The beef on Greenwich’s new pasta dish

For many Filipinos, special occasions call for noodles. What birthday party is complete without pancit or spaghetti? And for that matter, what quickie breakfast or merienda is lively without a pack of instant noodles? Rice may be a staple in our diet, but noodles have the extra appeal as comfort food, since it will always remind Filipinos of pleasant times.

However, instant mami noodles are not pasta. The quotidian mami sells quite as easily as a bag of chips or a bottle of soft drink. But pasta?

"For many Filipinos, their concept of pasta is that it is an upscale product," says Greenwich products marketing manager Luis Velasco. "That’s what we’re trying to do with our pasta line. We’re trying to pull down the concept of pasta to the level of the fast-food market."

While spaghetti may be a regular in almost any fast-food chain, Greenwich has the distinction of serving four pasta dishes, including its latest Pasta Beef Bolognese.

Greenwich executive chef Andrew Tan Chua says Pasta Beef Bolognese adapts the traditional Bolognese sauce to suit Filipino palates.

"We’ve adapted the Bolognese sauce to Filipino taste, but not too much because it would become something else," says Chua.

Rather than use spaghetti noodles, the Greenwich chef has chosen linguine noodles for his pasta.

"The general rule is that you use long pasta for a saucier sauce and tube and shaped pasta for a drier pasta," he says. "I’ve chosen the linguine because in this recipe you want to eat more of the sauce than the starch."

Chef Andrew says many Filipinos prefer their pasta to be a bit overcooked, a far cry from the al dente noodles Italians prefer, which Filipino diners would consider undercooked. Spaghetti overcooks easily, unlike linguine that holds its shape.

For his Bolognese sauce, he uses pureed plum tomatoes over regular market-bought tomatoes, because they add sweetness to the sauce that Filipinos prefer. To counteract any accidental acidity from the tomatoes, he adds a generous amount of brown sugar into the sauce to correct it.

There is no secret to Chua’s sauce. At a demonstration held recently at the Greenwich outlet in Robinsons Place Ermita, he listed down the ingredients of the Greenwich pasta sauce. Apart from the plum tomatoes, the sauce includes garlic, onions, mushrooms, green bell pepper, spices, salt and pepper and ground beef. All these are sautéed in olive oil over high heat to bring out the flavor of the spices.

"I don’t believe in secrets," Chua says. Anyone can get a recipe, follow it to the letter and the outcome will still be different. It is no secret that Greenwich uses only the best ingredients, especially the seasonings reinforced by the technique and process which Greenwich has mastered. Ask any self-confessed cook and he’ll tell you the same thing."

Greenwich Pizza is the first Filipino pizza chain in the country. Opening in 1971 as a small over-the-counter pizza in the Greenhills Commercial Center, it is now one of the country’s biggest pizza chains. It has 119 outlets nationwide, with stores spread out throughout the country from as far north as Tuguegarao, Cagayan and as far south as Cotabato.

Following the pizza chain’s acquisition in 1994 by Jollibee Food Corporation, it was given a new look in 2000, complete with a new logo, updated and more contemporary interiors, as well as crunchier and tastier pizzas and an expanded menu line.

It took the Greenwich R&D team over a month to perfect the recipe for Pasta Beef Bolognese through a series of panel and customer taste tests. The product was introduced December last year, just in time for the Christmas season. It has since beefed up the pizza chain’s line of pasta offerings.

Apart from the new Pasta Beef Bolognese, other pasta dishes served are: So Meaty Spaghetti, spaghetti served with a beefy tomato sauce with ham and sausage; Lasagna Supreme, lasagna cooked with a beef sauce, special herbs and spices, and topped with layers of cheese; and Baked Chicken Macaroni, macaroni served with tomato pour-over sauce and chicken chunks.