Food and Leisure

How Swede it is!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Millie and Karla Reyes -

April 14, 2011 | 12:00am

MILLIE: I have only met two Swedes in my lifetime, both of them are chefs. The first is Olaf Gosta Pettersson, our first executive chef at The Plaza who came to help my parents establish the business way back in the ’60s. He was then a young but fulfilled master chef of Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) who literally fell in love with Manila and was probably my dad’s brother in a past life that they were an instant hit when they first met and Uncle Gosta eventually became my dad’s alter ego. He was a big help in running the kitchen, training our chefs the de rigueurs of the kitchen trade, the discipline, the standards, which are still in place today. It was an expensive undertaking, but it paid off to do things the right way.

Uncle Gosta and my mom developed the now very popular The Plaza Premium Baked Ham, which was inspired by the Swedish Christmas Ham.

Last week, Karla and I met Jonas Lundgren, who won second place at the Bocuse d’Or 2009 culinary competition and is the guest chef at the Scandinavian Food Affair at I’m Angus Steakhouse in Yakal St., Makati, ongoing until April 15.

Simple but stunning giant Norwegian king crab claws with baby carrots, citrus and fresh dill

KARLA: Long before Top Chef, Iron Chef, Master Chef and other cooking reality TV shows is Bocuse d’Or, named after world-renowned chef Paul Bocuse. The competition is held in an open fully equipped kitchen theater-style facing an audience of about 1,000. Bocuse d’Or, which started in 1987, is one of the, if not, the most prestigious culinary contests in the world.

Mom says she met chef Paul Bocuse when he came to Manila in 1975 at the grand inauguration of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) where she catered and managed the food services from 1975 to 1985. Chef Bocuse was a guest of Cassam Gooljarry, a well-known connoisseur and active member of the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs in Hong Kong, also a close friend of my Lolo Joe and General Carlos P. Romulo.

White bean cappuccino soup with morille mushrooms served in a shot glass: A Jonas Lundgren original

Chef Jonas talks about his contest experience by first explaining a little about Scandinavian cuisine. He says that Scandinavians have infused palettes and can easily adjust to cooking for different nationalities. Most contestants would add some native twist or present a native dish on the judges’ tables. But chef Jonas mentions that his success also had a lot to do with his research. He said that since the judges were of different nationalities and come from different parts of the world, it would have been risky to serve a dish that may get conflicting reactions. Most of the judges of the contest have had French culinary training, but the trick is to surprise them with a new flavor or a new technique. Aside from making sure that the judges would be able to properly decipher his dish, his second objective was also to promote Scandinavian cuisine by using Scandinavian ingredients blended with familiar Swedish flavors.

Fillets of grilled turbot in a soy-brown-butter is an award-winning concoction of chef Lundgren in the Bocuse d’Or 2009 Culinary Competition.

MILLIE: Werner Berger, chef patron of I’m Angus, was present to welcome and entertain us with his hearty jokes. We’ve known each other at least 30 years since he was executive chef of Philippine Airlines and I’d like to think we both have not aged a bit. (Laughs.)

Chef Jonas served us delightful amuse-gueles or nibblers such as herring mustard, which had a unique and interesting but very Scandinavian appeal. The Catfish Brandade or tongue in garlic and dried seaweed was exquisite. The salmon roe and Danish caviar on flatbread was simple yet extraordinary in presentation. The white bean cappuccino with Morrille mushrooms served in shot glasses was so heavenly, I had two servings! By then I’ve had three glasses of Craggy Range white wine and was having a good time.

A degustacion lunch followed and we were served steamed king crab claws with sweet baby carrots, citrus, and fresh dill for starters. Next came the mussel soup with Sherry Manzanilla, which was light and tasty, the mussels small but juicy. I enjoyed the grilled turbot with soy brown butter and loved the crunchy fish bits. It was a new approach to the sole meuniere, which my dad so adored. The main entrée was braised lamb shoulder served with creamed potato and horseradish infused lamb jus, which was ultimate perfection! For dessert, we had rose hip and vanilla ice cream.

Chef Lundgren takes pride in his braised lamb shoulder with horseradish infused lamb jus on a bed of creamed potatoes.

KARLA: After lunch, Mom and I had time for a quick chat with chef Jonas. We discussed the hardships of becoming a chef and how it takes years of experience before one can actually be worthy of calling himself a chef. When asked for some inspiring words, he said, “Decide what you want to do. Stop experimenting and start perfecting what you already created or accomplished.” Due to the sudden influx of culinary schools, media’s hype on culinary reality shows, and the growing popularity of celebrity chefs, newly graduated students think that just because they have studied the craft for four years and others for only half a year, they’re ready to put up their own restaurant.

After 14 years working in the world’s best restaurants in at least six countries, chef Jonas Lundgren finally talks about putting up his own restaurant. As he heads back to Europe mid-May of this year, he expects his restaurant, for which he hasn’t decided on a name yet, to be up and running by September or October 2011 in Stockholm, Sweden. A dream come true!

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