The time has finally come for Filipino cuisine

Having just entered the last quarter of the year, I can safely conclude that 2012 qualifies as a golden year of bountiful harvest for Philippine cuisine — in its promotion here and abroad, literary outputs with food history and culture as new fields of interest as seen by the popularity of food lore books, cookbooks, glossy food magazines, new food products on the market, food bloggers and TV travel and cooking shows. Of course, the proverbial proof is in the actual eating with the emergence of several upscale Filipino restaurants here and abroad.

It seems that the oft-asked question — why isn’t Filipino cuisine known internationally — has been finally answered. Most importantly, the Filipinos have finally found pride in our own cuisine. There’s no stopping us now.

1. Memphis In May Festival

My cooking calendar this year started in May. It was sometime in September 2011 when I first received an e-mail from Randy Blevins, vice president of programming of Memphis in May International Festival (MMIF), inviting me to take part in the culinary aspect of the festival during the week of May 7, 2012. As a guest chef, Blevins wrote, I would be presenting a menu for a cocktail and formal dinner in their finest restaurant Chez Philippe at the Peabody Hotel.

After e-mail correspondence with Chez Phillipe’s chef Ryan Spruhan, to whom I sent a hard copy of Kulinarya cookbook earlier (which made it a lot easier for the two of us), we came up with the following menu: cocktail for 700 guests — piña colada shooters and pili nuts — but actually 1,500 guests came to attend the gala show at the jam-packed Orpheum Theater to watch the Bayanihan Dance Troupe and the Arnis Group perform.

“Just serve whatever you have prepared,” said Blevins to calm us down over the unexpected (though welcome) turnout.

A six-course dinner for two consecutive nights at Chez Phillipe consisted of okoy or sweet potato/shrimp fritters, lumpiang hubad or fresh spring vegetable salad on a lettuce bed, binakol or chicken/coconut soup with lemongrass, pinaputok na isda or steamed banana leaf-wrapped pompano, Memphis baby back ribs adobo with bacon and chicken liver, and for dessert halo-halo. Procurement for the ingredients like banana leaf, fresh coconut, saging saba (not plaintain, mind you), lemongrass, bottled ube and macapuno from here, etc. was made easy by the presence of a Filipino store and a cavernous Oriental store just outside the city, and also the fact that chef Ryan had patis or fish sauce (albeit Thai nam pla) in his pantry, was indicative enough of his “openness” with his personal palate.

Though Chez Philippe is primarily a French restaurant, he allowed me to place a trio of sawsawan platter (dipping sauces) on each table — patis, chopped red chilies and kalamansi (from Florida), giving the diner a home-cooked meal feeling.

A high-powered Philippine delegation was led by Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. and wife Vicky Jose (our kabalen from Guagua, Pampanga), who flew in from Washington, DC. At the gala night dinner, DOT Sec. Ramon Jimenez made a pitch to the Memphians how much fun it is in the Philippines.

On other days and venues, BPI president Aurelio “Gigi” Montinola III spoke to the Economic Club of Memphis, while National Competitiveness Council co-chair Guillermo “Bill” Luz addressed the Memphis Rotary Club, and conservation architect Augusto “Toti” Villalon was a guest speaker of the Memphis American Institute of Architects. Cebu’s Marco Polo Hotel lechoneros competed in the Memphis World Barbecue Cooking Contest (whole pig category).

It goes without saying that we were given all-out down-home southern hospitality, feted with the famous Memphis pork barbecue, a tour of Elvis Presley’s Graceland, the National Civil Rights Museum where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, and several nights out on the famous Beale Street, with Memphis being the birthplace of the blues and rock-and-roll. 

2. New York, New York

More fun eating at Dampa, Farmer’s Market: CNN interview with author Claude Tayag and fellow STAR columnist Cheryl Tiu coordinating the shoot with the Hong Kong-based CNN producer Brent Swalis and cameraman Cameron Williams.

From Memphis, my wife MaryAnn and our son Nico flew to New York, staying at the fairly new and well-appointed Element Hotel Times Square, whose general manager is our kabalen Kathryn David Dowd. The hotel’s strategic location makes it a perfect hub to go around the city, with a lot of shopping, dining and Broadway theaters all within a walking distance, and the Port Authority Bus terminal and subway station just three short blocks around the corner.

Naturally, we had to find time to eat at Purple Yam in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, where chef Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa moved their highly rated restaurant Cendrillon after they closed it in March 2009 due to high rent. The couple have been a prime mover in the promotion of Filipino cuisine the past 20 years or so, introducing it and making waves in the hard-to-please mainstream American market.

