First of Three Parts
More than very popular Filipino snacks like Boy Bawang, Chippy, Piattos, Magic Flakes, and Skyflakes, the delectable and flavorful fusion of the rich and authentic adobo, sinigang, lechon, barbeque, and longganisa have become the gastronomic favorites of Europeans and North Americans.
To try Pinoy dishes is an adventure for the discriminating palates of food enthusiasts who are used to other Asian dishes like Japanese and Chinese.
At first, a Canadian married to a Filipina friend didn't even want to touch any. But his wife, a self-made homegrown cook, discovered that making caucasians want to dip a fork into is in the food plating.
The wife makes extra effort in improving the presentation of her Pinoy dishes with colors and herbs that add great value to dining. Any finely plated Filipino dish really makes her husband drool and crave for more.
It remains a great challenge to succeed in making the hubby try dried fish. It will not take long before she whips up an appetizing "tuyo" dish that will make his mouth water.
To Become A Chef
Indeed, Filipinos are innately creative in this field as, after all, everyone always hankers for a good cuisine.
Cooking is a passion and one presenting dishes must have his/her heart into it to be a full-fledged chef.
A formal avenue is finishing a course in Culinary Arts which is a hot field of study in the Philippines. It is an art to cook and know its hows and whys. Culinary training options are the two-year associate, a four-year baccalaureate, and post-graduate courses of at least two more years.
Only the dedicated ones pursue and finish.
The full program takes at least a million peso to hurdle. After that, working as a chef is very rewarding. It's one of the best and most respected top-paying jobs in the whole world.
The appeal to formalize "cooking" as a profession is to get a Culinary Arts degree.
Pinoy Chefs
Taste is acquired.
Like a taste for Mid-Eastern, Indian or Mediterranean cuisine, the palate has to appreciate the dishes and get used to the distinct spices that go with it.
Chefs do not just cook at whim. They labored to study how to balance with ingredients and trimmings. Same is true for pastries. The patissiers make extra effort to make the finest desserts suggested for specific carte du jour.
Our flagship food fare, the Philippine Adobo, for instance, has many varieties, depending on the region.
My Canadian friend is confused but selected his wife's twice-cooked Tagalog-style pork adobo — cooked with soy sauce, vinegar, ground black pepper, and lots of garlic as ingredients. No oil or bayleaf or onions but served garnished with diced carrots, corn bits, onion leeks, hard-boiled quail eggs, and sliced pineapple on the side. Yummy! The longer it stays in the refrigerator, the tastier the adobo becomes.
The restaurant menu must specify the style adobo is cooked as just plain "adobo" as this confuses non-Filipino food crawlers.
Not So Original
Filipino cuisine persists to be "foreign" to many Europeans possibly because our food selections come in many varieties with no distinguishing ingredient or taste to boot.
Curry spiced from Japan and India have distinct but recognizable taste and scent.
Our kaldereta, influenced by the Spanish beef or mutton stew dish, is much similar to the Korean's in smell, taste and preparation. Actually, there are lots of Pinoy dishes similar of Korean's.
A popular favorite is Arroz Caldo that is a variation of the Chinese congee. Our lumpia is China's eggroll and our meat bun is their siopao.
Asians are fond of noodles. Pinoy chefs have their own versions, too.
The Pinoys have their own but lesser-known culinary gems that are actually a mix of the indigenous with European, Asian, and American favorites.
While there are innovations by popular Pinoy Chefs elsewhere, what else is new?
*On Friday, July 5, and on Tuesday, July 9, are articles on famous Pinoy Chefs abroad and their centerpiece dishes.
World-Famous Pinoy Flavorful Fusions
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