Nine years of great dinners

CEBU, Philippines – The restaurant has titillated its patrons - local residents and foreigners - with the cuisine of two countries, Vietnam and Thailand. Last December 18, the Laguna Group invited select members of the media for lunch

to celebrate the 9th anniversary of Lemon Grass, with some of the restaurant's best selling dishes, at its location at the ground floor of The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu.

Vietnam is a country that has been ruled by China for 1,000 years, occupied by France for 100 years and with the presence of the United States for 20 years. All of these foreign countries have made their inputs into Vietnamese cuisine. The presence of its own royalty - emperors and kings - has also contributed much to the enrichment of the Vietnamese culinary tradition. I'm fortunate to have visited Vietnam a decade ago.

Thailand, on the other hand, is the only Southeast Asian country that has never been colonized. It is greatly influenced by the culture and religions of India. Unfortunately I have not been able to visit this gastronomic paradise. Every time I make plans, something happens like "red versus yellow," floods, or even military takeovers, so I have stopped making plans, excuse me, before being blamed if something happens.

Back to the Lemon Grass' 9th Anniversary media luncheon, eight dishes were served: Pomelo and Crabstick Salad, Goi Cuon (Viet Fresh Summer Rolls), Tom Yam Thale (Sour and Spicy Seafood Soup), Kung Thot Rat Sot Som (Stir-fried Shrimps in Orange and Lemon Glaze), Gai Hor Bai Toey (Chicken in Pandan Leaves), Kaeng Curry Puai (Beef in Red Curry), Pad Thai (Thai Spicy Rice Noodles, and it was truly delicious) and Fresh Fruit in Season Platter.

The salad was made with crabstick and pomelo, the fruit we call here in Cebu as "boongon." In some parts of Cebu, I have observed that the fruit is often placed in the reception area during fiestas, the reason being that it has plenty of fiber and very filling. So the fiesta guests eat them first and, thus, reducing their intake of the main dishes. In Carcar, there is a version called "takoy," but the yield and sweetness have greatly reduced now as the trees have grown old and less productive.

The Goi Cuon (Viet Fresh Summer Rolls) is easily acceptable to the Cebuano palate because of its similarity to fresh lumpia, not the Tagalog version with heart of coconut but the original Cebuano version which contains prawn, pork and vegetables.

The Tom Yam Thale (Sour and Spicy Seafood Soup) is also very acceptable because it is similar to "sinigang." The Thai soup begins with the stock broth and uses fish, shrimp and squid in the mix with mushrooms. Its distinct flavours come from the galangal (ginger family) and kaffir lime leaves, or the local "suha" which was plentiful in Cebu in the past; the fruit juices were used as shampoo by women. Rick Stein's "Far Eastern Odyssey, Episode 3" shows the art of creating the Tom Yum Goong, the culinary icon of Thailand.

Lunch closed with a lovely dessert - Fresh Fruit Platter with Coco Crepe (pandan wrap) and Wum Ma Praow (coconut jelly with lychee).