STAR-STRUCK! Chefs the new rockstars

Today’s blog is inspired by my failed attempt to stalk Jeremy Renner who is now in Manila filming the fourth installment of the movie Bourne Identity. Jeremy is a Hollywood star  but in the “Culinary Kingdom” the celebrity chefs are our rock stars!

Luckily our country has been visited by some of these famous chefs. And here are some  celebrity chef sightings in the Philippines :

 

 

 

 

Alumna Michelle Ong with Anthony Bourdain during the filming of No Reservations Philippines

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chef Winnie Wong with Bobby Chinn

 

 

 

With Pastry Chef Anna Olson and Chef Mae Montalban

 

 

 

AFC’s Adrian Richardson visits us in class

 

 

 

 

Our students assist Chef Martin Yan

 

 

 

 

AFC’s Licence to Grill Chef Robert Rainford with Chef JP Landingin, Chef Mae Montalban, and Chef Joanne Trias

My 2012 resolutions

1.  I resolve to take the stairs instead of the elevator
2.  I resolve to avoid cola and drink more fresh fruit juices and water
3.  I resolve to be more generous and leave bigger tips
4.  I resolve to use cash instead of credit cards
5.  I resolve to go to the mall only if I really need to buy something
6.  I resolve to go green…take mass transportation or walk when I can
7.  I resolve to get away from the city every chance possible to travel
8.  I resolve to take time out to catch up with at least one old friend every month
9.  I resolve to be more spontaneous, take risks, try new things, embrace uncertainty and the unfamiliar
10. I resolve to choose my battles and see the good in other people FIRST in any situation
11. I resolve not let traffic affect me

Breaking dawn with Simbang Gabi

Today is the start of a Filipino Christmas tradition called Simbang Gabi. Night mass is held between the hours of four in the morning or before the break of dawn. The devotion  of waking up early for mass is done for nine consecutive days from December 16 until Christmas eve.

During the Spanish time Simbang Gabi masses were celebrated very early in the morning so that the farmers could work on the land by sunrise.  Laborers needed strength to toil the fields and this is probably the reason why Filipino breakfast is heavy. A typical  meal would consist of  cured meat or dried fish served with fried rice and eggs.

On the streets of Christmas

Traffic! Traffic everywhere! Driving in Manila requires tons of patience. The daily commute on a regular day can already be very stressful and exhausting. Then it gets crazier in December with the congested shopping malls, street night markets, bazaars, Christmas parties and reunions everywhere. There is nothing jolly about being caught in traffic during the holidays! Sigh!

Sad to say there is no road etiquette when it comes to driving in this big city. It is “every man for himself” against fast bullying buses, inconsiderate jeepney drivers  loading and unloading passengers in the middle of the road, cabs that just cut you, undisciplined motorcycle drivers approaching from the blind side, and slow-moving tricycles or pedicabs (Filipino rickshaw) who like to occupy the fast lane.

Un altro giorno nell’ufficio (another day in the office)

I told my Filipino cuisine class that we suddenly had three Italian guests for our chef’s table that day. It was arranged that they have lunch with us to sample Filipino food. One of them was pastry chef Ciro Fraddanno from the CAST Alimenti culinary school in Milan. He was with us for a week to do a series of baking demonstrations on Italian pastries.

It is always a pleasure to meet chefs from other parts of the world. They are very curious about our food in as much as we want to learn more about their style of cooking. We made our visitors try our Filipino cuisine lesson which was pomelo salad, sinigang (tamarind based sour soup),  shrimp in coconut milk, grilled tuna, and other southern island dishes. The flavors were quite new to them and Luigi loved the sinigang. It  was funny how our foreign guests would make a big deal and take photos of rice wrapped in banana leaves, coconut juice served from the husk, and even go crazy over the succulence of our Philippine mangoes.

I told Ciro his amazement over our tropical fruits is likened to the feeling I get when I see a parking meter in Europe.  He gave me a puzzled look….We don’t have parking meters in the Philippines so it is a big thing for us. I go crazy and have my picture taken with a parking meter the same way Europeans cherish our mangoes.

( Huh?!? If you’re reading this and didn’t get the part about parking meters then you’re probably not from my country ! )

Anyway over the days Chef Ciro turned out to be a remarkable pastry chef as he generously shared his baking techniques and recipes to the students. Like  most pastry chefs he was patient, precise and

Diamond hotel’s new shine

Diamond Hotel Manila has got its luster back with General Manager Vanessa Suatengco now at the helm. The newly renovated main restaurant Corniche  has a classier look. Food has more variety and selections with the newly designed interactive stations.  They even have lobster on the buffet spread!

