Chef Off The Old Block

So you don’t want to eat out today, Easter Sunday, but you don’t want to cook either. What to do? Call Chef Rolando Laudico. Yes, there’s a chef in the house – he’s just a text (cell phone no. 0917-3505209) or an e-mail (cheflaudico@ yahoo.com) away. Why, he’ll even hop over to your house, faster than you can say Peter Rabbit, to make sure that not a dish is amiss.

Today, he’s cooked up a basketful of Easter eats for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For lunch, for instance, try this:

Appetizer: assorted stuffed eggs

Soup: Butternut Squash Soup

Entree: grilled turkey, turkey sandwiches, grilled whole salmon, fillets with dill, butter glazed carrots, warm potato and caramelized onion salad

Dessert: assorted ice cream

For dinner, savor this:

Appetizer: egg salad

Soup: carrot cream

Entree: turkey meatball, spaghetti with tomato and herb sauce

Dessert: apple pie

This Holy Week, Chef Rolando also wooed Filipino food lovers with a little taste of French cooking. This steamy French affair starts off with appetizers consisting of Tapenade and Dried Tomato Canapes, and Melon Wrapped with Smoked Salmon. Soup is a souper-duper Potage Parisien (Parisian potato leek soup). Enter the entrees: Fricasse de Poulet (creamy chicken stew) and Beef Bourgogne for something really meaty; Moules Provencal (mussels steamed in tomato and herbs) for seafood lovers; Grilled Ratatouille and Salade de Fromage Bleu (blue cheese salad) to fill our salad days; and Pomme Puree (mashed potato). Dessert is a sinfully delicious Apple Crepe Cake.

Chef Rolando also went Italian all the way with his Good Friday menu that read:

Appetizer: Crispy Calamari with Tomato Basil Sauce

Soup: Mussels in Saffron Broth

Seafood: Misto Di Pesce Con Salsa D’aglio (fried fresh fish in garlic sauce)

Pasta: Scampi Linguini (shrimp saute pasta)

Vegetable: zucchini with garlic, mixed salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Starch: Saffron Rice

Dessert: Apple Fritters with Cinnamon Cream

That’s just for lunch. For dinner, have more than a slice of Italy with Roasted Bell Pepper Soup, Squid with Creamy Tomato Penne Pasta, Mixed Salade with Crisped Scampi, and Panna Cotta with Caramel Sauce.

Then Chef Rolando dished up a Spanish fiesta – si, señores, for both lunch and dinner. For lunch, the feast consisted of Mushrooms Al Ajillo, Crisped Chorizo with Onions, Gazpacho, Spit Roast Lamb, Callos a la Madrileña (Madrid style), seafood paella (with prawns, squid, mussels, clams), grilled bell peppers and eggplant, panfried potatoes with herbs, and siempre, muchos churos for dessert. For dinner, gorge on Sopa de Ajos (garlic soup), Beef Estofada or Lapu-Lapu with Chorizo and Olives, tomato salad with orange, panfried potatoes with herbs, and Leche Fritta to cap a sweet interlude with Italian food.

Veering closer to home, Chef Rolando gave a sampling of his Asian mix grill thrills – surely, mix-ups were never this delicious! For lunch, there were Chicken Satay with Tamarind Peanut Sauce, Vietnamese Beef Broth, Korean Beef, Liempo, Miso Glazed Grilled Salmon, Thai green mango salad, stir-fried veggies in garlic, Bagoong Rice and steamed rice, Buko Pandan and Gula Melaka. Dinner consisted of these yummies: Tom Yum with Prawns, chicken barbecue or Grilled Teriyaki Marlin Fillet with Stir-fried Green Veggies, Mixed Salad Tossed in Toasted Sesame Vinaigrette, steamed rice, Fruit Kabob with Coconut Cream.

This is one chef who certainly knows his onions. Fact is, he’s a chef off the old block. It was his mom, artist Yola Johnson, who nurtured his love for food glorious food.

"As a young boy, I’d go to the market with my mom every Sunday," he fondly recalls. "My mom made such divine seafood dishes. Simple but well done, nothing beats homecooking."