Purple Yam’s cuisine is not purely Filipino, though; it’s more pan-Asian, using the Philippines as a point of reference. You’d see old favorites like tocino served on ube pandesal sliders, beef tapa in a salad, pork sisig, chicken adobo, oxtail kare-kare with bagoong and lechon kawali with papaya achara), but also looks around Asia for inspiration, like Korea (bibimbap, chap chae and pa jun or scallions pancakes) and Thailand (curried goat and mussels) and Bali (duck betutu). The couple also co-authored the best-selling Memories of Philippine Kitchens, winner of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) 2007 for scholarship in the quality of its research and writing, and was also a finalist for the Julia Child First Book Award.

3. East Village

Our future chefs: The Arellano University in Pasay (Jose Abad Santos Campus) won the Presidential Trophy, Overall Winner Student Division at recently held 6th National Food Showdown 2012. Photo by MNG Images

The following day, Saturday, we had a book signing and lunch at Maharlika Filipino Moderno located at the East Village of lower Manhattan. Co-partners Dominican chef Miguel Trinidad and Fil-Ams Nicole Ponseca, Enzo Lim and Noel Cruz began as a weekend brunch pop-up joint in January 2011, moving from one borrowed space to another. It was in August of the same year that the four found a permanent space in the East Village and haven’t looked back since. Prior to the pop-up operations, Trinidad and Ponseca traveled for three months around the Philippines, taking notes and inspiration for their future endeavor, which included a day visit with us at our Bale Dutung. 

Maharlika’s Filipino-American cuisine combines the familiar and the new, giving it an out-of-the-box twist, like the Eggs Benigno, described in the menu as “Lola Mahal’s homestyle pandesal, two poached farm eggs, thinly sliced fresh Spam, kalamansi hollandaise, kamote home fries, and maliit salad with coconut-sugarcane vinegar dressing ($12)”; while its Eggs iMelda as “Lola Mahal’s homestyle pandesal, two poached farm eggs, grilled prawns, fresh taro root leaves laing, kalamansi hollandaise, kamote home fries & maliit salad with coconut-sugarcane vinegar dressing ($16).” Other bestsellers for their patrons (including Caucasians) are oxtail kare kare, pata confit (crispy pata), chicken adobo, and ube waffle.

4. Boston

Next day, Sunday, we drove off to Boston with Gene and Evita Florendo (our friends from way back in Manila, Evita being the sister of my sister-in-law Corito Ocampo Tayag). Evita had organized for Tuesday evening a Gawad Kalinga fundraising dinner in their residence in Lexington, Massachusets, where I was to cook a four-course Filipino meal, including a cooking demo of sisig, and a short talk by Patty Lim Yusaf, also a long time Lexington resident (sister of former DOT secretary Alberto Lim).

Jamming with chef Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa at their restaurant Purple Yam in Brooklyn, New York.

The Pinoy’s bayanihan spirit came to the fore with the arrival of the Florendos’ friends to assist me in the whole day food prep for 50 persons. Judging by the guests’ feedback during the talk, everyone just seemed so nostalgic for the homeland, made more intense with the Pinoy dinner and the stories that went around the tables.

5-6. Mga bagong bayani

A major contributing factor to the improvement of the service and food industry over the past three decades or so are the hotel and restaurant associations around the country, whose continuing efforts in honing the skills of the youth and challenging the professionals to better themselves is very commendable. Beginning last July, the country was abuzz with a culinary competition circuit starting in the cities of Cebu, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and Baguio (Sept. 6 to 8) culminating in the main event, the National Food Showdown, held at the World Trade Center Metro Manila, last Sept. 21 to 22. 

This year’s winners are: Presidential Trophy: Professional Division — Resorts World Manila (the first professional team to win the Presidential Trophy); Student Division — Arellano University in Pasay, Jose Abad Santos Campus. Ultimate Chef Warriors 2012: Professional Division: NCR/Calabarzon Team, Marriott Hotel Manila; Student Division — Mindanao Team, DMC College Foundation, Dipolog City. The Compleat Chefs Golden Plate Award: Professional Division Resorts World Manila: Student Division — La Consolacion College Bacolod. The Bar & Dining showdown Golden Plate Award: Professional Division: Lyceum of the Philippines University – Batangas; Student Division – Arellano University in Pasay, Jose Abad Santos Campus. The Sweet Revenge Golden Plate Award: Professional Division – Makati Shangri-la Manila (its fourth to win this award); Student Division – Lyceum of the Philippines University – Batangas.  

