Get to know the new cross-cultural six-part series by Viu and Unilever SEA starring the Philippines' very own Julia Barretto.

It&rsquo;s not always that you get to come across a series spotlighting beautiful food, enticing cultures, and a good love story all in one. Enter Secret Ingredient&mdash;a new and deliciously refreshing series that&rsquo;s sure to capture not only your taste buds but also your hearts. Presented by Viu in collaboration with Unilever Southeast Asia, the exclusive mini-series stars Indonesia&rsquo;s Nicholas Saputra, South Korea&rsquo;s Lee Sang Heon, and the Philippines&rsquo; very own Julia Barretto.
Last April 28, just two days ahead of the series&rsquo; official launch, Viu and Unilever SEA hosted an exclusive screening of the first two episodes of Secret Ingredient, as well as a press conference with the showrunners and cast. The series&rsquo; first two episodes received positive reactions from the media and guests, evoking hearty laughs and awestruck looks towards the cast&rsquo;s acting all the way to the series&rsquo; generous display of beautifully presented cuisines.

For a hearty love story set in the kitchen, this series is able to create the perfect mix of romance, culture, and culinary action. The chemistry between Nicholas Saputra, Lee Sang Heon, and Julia Barretto feels very candid and real, with each scene sure to make everyone in the audience excited to see what&rsquo;s next. Maya and Ha Joon, played by Julia and Sang Heon respectively, are a joy to watch as their banter flows naturally in every scene they are in, while Nicholas&rsquo; character Arif has this fiery energy that adds the perfect amount of spice and excitement to the trio&rsquo;s dynamics.&nbsp;
But of course, it&rsquo;s not just the main cast that will have the viewers hooked&ndash;the food also undeniably holds a show of its own. Plate after plate, the visual feast of delicious and artful food presented just two episodes into the series just goes to show the promising trajectory of the rest of the show.
At the press conference, the showrunners and Julia Barretto also let us in on the whole process and production of the series. Diving into her character as Maya, Julia had meticulous preparations to get into the role of a chef. She shares, &ldquo;More than anything, I think lahat kami nag-culinary school. Nag-short course kami. And more than the cooking, it was the preparation, the fabrication, the deboning. Mas technical yung tinuro sa amin.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Aside from the lengths the cast had to get into in order to perfect what it&rsquo;s like to be in a working kitchen, what also sets the show apart is the diverse culture held within it. From the production crew to the talents to the presented cuisine, different cultures take the spotlight beautifully. Corinna Vistan, Secret Ingredient&rsquo;s series creator and&nbsp;showrunner, shares, &ldquo;What i really love most about this show is the collaboration from so many so many cultures, whether it was from a Korean writer and director, or Indonesian actor, and our Filipino cast and crew who worked tirelessly to bring this to life.&rdquo; 
She also elaborated, &ldquo;Even if we all spoke different languages, we all somehow weirdly understood each other. There's a universal language with food. I think with filmmaking also, there's a universal language with that. When sometimes we have to work late hours or sometimes the days get long, it's a lot of hard work. But the fact that we all got along made it so much easier.&rdquo;

Of course, the series wouldn&rsquo;t have come to fruition if not for the partnership between Viu and Unilever SEA. When asked about how the collaboration came about, Unilever SEA shares, &ldquo;We looked at our two biggest markets, Indonesia and the Philippines. What is underlying across both markets, and even the entirety of Southeast Asia, is the love for K-drama across both. It just made sense to partner with a platform that really wants to say a lot of stories and really put the best life onto the stories. And also, in this series, the food.&rdquo;
For a series that shows a mix of romance, culture, and food, Secret Ingredient holds a promising feat different from the rest&ndash;a refreshing new taste that would surely hit the taste buds of people across Asia. Follow the story of Maya, Ha Joon, and Arif by streaming Secret Ingredient available every Tuesday only on <a href="https://www.viu.com/ott/ph/en/vod/2348835/Secret-Ingredient" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Viu</a>.

An Exclusive Look at the Secret Ingredient Media Event with Julia Barretto

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