I look for in my students because to become a leader, one has to know how to follow directions first. Passion, perseverance and determination made her win the crown of Miss Universe. [These are] traits of a great chef or, in her case, Miss Universe!” he said.</p>

Pia Wurtzbach’s chef mentors at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies (CACS) in Manila believe that her culinary arts training helped her win the coveted Miss Universe crown. 

LOOK: Young Pia as a culinary arts student

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LOOK: Young Pia as a culinary arts student

ABS-CBN News

Published February 03, 2016 11:47 AM PHT

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Updated February 03, 2016 01:27 PM PHT

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