7. Larry can’t cook

Award-winning publisher Anvil Publishing has just added two welcome tomes to the enrichment of Philippine cuisine as food history and culture. These are very recent studies of interest, brought about the popularity of culinary magazines and food bloggers. The first one is Larry Can’t Cook: How Larry J. Cruz Built an Empire that Redefined Filipino Dining, written by several writers, all reminiscing about their dealings with the man as a friend, father or employer.

Larry’s eldest daughter Lorna Cruz Ambas, long-time president of the LJC Group of Restaurants even when he was still alive, wrote of her father: “Malikot ang isip — he toyed with a lot of things. Fried tilapia, for instance. It wasn’t attractive to serve fried tilapia. So he asked the chef to split it open — like a butterfly — but to make sure to get the big kind. That was how Binukadkad na Pla-pla came to be. It was his visual idea. To be just good wasn’t good enough for him. The food had to be superb. ‘Tataas ang puwet mo sa sarap (Your butt lifts in ecstasy)’ was how he’d put it so graphically that it defied a direct translation.”

8. Savoring every page of ‘savor the word’

This year, the DGF Food Writing Award marks its 10th anniversary with the publication of Savor the Word, a compilation of all the winning entries of the prestigious writing competition. It is edited by author Felice Sta. Maria, food columnist Michaela Fenix and Maya Besa Roxas, and was originally conceptualized in 2001 by the late food writer Doreen Gamboa Fernandez, then editor of Food magazine Norma Chikiamco, Fenix, and chef Myrna Segismundo. The book launching held at the Atrium of Megamall was co-sponsored by Anvil Publishing, The International Wine & Food Society (IW&FS) Manila Chapter, SM Megamall, C2 Classic Cuisine Philippines, and National Book Store. 

Sta. Maria wrote in the prologue: “From its inception, the DGF Food Writing Award has used yearly themes that challenge writers to discover the emotion, the history, the skill, and the significance of culinary experiences. Each year the contest encourages writers, especially novices, to remember their culinary comfort zones and also to explore beyond them.” In 2002, three months before the first DGF Food Writing contest was held, Fernandez passed away. And as recognition to her contributions in the Philippine culinary culture, the contest was named after her. Her family bestowed the honor of continuing the Award to the IW&FS in 2003.”

9. Chef Jessie’s premium roast

Multi-awarded chef Jessie Sincioco has recently launched Chef Jessie’s Premium Roast coffee at her very own Chef Jessie Rockwell Club. The launch featured an enlightening and stimulating coffee-tasting session with Roaster Juan’s Lorenzo and Terrie Reyes, a husband and wife team engaged not just with the roasting of coffee, but also with its propagation and hand-picking by its growers in the highlands of Northern Luzon’s majestic Cordilleras and from Mt. Halcon in Mindoro. The occasion was highlighted by coffee pairing with assorted coffee preparations by Chef Jessie for a perky afternoon.

“Customers are pleasantly surprised upon learning my brew is made from locally sourced coffee beans. I am a strong believer in buying local as a way to self-sufficiency, sustainability, and progress. The feedback has been very favorable, with customers appreciating its nutty aroma, thick crema, full-bodied flavor, long finish, and   lingering sweetness,” shares chef Jessie. 

10. At the risk of preempting the feature on CNN, four Philippine STAR Lifestyle columnists were interviewed by Hong Kong-based CNN producer Brent Swails and cameraman Cameron Williams:

Tim Yap on Chinatown/ Binondo; Ping Medina on Cubao X and Van Gogh is Bipolar; Cheryl Tiu on Antonio’s Tagaytay and Taal Volcano; and myself on Salcedo Market and Farmer’s Market/Dampa.  

At a prescribed day and time, Mary Ann and I met with the tandem, assisted by their local coordinator Cheryl Tiu, at the Farmers Market, Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City. Having alerted my good friend and colleague chef Margarita Forés, she was there early to greet us together with the market’s manager Annabelle de Leon.

When asked why I chose the market as the venue for the interview, it was not only because I actually frequent it, being already familiar with its nooks and crannies, but it also probably has the best choice of seafood available anywhere (with almost standard prices, leaving very little room for haggling and feeling ripped off), not to mention its cleanliness, its free use of shopping carts (just leave a valid ID), having no foul fishy smell and no flies to boot; and the best part, there’s a Dampa section right under the same roof with standard cooking charges.

Watch out for CNN’s announcement when it will be aired!