Julia Montes may be known as one of the finest and most versatile actresses of her generation, and we get to see it through her latest acting project, “Saving Grace,” ABS-CBN’s Filipino adaptation of the acclaimed Japanese drama series “Mother” that currently streams and dominates Prime Video Philippines.

But her avid supporters are well aware that she’s not only talented in front of the camera but also in the kitchen, as she sometimes shares on Instagram photos of her while cooking and of the sumptuous food that she prepares. Since many of us are probably already familiar with her work as an actress ever since her child star days, we had Julia talk about her cooking journey in this exclusive video.

Those who got to follow her career surely knows that it was her grandma Flory, who dutifully took good care of her growing up. Aside from being one of her motivations in pursuing showbiz, it was also her Mami Flory who is her ultimate inspiration in starting her passion in cooking.

However, it’s not because her grandma is a good cook since she actually didn’t have the luxury of time to prepare food for them as the breadwinner of their family. Seeing her Mami’s hardwork had inspired Julia to show her love and appreciation to her by making sure that there’s food ready for her as soon as she arrived home from work. Apparently, one of the dishes that she prepared for her Mami Flory was fried rice or sinangag, since she recalled that it was the first recipe that she ever tried to cook.

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Through the years, as she tried her hand in various genres and characters in her career, Julia has also explored different dishes and cooking styles at the same time. This year, she disclosed being interested in Spanish recipes, which include callos, paella, and cochinillo, which were stirred by her and longtime partner Coco Martin’s most recent trip to Spain. According to her, those are also the same dishes that the “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” star considers as his favorites and went on to reveal that he’s actually good at cooking lechon, which definitely makes them a perfect match in the kitchen.

When asked if she prefers following a recipe or experimenting, Julia said that she actually takes inspiration from others by watching their ways of cooking a dish and then does her own interpretation of it according to her liking.

“Naniniwala ako na ang cooking, wala siyang designated na style lang and dapat mo na siyang susundan. It depends sa’yo kung paano mo siya i-twe-tweak by your own love language…Matututo ako sa ways ng iba tapos ita-try kong mag-experiment on my own. So, gano’n ‘yong technique ko or style ko lang kapag nagluluto,” she related.

With regard to her signature dish that her family and friends are fond of, the Kapamilya actress said that it’s her cochinillo and paella, not to mention that her version of cochinillo has soup unlike the usual ones that are toasted or crispy, which was inspired by what they had back in Barcelona.

While many aspire to work alongside Judy Ann Santos in an acting project, Julia wishes to collaborate with her in a cooking content for she’s amazed by how she prepares food for her beloved family, which seems to be something that the latter wants to do to her own.

Since she’s the type who is inclined to experimenting with food, she imparted that there’s no specific recipe that she likes to master since she wants to keep on exploring. Thus, she’s grateful to be able to do it as an actress and celebrity who gets to try new food at various events that she attends.