This week we took over 200 hundred students to dine and sample their buffet. After their very long lunch they had a Filipino cooking demonstration  at the refurbished Constellations kitchen theater at the Sky Lounge.  Well respected Filipino master and executive chef Mel Taylo conducted the event.  He was assisted by his staff  and our alumnus chef Dekker Gokioco. They presented to us their winning entries which were modern  interpretations of kare-kare (ox tail peanut stew), chicken binakol (chicken in coconut juice soup) , and biko(sticky rice) with langka (jackfruit).

photos by Neil Jericho Ong

The barracuda and the whale shark

For the long weekend I returned to my happy place Coron… a group of paradise islands found in Busuanga Palawan north of the Philippines. I originally planned this to be a personal retreat, do a few dives, and spend a quiet time by the ocean reading the fourth book of Thrones. What happened was the exact opposite and ended up celebrating Halloween with a blast!

There are fourteen Japanese WWII shipwrecks  in close proximity found in Coron. Wreck diving is a challenge and always an adventure. Exploring the ship’s dark cabins and narrow passageways always give me an adrenaline rush. I did five dives for this trip. The first day was penetrating the wrecks of Kogyo Maru (29m), Tangat (30m), and  Lake Barracuda (29m) with  Danish Pasi and Dutch boys Ben van den Brink & Sebas.  Day two was Irako (40m) and my favorite the Olymplia Maru (25m). This time the group was composed of Isaac the Spaniard, Daniel the noisy Swede, and the Belgians….I did only two because of the no diving before flying rule.

Lake Barracuda is called such because of a lonesome barracuda trapped inside the volcanic crater that has now become a blue lagoon. This is my third time to visit the lake and only

Chef Syd’s Kitchen

I am no food critique but I do enjoy eating out a lot and understand the technicalities of how food is prepared.  When I try a restaurant I come unannounced, incognito, pay for my bill, and never accept payment or favors for making a review.  In principle I would never talk ill about establishments that may have disappointed me. ..nor would I ever blog about a restaurant with substandard  food even if I knew the owner.  I honestly think that when I recommend a place it must be really good and worth mentioning.

Today I had lunch at Syd’s Kitchen so allow me to rave about it. I am not writing because Chef Syd is a colleague and an alumni but because I believe his restaurant has a lot of potential and the food is really good. I am hardly in Banawe in Quezon City…. Syd’ s Kitchen  is a gem in a haystack of  over a hundred restaurants to choose from in the area.  His food is a refreshing modern take on Asian and Chinese cuisine.  I so love the kikiam, salt and pepper pork, fish in XO sauce, and the green tea cheesecake. The prices are also very reasonable considering the portion size and food quality.

Things to do in Bohol

One of the nice islands to visit down south is Bohol. I took the plane from Cebu and then a ferry to Bohol. I like Bohol because it has five-star diving, beautiful beaches, offers a variety of eco-tourism sites, and has the infrastructure to make it a sustainable tourism destination.

So here is my short list of things to do in Bohol:

1. See the Chocolate Hills in Carmen and pass through the enchanting man-made forest of Blair to get there.
2. Frolic along the beaches of Alona and even have a massage over-looking the ocean!

4. Take the Loboc river cruise while enjoying the buffet on the boat. Then stop over the river banks to get serenaded by the locals.

5.Hold the little Tarsier in the palm of your hand.

6. Dive in Balicasag Island. Rated five star and one of the best diving destinations in  the world.

7. Visit historic sites like Baclayon church, the Blood Compact Musem, and more churches…

8.Explore Bohol Bee Farm. Then have coconut milk ice cream with flavors like durian, lemon grass, malunggay, pandan and served in cassava cones.

The Filipino heritage houses of Bataan

Looking for another weekend adventure we set off to drive north.  This time our itinerary was lunch at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac Bataan, the turtle sanctuary or pawikan center in Morong, and then took the coastal route back to Subic bay free port for some shopping.

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a project of the New San Jose Builders. They have realized the architectural value and have done a remarkable job of restoring old,  dilapidated, and sometimes forgotten ancestral homes. The houses have been transported, rebuilt, restored, and reconstructed piece by piece from different parts of the country.  In fact each of the 27 houses in this Bagac property is named after their place of origin.  For a nostalgic experience the houses can be rented out like a hotel.

This resort is unique because it is a living museum that educates you back to the majestic glory days of Filipino architecture. Their staff are even dressed in Filipiniana for a complete feel of living in the past.

They have several day tour packages ranging from P1200 to P1500. We opted to take the P650 per person entrance fee which includes a walking tour of the heritage houses.

For lunch we decided to order from the menu. Bataan’s cuisine is very similar and borrows from the rich cuisine of its neighbor Pampanga. The  resort and restaurant  is managed by the Genesis hotel group so the food was restaurant quality and reminded me of Manila Hotel. The items on the menu are big sharing portions good for 3-5 people. We had kare-kare P600, pork binagoongan P270, pritong hito P340, tortang talong P125, rice P30 each, brazo P115, coffee P80, and halo-halo P270. It was a good lunch or maybe we were just so hungry from all that walking.