Ang galing ng Pinoy!

It’s traditionally this time of the year that my darleng Mary Ann and I look forward with excitement to be spending five days in the summer capital. Just last week, we were billeted at the Baguio Country Club (BCC) to join some kindred spirits from the culinary world to be judges for the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio (HRAB) 6th Annual Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Weekend. We enjoy so much the cool mountain air, the company and camaraderie of foodie friends, the wining and dining from sponsors, exploring the city for new and old gastronomic finds in our spare time, the warm hospitality of Baguio residents, and of course the excellent service of the BCC management and staff. It has become a tradition of sorts for us, as this was our sixth consecutive year to be invited as judges since its inception in 2004.

The competition has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception, as attested by the indefatigable HRAB president and BCC GM Anthony de Leon in his welcome speech. From an exclusively Northern and Central Luzon-only competition in 2004, it has now become a national event participated by establishments and schools from the Ilocos region in the north and as far south as Iligan City in Mindanao.

This year’s participants are by far the most numerous, totaling 62 schools and establishments joining in some 50 events. And more than a hundred schools from around the country sent their representatives just to witness the three-day event. De Leon has further noted not only how important the hospitality industry has become, but also of how highly regarded Filipino workers are abroad. He revealed that his former professor at Cornell University in New York, Tom Cullen, who’s now retired and does consultancy to multinational hotels in the Middle East, when asked what it would take to provide the best service in the world, replied: “Charter a 747 jumbo jet and fill it up with Filipinos and fly them over here!” Isn’t that quite a heartening testimony? Nakakataba ng puso, diba? Galing talaga natin mga Pinoy!

Traditions die hard

One of the highlights of our Baguio stay was a lunch for us judges hosted by Nenuca Villarreal Benitez and her son Fil at Mario’s Restaurant along Upper Session Road Extension. Now in its 38th year of service, it is an institution to reckon with especially with its signature dishes like paella Valenciana, lengua con setas, callos Madrileña, and its now-classic Caesar salad and mango jubilee. For two generations now, it must be noted that Mario’s Caesar salad has been the benchmark of what every self-respecting Filipino believes a Caesar salad should be, and where it is still served at tableside. The dishes are heirloom recipes from Nenuca’s mother, Milagros Garcia, who grew up in Tarlac since her father, Pedro Garcia from Madrid was assigned to work at Tabacalera, and lived at Hacienda Luisita for many years. Fil manages Mario’s branch at Tomas Morato, Quezon City, and came up for the day to help take care of us judges.

A wine-pairing dinner at BCC’s Veranda was hosted by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, otherwise known as La Camara, the oldest chamber of commerce in the country and possibly in Southeast Asia. It brought with them their pambato Basque chef Mikel Arriet, executive chef of Club Punta Fuego. We have tried Chef Mikel’s cooking twice in the past, and weren’t disappointed. A Freixenet (Cava D.O.) “Cordon Negro Brut” was passed around during cocktails. He served a six-course menu consisting of a black-jacketed shrimp with ali-oli sauce, Galician-style seared bonito with foamed potato, peach gazpacho with seared scallop (paired with Telmo Rodriguez “Basa” White 2007 (Rueda D.O.); seared sea bream over mushroom compote (Enate Chardonnay White 2007, Somontano D.O.); Ibiza rack of lamb with jamon Serrano and apple compote (Telmo Rodriguez “Gago” Red 2006, Toro D.O.); and a to-die-for sublime warm manchego cheesecake filled with a strawberry cream that flowed like lava as you forked through it (Hidalgo Cream Almeda, Pedro Ximenez, Sherry D.O.). Capping the dinner was Amoroso brandy de Jerez.

Friday lunch was Rose Bowl’s turn to treat us judges. It is in our collective memories as Filipinos, having spent summers in Baguio, that a trip to this city is not complete without a meal at Rose Bowl. It is more of a tradition than anything, bringing back nostalgia of family holidays before the fast foods and chains invaded the pines city. Just like Star Café or Dainty (now long gone), where early risers and journalists would take their coffee every morning. 

Rose Bowl is your typical Chinese restaurant found in any province in the Philippines. Food is generally passable, what I would describe as Filipinized Chinese (mainly Cantonese) dishes like the sweet and sour pork, Yangchow fried rice, chopsuey, pancit canton, steamed lapu-lapu, hot and sour soup, and beef with onions. The flavors are well-balanced, never cloying but often greasy. Spices are used minimally to avoid overwhelming the flavors of the primary ingredients and there’s not much use of fresh herbs with the notable exception wonsoy or cilantro leaves, although it tends to be mere garnish in most dishes. Out of habit, we dip everything in kalamansi and soy sauce as the food is generally bland in taste (not tasteless, mind you, but subtle due to lack of spices) and liberally sprinkled with MSG.

