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Cooking up a storm on Hawaii TV
»Rota’s Barcinas takes it to the kitchen
KC Lynn T. Barcinas, 18, prepares a meal during one of the Hawaii Job Corps’ training sessions. (Contributed Photo)
Eighteen-year-old KC Lynn T. Barcinas is pursuing her dream of becoming a professional chef. The Dr. Rita H. Inos Jr. & Sr. High School 2014 alumna is enrolled in the Hawaii Job Corps two-year program at the Waimanalo Campus on Oahu island.
The Tinian-born, Rota-bred student is taking culinary trade classes, where she is learning French cooking terminology and the basics of cooking and baking.
Barcinas was recently invited to cook with veteran chefs on a local Hawaiian food show to be hosted at the Ala Moana Hotel. There, she will whip up her favorite food and desserts and sell her dishes to restaurant owners. The goal of the food show is to find something new and exciting for the food industry, according to Barcinas.
“I am pursuing this because I believe cooking is one of my many passions,” she told Saipan Tribune.
She explained that she knew she wanted to pursue a career in culinary arts after preparing meals for her elders and younger cousins at home.
“Hearing them say it is delicious and that my cooking made them smile just made me happy.”
Barcinas attributes her success to her mother, Lucinda. “I believe she is one of the reason why I love cooking. She makes the best home cooked food.”
She aspires to open her own restaurant one day, and making her mom’s dream of opening a wine cellar come true.
“I have a long way to go until I can accomplish that but I’m ambitious to make my dream a reality,” she said.
She urges her peers to never settle for less and to pursue their dreams fervently. “You can’t be successful if you don’t fall. If you truly want it, you have to decide for yourself the sacrifices you need to make in order to get to the point of where you want to set yourself into.”
After completing her training with the Hawaii Job Corps, Barcinas plans to attend another prestigious and rigorous culinary program in Treasure Island, California.
Barcinas hopes to one day cook “Ala’guan Aguaf,” a Chamorro dish, in the mainland for people to indulge in before she returns to the islands.
