Comfort foods for the holidays
One of the goodies I received this season was a foot-long loaf of delicious, mouth-watering, freshly baked bread from my good friend Therese Agnese.
The bread was rich with black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh ricotta cheese, pine nuts, and flavored with pesto sauce. One hefty slice was a meal in itself, and a healthy one, too, because I had it for lunch and it kept me going till dinnertime.
When I wanted to order some more to share with my family and friends, Therese told me that her husband, chef Philippe Agnese — a former pastry chef of various five-star hotels in Asia such as the Ritz-Carlton in Singapore, The Four Seasons in Thailand, Shangri-La in Shanghai and Mactan, and Peninsula Manila — came back to the Philippines after eight years of working in various stints abroad to put up his own bakery.
Chef Philippe is no stranger to Filipino gourmands. Prior to his assignment at the Ritz-Carlton in Singapore, he taught at the CCA (Center for Culinary Arts) and hosted the cooking show The Good Life Chef.
Every chef’s dream is to put up his own restaurant or retail store and chef Philippe is no exception. He always wanted to come back to the Philippines, his wife’s roots, and put up a chain of retail outlets for his products.
“I came back to Manila to build a brand of trust, consistency and quality,” says Philippe. “I have plans of developing interesting retail concepts in 2010. For my products, I would like to use underutilized good quality ingredients of the Philippines but instilling 30 years of acquired French baking techniques.”
Today, chef Philippe’s state-of-the-art bakeshop is located at 2310 Majalco Building, Pasong Tamo Extension. One has to go down the driveway and enter the last door — the room to the right is his commissary. Orders are placed by phone a day before. Call 232-9643, 556-7768, 0917-5847588.
Other flavors of bread aside from the one I had are double mushroom with four cheeses; honey-glazed ham with cheddar cheese and kesong puti; walnut, cream cheese, with chocolate bits; mango crumble with vanilla custard. A foot-long bread costs P380 and a two-foot one is P740.
He also has cakes: chocolate delight (9 inches), P390; traditional Christmas fruitcake (750 gms.), P400; cream cheese stolen (500 gms.), P400. All products are packed individually in beautiful boxes, so you will be proud to offer them to your family and friends.
My chocoholic sister Tina G. Limjuco’s love for chocolates made her invent a kind of almond crunch brittle that is to live for. Because of pressure from family and friends, she now accepts orders for her almond crunch brittle during Christmastime. She uses fresh almonds and imported dark chocolate. She sells them in a tin can of 200 gms. for P270, or as a Christmas package of almond crunch (180 gms.), coupled with delicious jalea de manga for P520, or with guava jelly for P495.
Her other goodies are food for the gods (20 pcs., P400), lengua de gato (400 gms., P310), mango chutney, (reg. bottle P280).
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For orders, call Vicky/Pilar at 842-1375, or Teresita at 0917-8224466, 842-0348.
