A jeepney ride to Davao
InterContinental Manila’s Café Jeepney takes Manileños on a special trip to Davao for its many gustatory delights in line with its thrust to introduce guests to the best in Filipino cuisine. Starting last March 10 and running ‘til March 28, Davao food authority chef Paddy Lascano and cake specialist chef Erwina “Booboo” Maramba are working hand-in-hand with the restaurant’s culinary team in the preparation of native delicacies that will form part of its lunch and dinner buffet spreads.
A native Davaoeño, Lascano has done intensive research on the province’s different tribes, the Maranaos, Tausugs and Bagobos. He is the author of two food books, Davao Cuisine and Salads and Noodles, and is busy wrapping up work on a third one about gourmet food for diabetics. He is currently a consultant of the Bangayan Group of Companies which manages Holiday Spa & Gym, Camp Holiday Resort Hotel and the Center for Asian Culinary Studies. For Café Jeepney’s Davao food festival, he will prepare tribal dishes such as a clear soup with law-uy (alugbati) with fried tuna cubes; baked udong noodles (from the Japanese udon, brought in by some Japanese settlers in Davao in the 1930s), hot and spicy prawns, baka tula-sog or stewed beef with native chocolate sauce; manuk kiarehian or Maranao chicken curry; a pork casserole with pineapple chunks, plaintain and mushrooms, to name a few.
He’s also presenting his latest Davao fruit-based desserts like latik, sampaloc, durian and guava cakes. For the most part, chef Lascano noted that traditional Davao cooking had no “sautéing” as is popular nowadays. It basically follows the favored Visayan ways of preparing food: Su-Tu-Kil (sugba = grill; tula = boiled; kilawin = pickle in vinegar), plus a fourth way of roasting or baking called haob, meats or vegetables wrapped in banana leaves, covered in the dying embers of an evening’s cooking for the following day’s meal.
Pastry chef Maramba, on the other hand, owns a cake shop called Natalie in Davao, renowned for its beautiful and delicious cakes and pastries. She also conducts classes on cake decorating and baking. Her baking expertise comes from extensive training that began in the kitchen of her godmother and was perfected by classes with experts like Loreto Sarenas, Sylvia Reynoso-Gala, Avelino Florendo, Heny Sison and the Wilton School in Woodridge, Illinois. Her creation of the forbidden fruit durian as a to-die-for cream pie is a must try.
Café Jeepney‘s buffet spread is available for lunch 12 noon to 2:30 p.m. Monday to Sunday and dinner 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday. For every group of four buffet-paying adults on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays a fifth person gets a free buffet meal. For reservations, call 793-7000.
As part of the hotel’s 40th anniversary celebration, patrons will have a chance to win trips to dream destinations. Every P4,000 in single receipts at restaurant and bar outlets will earn a raffle ticket. Prizes include a Princess Cruise trip for two to either the Caribbean, Alaska or the Mexican Riviera (the winner can choose one of these three destinations) and a trip to a European destination of one’s choice onboard KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
The raffle period runs until April 16, 2010.
LTB Philippines Culinary Team competes at Bocuse d’Or Asia Finals in Shanghai
On March 17, in Shanghai China, Filipino chef Ariel Manuel will compete against the best Asian chefs from Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Cambodia at the Bocuse d’Or Asia Finals. Only the top four of the Bocuse d’Or Asia Finals will have a right to compete against the top 24 teams of the world at the Bocuse d’Or World Finals in Lyon, France in January 2011.
Lolo Dad’s chef patron Ariel Manuel and apprentice TJ Abello have three hours to prepare 14 portions of their selected menu: Norwegian halibut with king crab, accompanied by foie gras en croute and asparagus and Caviar Custard. This dish will be presented on a specially designed platter made by metal artist Mike Aguas. Head coach for this team is French chef Cyrille Soenen of Restaurant Cicou, joined by chefs Othmar Frei of Santis/Werdenberg, Fernando Aracama of Encore/Canteen/MyThai, and J. Gamboa of Cirkulo and Milkyway Restaurants.
The Bocuse d’Or is one of the world’s most prestigious culinary competitions, founded in 1987 by renowned French chef Paul Bocuse, bringing together the best chefs from all over the world to Lyon, France to celebrate French cuisine.
Since 2007, the LTB Philippines Culinary Team has had great success at culinary competitions in Hong Kong and Singapore wining top prizes and numerous medals and trophies for the Philippines. LTB is committed to the training and development of the Filipino professional chef.
The LTB Philippines Culinary Team is supported by Werdenberg International Corp., ESV/PTC, Alternatives Food Corp., Tefal, Unilever Food Solutions, Fonterra Foodservice, Mida Foods, Meat and Livestock Australia, Philippine Airlines, Gourdos, RainPhil-Julabo Water Circulators, Official Knives by Wusthof, and Official Chef Jackets by Chef Revival. For more information, please visit www.ltbchefs-phils.com and www.bocusedorasia.com
