Why Claude?

It could be bogus,” I told Claude when he excitedly told me he had just received an e-mail from the producer of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. After all, even I can e-mail anyone and claim to be the producer of Oprah. Claude wanted to fry me at that very moment.

Of course, I have always known that Bourdain would one day want to discover Filipino cuisine, especially since Filipinos are his biggest TV viewers (he himself said that). Of course, I am Claude’s biggest fan, but with 84 million Filipinos and one-tenth of them claiming to be chefs, why Claude? How did word of his cooking reach New York?

Segment producer Jared Andrukanis said, “Why not Claude? You can imagine how exhaustively we research areas before we go into them. We are not the kind of program that takes a list from the tourism bureau of a county and just visit what is recommended. I read an article about Claude on the Internet and, liking what I read, I located his e-mail and website. I wrote him and liked how he sounded. I could feel his pride in his food and Filipino food in general — and that is the most important in a show. I must capture that passion and pride on camera.”

Indeed, the e-mail was for real. And so, the day came when celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain stepped into our house. I wanted to grab him right away for an interview but he looked tired — even before they shot the segment — and when he was lying down on my hammock in the garden…well, I didn’t have the heart to disturb him.

I did manage to ask him some questions between his book signing, eating and shooting.

MARY ANN QUIOC TAYAG: Tony, may I have a photo with you? It’s for my “Me with Famous People” album.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN: Really, you have one? Who is in the book?

Imelda Marcos is one.

Am I the first food travel TV show host on your book?

Yes.

Okay, I really like that. Have you been to Mexico? I got a Mexico déjá vu feeling on my way here. The streets, the colors, the climate and the Spanish churches.

What food would you not eat?

Monkey’s brains.

What food can you eat every day?

I can eat Japanese food every day because it is very light. Sushi, in particular, especially uni. I like French food but I cannot eat it every day.

If you were to do a TV show segment again and eat the same food, which country would that be?

Vietnam.

Do you still cook professionally?

I do not have the time. I travel 10 months a year and that is why as much as possible I bring my family. My daughter is one-and-a-half-year-old, yet she has been to many places.

Did they recognize you at the Manila airport?

Oh, yes. I seem to be more popular here than in America. I signed a few autographs at the airport and in the hotel. Many asked me where I am going and what food I am to try. I think they are very concerned that I must go to the right places.

What is the most absurd offer you got in exchange for an interview with you? Food? Or sex maybe? Because an attractive artist friend of mine fantasizes of a one-night-stand with you.

(Laughs out loud) Hmmm, no. I like that, but no. Hey, come to think of it, no one has come up to me with such an offer.

What would you cook to seduce a woman?

My wife does martial arts every day for two hours, so I am not seducing anybody. And she is really very good, you know, even without gloves she can hit really well.

How did you find the Bale Dutung food?

The soup taste is something new to me. There is nothing similar or even close to what I have ever tried before. There is the complexity of the flavors: the fruity, sweet taste, the sour and the bitter. (He then scoops out the bangus eyes first and then the bangus belly and dips them in fish sauce with Claude’9 XO chili sauce.) I like chili very much — the hotter, the better. This stuff is good (spooning more XO chili sauce).

Oxtail is my favorite meat cut. Americans would instantly like this oxtail dish, no doubt about it. This (pointing to the burong hipon and burong isda) is what sushi must have been like before. The original sushi was fish on rice with vinegar and then fermented for the Japanese farmers to bring on their trips. It was the rich Japanese (who made sushi into what we know now) — they could not wait for it to ferment and tried eating it fresh and right away. Most good foods and cooking are discovered by accident or out of necessity. (He tears apart a pugo with his fingers and takes a big bite.) Is this your classic way of cooking birds?

So far, you have had two days of Filipino food. What cuisine is similar to it? And why do you think it has not reached international recognition?

My guess is it’s a PR issue. There is little known of the Philippines abroad, more so about the food. We know of the American influence though, but nothing is hardly known about the wide food varieties and influences. That should be the selling point. Imagine the combination of Chinese and Mexican influences in one cuisine. There is nothing similar to your cuisine. It is unique.