Rolando grew up surrounded by the aroma of good food cooking in Mom’s forever sizzling kitchen. "When I grew up, I helped in cooking meals at home," he relates. "I would watch this show that was like Wok with Yan. When I was six or seven years old, I tried my hand at cooking beef with oyster sauce. My dad liked it!"

Every Sunday, the Laudicos (mom, dad, Rolando and sister Popy who grew up to be an architect) would get together over brunch. "I’d cook a lot of fresh shrimps, jumping shrimps, crabs, squid, etc.," Rolando reminisces with relish. "That probably started my love affair with cooking. In high school, I already knew that I wanted to be a chef. But back then (1987), it wasn’t a popular profession, my classmates were kidding me about my dream to be a kusinero. When I graduated from high school, I asked my mom if I could study or work as a chef but she told me it was hard work, and to go to college first. I did (he took up tourism management at the University of the Philippines where he met his soon-to-be wife, Jackie Juarez, who shares his passion for cooking). But after college, I decided I still wanted to be a chef so I worked at Carpaccio, an Italian restaurant in Makati. The owner, Werner Berger, who owns Santi’s, asked me if I had any professional experience and I told him I had none. For some reason, he still got me. I worked for a year at Carpaccio."

That convinced mom Yola about Rolando’s burning passion for cooking. So his parents sent him to the Culinary Institute of America in New York where he studied for two years. After that, he apprenticed at L’Essentiel (a two-Michelin-star restaurant frequented by celebrities) in Chambery, France. "It’s like a ski resort area near Switzerland," he describes. "Mom was right – it was hard work, I worked 16 hours a day, seven times a week. I started with appetizers and salads, and moved on to the entrees and then to the vegetable station. I also did a little pastry. In short, I made the rounds."

As a greenhorn, Rolando remembers a not-too-savory experience, thus, "The chef said something in French and I couldn’t understand it so I ended up doing another fish dish instead of the salmon dish that was called for."

Over the years, Rolando has collected enough delightful memories to fill a book. Proud to wear the torque, Rolando won first prize in buffet presentation at the 130th Societe Culinaire Philan-tropique, New York.

Rolando went back to Manila but knew something beefier was in store for him. He went to Sydney, Australia where he worked for a few months under a chef who was German but whose cuisine was contemporary French with a hint of Asian influences.

Rolando points out, "Getting a work visa in Australia was kinda hard so I decided why not set up my own catering service?"

Besides, everytime he was home, he was always cooking for his family, his friends and his mom’s friends. "My mom’s friends were among my first clients," he says. "When my mom would entertain at home, I would cook and they liked it! They asked if they could hire me for their own parties. They were willing to pay me to do something that I love to do. So I thought, ‘Why don’t I go full steam into catering?’"

And so, Chef Rolando has been catering for almost a year now. He calls it simply Chef Rolando Laudico and lists his assorted services as follows: • Catering – private fine dining, plated or Russian service, buffet, cocktails, in the comfort of your own place or suggested venue, from Asian to European, classical to contemporary cuisine, custom-designed menus according to your preferences, any number of courses and dishes for two to 200 guests

• Private or group cooking lessons – hands-on experience, detailed recipes and instructions for beginners or advanced students

• Consultancy – menu and restaurant design, kitchen concepts and operations

He presents some of his creations whose popularity has spread by word of mouth – make that contented mouths, as follows: Grilled Tiger Prawns on Avocado Salsa Drizzled with Orange Curry Emulsion, Seafood Spaghettini with Arugula and Roasted Tomatoes, Tenderloin with Pan Seared Foie Gras, Blue Cheese Gratin and Port Reduction Sauce, and Mango Souffle Served with Luxardo Syrup.

"Before, you could only eat French food in French restaurants," says Chef Rolando. "Now, there are restaurants that serve foie gras."

Of course, Rolando is quick to point out, the best French restaurant is still Prince Albert of Hotel Inter-Continental. "Or they can go to me," he adds with a big smile.

