Artisanal, bespoke, craft

Okay, I got your attention with the ABC’s of current buzzwords. Yes, such have to be revisited time and again, if only to affirm spinning conditions related to fast-evolving lifestyle patterns. Read: appreciation for the good things in life.

Generally, an artisan is a skilled worker in a trade that involves making things by hand. Dictionary definition: “A person engaged in or occupied by the practice of a craft, who may through experience and talent reach the expressive levels of an artist using his hands, mind and heart in his work and what he creates.”

This work used to involve functional or decorative items like furniture, clothing, jewelry, even tools and machines. “Artisanal” came to describe hand-processing as against industrial production, such as with “artisanal mining.”

The adjective has since been appropriated in marketing and advertising — for the crafting of handmade foodstuffs like bread, beverages, cheese. Back to small-scale then, versus factory mechanization. The devotional process may be slow and tedious, but the focus is on quality over quantity.

In 2009 The School of Artisan Food opened at Welbeck Estate in an area in the English countryside made famous by Sherwood Forest. It offers lessons in baking and patisserie, brewing, butchery and charcuterie, cheese and dairy, pickling, preserves, and chocolate. That diploma-level roster might include the personalized production of ice cream and beer, two items I’ll take up shortly.

Here we now hear of artisanal ice cream, for instance. But first let me tell you of a recent entry in the humor department — how the five supposed stages of grief per the Kübler-Ross model have been reduced to four: denial, anger, bargaining, and Häagen-Dazs.

No real concern that H-D has pulled out of the local market. Why, we can still delight in our very own artisanal ice cream — to pre-empt or replace depression and acceptance. 

By word of mouth, the best of the lot appears to be Carmen’s Best, selling at P350 a pint and pretty hard to find, but let me tell you that an expedition may be worth the discovery. I first heard about it, and tasted Carmen’s Best most popular flavor, Salted Caramel, at a special place in Ayala Alabang Village. No, not at artisan Paco Magsaysay’s place, but close enough, if even more special, heh-heh.

Then some weeks back, much to my serendipitous delight, I found some pints available closer to home, at a coffee shop serving the Alexandria Condo on Meralco Avenue in Ortigas Center. The first buy was Salted Caramel. With the kids slurping in absolute approval, I followed that up with Butter Pecan. Both are memorably creamy-yummy.

Why, when I recently picked up a pint to hand to a kid for his mom’s birthday, he subsequently reported that he didn’t even get to taste it. Moms can do that with Carmen’s Best, bogart it secretly and guiltlessly around midnight.

I’ve also heard of Sebastian’s artisanal ice cream, which enjoys better availability by way of scoop stations, such as at Podium, also in Ortigas Center, and The Block of SM North Edsa. Good word also pushes for Fog City Creamery. I should try both soon.

Well, I did some gooey research and found out from the popular Food & Travel blog Our Awesome Planet that an “Anton’s List” best of Pinoy artisanal ice cream was last topped by Carmen’s Best, “the overall winner in Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test with 4.24 rating.” It seems this brand, named after Paco’s daughter Carmen, is the only one that is advantaged by a base ingredient the family itself produces — Holly’s Milk, which I’m always glad to find at the Palms Country Club in Fil-Invest.  

By the by, I’ve voting Paco’s dad Jun Magsaysay back to the senate; we need men like him to accomplish legislative work in a quiet and modest manner. And I don’t think I’m trivializing this endorsement by saying that one may now add to his credentials the family production of good fresh milk and the best artisanal ice cream in town.

Now I must try the Coffee Malted Milk, Butterscotch, and premium flavors (at P380 a pint) Tahitian Vanilla and Spanish Turon… And Sebastian’s (Ian Carandang’s pioneering artisanal ice cream) Queso de Bola, Hazelnut Truffle, and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough (at P300 a pint)… And Fog City Creamery’s (by Edy Gamboa-Liu) Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate and Sorrento (Limoncello).

Meanwhile, the rest of “Anton’s List” include Kelvin Ngo’s Merry Moo (“three-time winner of the Ultimate Taste Test series”); Ginny Gonzales’ Home Made Ice Cream (using carabao’s milk, available at the Legaspi Sunday Market); Paradis by Troy Hatcho; and Mark Isidro’s Mad Mark’s (in Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig). Check them out online for specific pick-up coordinates and more info. Then join me in slurping down such seductive flavors as Coffee Kahlua, Food for the Gods, Queso De Bola with Fiesta Ham (!), Bourbon Pecan, Guava, Choc-Nut, Pastillas Tostado, Ube-Macapuno con Pinipig, Agasajo (Chili Chocolate) with Saffron, Javan Hot Chocolate, Madagascar Vanilla Bean…

And let’s all toast to Pinoy artisanal ice cream!

As for “bespoke,” it simply means “personalized,” as in its original application with regards to tailoring. It describes a high degree of “customization” and the end-user’s involvement. A “bespoke suit” is custom-made to individual specifications.

Now it’s applied to other items, including computer software and luxury cars, and “bespoke industries are experiencing a strong resurgence with the advent of collective digital market places,” while the word is “currently in the top 20 personal of lookups on Merriam-Webster.com.”

At a Johnnie Walker launch event last year, the top-of-the-line JW Blue bottle came with bespoke crystal glasses. And at Buddha Bar more recently, Manny Osmeña’s proffered grand prize of Manny O. Wines’ top-of-the-line double magnum of Sumiller 2009 came with a bespoke wooden case from Spain.

Made to order, in brief. I beseech thee, I bespeak thee, make me a love swaddled in a bespoke velvet pouch that also comes with aged whisky or vintage wine.

Or craft beer. Also known as craft brew — “a beer with a distinctive flavor, produced in small quantities and distributed in a particular region.” Such as what Global Beer Exchange owner Jim Araneta now offers, about a hundred varieties, at his newly opened The Bottle Shop at Tritan Ventures Bldg. on Paseo De Magallanes.

“Craft beers are made by breweries whose priority is to make high quality beers,” Jim says in an interview with our common buddy and food & drinks blogger Sanjeeb Gopaldas.

“The owners of craft breweries are primarily artists… who are passionate about beer; for them, quality supersedes profits. Unlike industrial breweries, craft breweries will never use fillers like preservatives, chemicals, additives to reduce quality and costs. They will only use the highest quality hops, malted grain, yeast as well as innovative ingredients like chocolate, coffee, and fruit to create diverse styles. This is why there are more than one hundred styles of craft beer in the world. This is also another reason that craft beer has become even more diverse than wine.”

Jim imports about a hundred different beer variants “from Anderson Valley, Ballast Point, Gordon Biersch, Hitachino Nest, Rogue, Stone and Victory brewing companies... including lagers like the Pilsner, Marzen, Blond Bock… ales such as the Hefeweizen, Pale, Ale, Amber Ale, India Pale Ale, Porter, Stout, Barley Wine, Strong Ale…”

Apart from supplying other specialty drinking venues, Jim started a Tasting Corner in Craft Pub at The Fort Strip — where I still go to have my Arrogant Bastard Ale by Rogue. One of these days I’ll have to join “Happy Hour” at his Bottle Shop, where simple tables front a beer wall of wooden shelves stacked with the good stuff. 

Not everything is imported. It doesn’t take nationalism to appreciate the Katipunan Indio Pale Ale crafted by four young guys over at Katipunan Avenue. I recommend it highly. It’s been our best craft brew. 

These craft beers are of course more expensive than the regular brews. But listen, they’re products of passion, devotion, and commitment. They’re also artisanal, in a way. And if you imagine these microbrews paired with your favorite dishes, why, they may as well be also bespoke.