Filipino cuisine for the world

ROME, Italy – One of the reasons I love coming to Italy is being able to eat well in any restaurant, big or small, in the mountains or in the city, sophisticated or humble. In an unassuming trattoria in Rome today, I noticed the passion and enthusiasm with which the owner/chef and even the waiters described the menu and served the dishes. And the food, which was delicious and so artistically presented, reflected this.

Aside from a handful of great Filipino chefs in our country, many of whom studied abroad or were just born with a knack for cooking, I ask myself how this sense of passion for cooking and sensitivity for aesthetics in food preparation and presentation developed as a national trait? How do we transform our love of eating into a dedication to creating really good food? How do we develop great cooks who will transform Filipino food into a cuisine that enhances our culture, national pride and tourism the way it does in countries like Italy?

There are efforts being undertaken by schools like La Salle’s College of St. Benilde and Center for Culinary Arts who graduate 275 young potential chefs each year. In addition, the hotels have developed their own training programs. The Chefs on Parade this year led by Myrna Segismundo is an important program to honor the profession. Then there are the great international cruise companies that offer training and careers for cooks on board cruise ships that ply all over the world.

The operations director of a large cruise company made an assessment of Filipino cooks. He said they work very hard and can be counted on to follow standards of food preparation and presentation. However, he noted that they lacked the daring to create and improvise when compared to European cooks of similar capabilities and experience.

Not surprising since creative improvisation comes only with a deep knowledge of the classic. Chefs Glenda Barretto, Margarita Fores, Humphrey Navarro, Maritel Nievera, Myrna Segismundo, Jessie Sincioco, Claude Tayag and others with the Asia Society are only just beginning a project to standardize our own classic Filipino food taste and presentation. Once this is done, they will work with the Department of Tourism and cooking schools on training new people. It is hoped that everyone will embrace this project because it is an important prerequisite to promoting and branding Filipino food. Even market vendors and carinderias should be required to undergo training in butchering and cutting, hygiene and presentation.

Secondly, we need to exert extra effort to expose our cooks and to give them the experience to see, to touch and to taste food of international standards. One training school requires trainees to eat only what they prepare. So often, cooks, especially those who work in homes, are expected to cook food that is alien to them. We somehow need to overcome this problem of exposure which cooks from more developed countries do not have.

One area we can excel in more easily could be as pastry chefs since most Filipino children are familiar with and exposed to all kinds of sweets and cakes at an early age. In addition, I am convinced that Filipino desserts are one of the most delicious in the world. A famous Hong Kong restaurant hired a Filipino consultant to develop a series of Filipino cakes that have become very popular. Every foreign guest I serve our cakes to never fail to take a second slice.

Perhaps, while we develop the taste and aesthetics of Filipino food, as well as our cooks’ confidence in the art of cooking, we could embark on a new national project. We should position Filipino cakes in the international market, invest in excellent training facilities for pastry chefs, and instead of becoming known as passionate and enthusiastic cooks, initially become better known as the sweetest people in the world.

* * *

I appreciate your comments at dorisho@attglobal.net.