Chef Laudico can cater for two to 200 guests. "It’s not fun eating alone," he shares with a smile. "My service is very flexible – I don’t have a fixed menu or cuisine. I first ask my customers what they have in mind, what they want. Some chefs would only cook what they want to cook. For me, the satisfaction of my clients is of utmost importance."

Because for Chef Rolando, "Cooking is the art of giving pleasure to the guest and pride to the chef."

Besides, Rolando asserts, "I only cook what I myself would love to eat. I would never give anything to a customer if it doesn’t whet my appetite. If it’s not good enough for me, it’s not good enough for my client."

Nothing’s good enough for Chef Rolando than the freshest and best ingredients on the market. "I don’t compromise on the quality of my ingredients," he declares.

Chef Rolando has cooked from French to Vietnamese to fusion. He is forever experimenting on new dishes. He notes, "As a chef, you must not be afraid to try new stuff. Chefs must be creative and must not restrict themselves to one type of cooking. Of course, I admire those who cook just one type of dish really well, but I’m the type of person who likes to create new things. If you ask me to do something new like South American, I’d research on it. I have quite a collection of cookbooks from where I draw my inspiration."

Rolando has cooked for assorted gatherings, from children’s parties to a romantic candlelit dinner for two. For one children’s party, he did a seafood pasta with a twist. "Pasta sauces are mostly tomato-based," he says. "What I did was I put a little cream to balance the acidity of the tomato sauce. It’s a one-liter cream from France but you can always use Nestle cream."

Chef Laudico also loves doing degustacion menus. "I do like 10 small dishes, like a tasting menu."

He adds, "Yes, I do my own sauces, it’s less expensive."

Just recently, Rolando played Cupid to a couple who sealed a marriage proposal with a kiss and a hearty dinner prepared by Chef Rolando at the bahay kubo in the garden outside his mom’s home in Urdaneta Village, Makati. This bahay kubo is featured on the cover of the coffeetable book Tropical Living.

But of course, Rolando cooks everything himself. His mom’s kitchen in Urdaneta Village brims with activity. "I’m also present at the affair I’m catering for to make sure everything goes well," says this truly consummate chef.

He heartily notes, "Good food for me is any dish that you really put your heart into. It can be the simplest or the most sophisticated."

There’s not a day in the week when Rolando’s not cooking but he’s not complaining. "I love cooking," he gushes. "If I’m stressed out, I cook. Cooking relaxes me."

Probably the only time Rolando is taking a day off is when he gets married this coming June 21. But then again, he’ll be designing the menu for his wedding reception set at Pearl of the Pacific in Boracay. "It’s a buffet reception, like a luau," the future groom tells us. "I’m training some cooks to do it."

Surely, Chef Rolando put tons of passion into his work. "You can’t survive in this profession without passion and dedication," he says.

In between cooking, Rolando manages to indulge in his other passion: sports. Now you know why he’s in good shape despite all that sinful indulgence.

So you may ask: Isn’t it about time Chef Laudico put up his own restaurant?

"That’s my ultimate goal," comes the quick reply. "That is, when the time is right, I don’t want to go into anything half-heartedly."

His dream restaurant?

"I enjoy eating in small places," he confesses. "I used to eat at Mr. Poon when it was really small. I don’t like big restos so much. My dream resto is just a small one that can seat from 20 to 25 persons. There’s no fixed menu, it’s different everytime you eat there. The menu is simple but very good."

Simply put, Chef Laudico wouldn’t settle for anything half-baked. "What I’d like to do more is bake breads," he says. "I wish I have a brick oven, it’s the best for baking bread. Right now, I get my breads from Mandarin Oriental Hotel, it’s got the best breads and a very good pastry chef. Of course, I do my own desserts like cakes and souffles. Clients love my chocolate cake which is made of high-quality chocolate, the best you’ll ever bite into."

Also a bestseller is Chef Laudico’s paella. "It’s cooked the traditional way," he explains. "Meaning it uses wood fire so there’s a different flavor to it. We also use real saffron. One paella pan is good for 30 to 50 persons. A minimum order good for 10 persons cost only a little over P1,000."

Let’s all salute the chef!