Something is Cooking. Imperial Palace

About six months ago, La Chaine des Rotisseurs held a fellowship dinner at the Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort and Spa, M.L. Quezon Highway, Brgy. Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City (phone: 494-5000, http://www.imperialpalace-cebu.com/ ) with the theme “Imperial Ports of Call” which featured the Royal Court Cuisines of two countries, Korea and China.

There were at least 45 dishes prepared by chefs of these two countries in friendly competition and my beloved readers know the difficulty in trying to taste all the dishes. There are physical limitations in our gastric capacity and saturation points in our taste senses and I believe that eight dishes, including appetizer and dessert seem to be the maximum number to make a dinner truly enjoyable.

Last week, an invitation came for a Coral Restaurant Media Dinner to introduce the new Executive Western Chef Trevor Furner and the new General Manager of Imperial Palace, Mr. Simon Yang. There had been a lot of changes in the management of some major hotels lately and media personnel have been very busy in getting updates to these changes. When there are invitations to such affairs, food is always offered and this is what makes the job of your favorite food columnist very challenging.

Chef Trevor prepared four entrees to awaken the appetites: Eggplant Rollatini (spinach, goat’s cheese and tomato concasse); Imperial Scallops “Ala Plancha” (creamed pumpkin, spinach, cilantro drizzle); Seared Carpaccio Beef (shitake mushrooms, shavings of parmesan cheese); and Stuffed Mushrooms with Mussels (tomato, basil and garlic garnish).

The rollantini is an Italian dish with eggplant & cheese, then rolled and baked; ala plancha means to cook or grill using a hot plate while a beef carpaccio is raw beef sliced paper thin and dressed with olive oil and capers. Beef has to be freshly prepared since slicing the meat increases the surface area which makes it vulnerable to bacterial contamination. 

Chef Trevor’s version of the Eggplant Rollatini had a hidden agenda which gave the rolls a nice crunchy and nutty taste to it…black sesame seeds! Another favorite was the beef carpaccio though I had a problem in pairing it with wine. Though both red and whites were served, eggplant is best paired with a white while beef goes with a red wine and travelling back and forth between reds and whites is hazardous.

Then the five main dishes came in quick succession: Sesame Seared Tuna (citrus dressed broccoli & capers); Bouillabaisse of Market Seafood (saffron & wild tomato broth with infused pernod); Wild Coral Risotto (clams, squid, shrimp and wild mushrooms); Rack of Lamb (pumpkin mash, port wine jus); and Fillet of Grouper (creamed spinach, steamed mussels, champagne cream reduction).

If this was a regular dinner after those wonderful appetizers, I would select only two dishes for the main course. I would order Set A with Bouillabaisse of Market Seafood and Rack of Lamb or Set B (Wild Coral Risotto and Sesame Seared Tuna). These are my personal choices and that would leave room for dessert. Add one more dish to either set and that would be too heavy!

But that night, tasting all five dishes, excuse me, had to be accomplished and this includes finishing this wonderful dinner with two desserts, Baileys Crème Brûlée (Mango & Mint Salsa) and Mango Panacotta Chantilly Cream.

Cebu has gone a long way from the 80s with limited restaurant selection. At the Imperial Palace alone, besides the Coral Restaurant, you have several choices, depending on your food preference: Cheon San (Chinese), Maru (Korean cuisine), Familia (mixed), Delmar Lobby Lounge and Café Amiga (Asian).

Nothing says “I love you, Dad”  like homemade bacon

Start to finish:

7 days (30 minutes active)

Makes 2 pounds

2 cups kosher salt

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

2 pounds pork belly

In a medium bowl, mix together the salt, sugar and pepper. Add any additional seasonings, as desired (see suggestions below). Find a container that will hold your pork belly comfortably with 1 to 2 inches of space on all sides. A deep baking pan or casserole dish is a good choice. Spoon about half of the salt mixture into the container, spreading it in an even layer. Set the pork belly over the salt, pressing it gently into the salt mixture. Pack the remaining salt mixture over and around the pork. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 6 to 7 days. Remove the slab of pork belly (now bacon) from the salt mixture. The bottom will resemble wet sand. Discard the salt mixture. Rinse the bacon under cool running water. Pat the bacon dry with a clean towel. Use a very sharp knife to cut the bacon into slices, then refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to 3 months. Fry or otherwise cook the home-cured bacon as you would purchased bacon. — AP