I used to frequent Rose Bowl when I lived in Baguio for a year in 1984, always enjoying its lechon kawali with flowering pechay.  Served during the lunch treat were assorted cold cuts with real sarap lechon, watercress soup with pork, chop suey, gabi with lechon kawali, steamed lapu-lapu, and buttered prawns.  Rose Bowl, now on its 40th year, remains popular as ever among local tourists like us. You will most likely bump into some familiar faces also ordering the same dishes.

Icing on the cake

Speaking of how galing we are, one of the co-judges we’ve been with these past several years is the unassuming wedding cake master Penk Ching. Just a week prior to the Baguio event, she and the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines (PAP) team just came from Bangkok, Thailand, competing in the first Asia Culinary Cup (ACC), held at the Siam Paragon Exhibition Halls in Bangkok. The six-member PAP delegation competed with representatives from some 20 other countries, with Taiwan having the biggest, a 150-strong team. Competing in three of the four pastry events, the team won medals in all three, with Penk bagging the silver medal for Pastry Showpiece (display) for her masterpiece “Vases of Luck.”

Sometime last August, Penk was asked by her PAP teammates to present a design for the forthcoming ACC in Bangkok. But, as she was leaving for Cagayan de Oro for a judging invite at “Kumbira” by the Cagayan de Oro Hotel and Restaurant Association (COHARA), she asked her better half to research for her from their collection of books on Chinese and other Asian potteries. Upon her return, the dutiful hubby had laid on her table some 10 earmarked designs to choose from. Narrowing them down to one, she hit on the idea of doing a vase within a vase to achieve some depth in the carving. While doing the components made of gum paste (gelatin, powdered sugar, shortening and glucose), she was pressed hard by her teammates to see the actual piece. She said that once she has assembled the many parts together, there was no way to disassemble it again. They just had to take her word for it.

But during the actual competition, she nearly hit a blank wall on how to make the inner vase rotate as she couldn’t use any non-edible parts. She recounts how she had to improvise in making several marble-size balls and placed them on a flat round gum paste disc, then carving a circular canal for the balls to roll on, just like a mini Lazy Susan. It was short of an engineering feat worthy of McGyver. It was the assembly of the outer vase that almost did her in, though: this was a lot more difficult to piece together than she had imagined, taking longer than she originally thought. But she finally did it, wowing the judges with her creativity and ingenuity!

The team’s hard work had paid off, she said. The four days of grueling competition saw them arriving early at the exhibition hall, and leaving late in the evening. But they went for one purpose and their eyes were set on that goal. They wore their PAP shirts and pins with pride. They met a Pinoy chef working in Thailand, Dexter Villamin, who shared that Filipinos are well respected there. And Ching recalls everywhere they went, their ID straps that screamed “Philippines” caught the eyes of foreigners and were followed by smiles. Judges chatted with them during competition, and even the event host said that six Filipinos can cheer louder than 60 Koreans! With very high judging standards, only about half of competitors were awarded, and only one Gold with Distinction was given out in the entire competition to Taiwan for the Fruit & Vegetable Carving Showpiece.

The team felt humbled to be representing the Philippines in such a forum, knowing that their small effort was making a stamp for our country in the great big culinary world. To think that the PAP, a Johnny-come-lately organization formed only in November 2008, had already bagged eight medals in their first sortie ever in May 2009 from the various competitions at the Hong Kong International Culinary Classic.

They couldn’t have done it without the support of friends from the industry: AmeriColor, Cereal Food Corporation, Chef Revival, D’Chef, Fumaco Incorporated, Glasstemp, KLG International, Multiplast Corporation, Peotraco Industries, Philippine Airlines, RM Boxes, San Miguel Corporation, Sonlie International, Tone Guide Press Inc.

Congratulations and keep-PAP the good work! 

PAP membership is open to chefs and non-chefs. For more information, please contact Buddy Trinidad 0918-945-0000 or James Antolin 0917-801-0038.

Mario’s Baguio City branch: 16 Upper Session Road Extension. Tel: (074)442-4241

Mario’s Quezon City branch: 191 Tomas Morato Ave. corner Scout Gandia St. Tel. Nos. 372-0360

Rose Bowl: Harrison Street facing Burnham Park. Tel: (074)442-9374