Doña Elena celebrates world pasta month

MANILA, Philippines — A whole month dedicated to the celebration of pasta? Why not? It is said to be the world’s favorite food. It is a global food that is consumed in all five continents. On Oct. 25, 1995, World Pasta Day was established as an annual event at the first World Pasta Congress, which was held in Rome, Italy. 

In the Philippines, Doña Elena Al Dente pioneered the annual event held in October, making it a month-long celebration. Doña Elena Al Dente is one of the many quality products from Fly Ace Corporation, one of the leading food and beverage consumer goods companies in  the country today.

Now in its fourth year, Doña Elena Al Dente kicked off this year’s celebration with its #Love Pasta campaign at Sip and Gogh at Century Mall in  Makati. 

“The Italians are very well known for their excellence in the arts, as well as culinary, so we think it’s a perfect combination, to hold this year’s World Pasta Month event here,” Fly Ace Corporation AVP for marketing, Abigail “Abbie” Ng Reyes, explains the choice of venue. 

Sip and Gogh is a unique art studio that also serves snacks and drinks. “We talk about the artisan quality of Doña Elena Al Dente pasta. How the pasta is made, to produce the best pasta, is in itself an art form,” Abbie remarks. “Al Dente is the only quality artisan brand of pasta available in the market today coming from premium and genuine Italian origins.”

 “Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta is made with 100-percent durum wheat semolina flour mixed with water and nothing else. It has no egg, which makes it suitable even for vegans,” says chef Chris Locher of Amare in Pampanga, who shared two of his original recipes at the cooking demo.

Durum is a variety of wheat that has a higher protein content than other kinds of wheat. Cooked pasta made with durum wheat semolina flour comes out “al dente” or “firm to the bite.”

Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta is made using traditional bronze dies that produce noodles that have a rough surface, which help “to absorb the sauce, adding more flavor to the pasta dish,” chef  Chris explains. “A lot of times, you go to the supermarket and you think the  yellow shiny pasta is better than the white one, but it is not so. The little white coating outside the Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta is a typical sign of a properly produced semolina pasta.”

A common misconception that people have is that fresh pasta is better than dehydrated pasta. “This is not true,” says chef Chris. “Even in Italy, dried pasta is more widely used than fresh pasta, on spaghetti, on fettuccini, and on penne pasta.”

“While others use the fast drying process in high heat for their commercial production, we use the slow drying process, which retains its nutrients,” Abbie explains. 

“To cook pasta, add a little bit of salt and olive oil to the water to give additional flavor to the pasta itself,” chef Chris advises. “The belief that adding oil to the water so the pasta will not stick together is a myth.” 

Pasta takes about 10 minutes to cook. “The good thing about Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta is even if it is left cooking for one or two minutes longer, it does not become soggy,” chef Chris remarks.

 “Pasta is best served hot, but in the food service, it does not happen all the time. 

There’s a lot of things happening at the same time,” says Fly Ace Corporation PR manager Dianne Pagtalunan, who recalls the flurry of activities during last year’s World Pasta Month.

During the “Pasta Challenge” among food vendors at Mercato Centrale, the participants  noticed that even when the pasta is not warm anymore, the quality is still there. So that was one instance when we saw how our pasta was able to deliver the brand promise.”

 “It’s our mission to bring the best of the world to our consumers,” Abbie says.     

Abigail Ng Reyes, AVP–marketing, Fly Ace Corporation

“Bringing the best means bringing the best quality products sourced from all over the world and making it affordable to the local consumer. It’s our commitment to the Filipino consumer, making quality products accessible.” 

When chef Chris came to the Philippines some 25 years ago, pasta was not readily available. Now, you can get Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta in all leading supermarkets nationwide. Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta is available in five variants: fettuccine, spaghetti, penne rigate, fusilli, and lasagna.

The recipes chef Chris shared at the cooking demo “has the Filipino cuisine at heart but still use fantastic Italian products and make it our own,” he said.

He also shared some practical cooking tips, such as adding some pasta water to the sauce while cooking to increase the volume of the sauce and help it simmer. For the Fettuccini Riviera, he added sardines to the sauce made with vegetables such as diced eggplant, red and green bell pepper, and chopped pelati tomato. He used longaniza that was taken out of its casing for his Penne con Longaniza recipe. “When I cook pasta in the house, I add tocino, which my children like,” he shares. “I like my pasta very simple, with just olive oil, garlic, and anchovies,” Abbie shares.

“I think the mark of a really good pasta is when the ingredients are very simple and you can taste the good quality of the pasta.”

“It’s not rocket science,” chef Chris says. “With Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta, everybody can cook.” 

Recipe File: Fettuccine Riviera 

(4 plates)

Ingredients:

500 g. Doña Elena Al Dente Fettuccine, cook according to package instruction
4 tbsp. Doña Elena Pure Olive Oil 
1/3 cup white onion, chopped 
5 cloves garlic, fine sliced 
3/4 cup eggplant, diced half inch 
3/4 cup red bell pepper, diced half inch
3/4 cup green bell pepper, diced half inch 
2 cups Doña Elena Diced Tomatoes 
2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped 
1 bottle Doña Elena Spanish Sardines in Olive Oil, drained
To taste iodized salt
To taste whole black pepper 
To taste paprika
To taste cayenne 
To taste sugar brown 
4 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated 
2 tbsp. pasta water

Procedure:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions and garlic, sear until light golden colored.
2. Add diced eggplant, red and green bell peppers, pan roast until the eggplant starts to brown. Season with salt, pepper, brown sugar, paprika and cayenne to taste.
3. Add pieces of Spanish sardines and moist it with pasta water, then simmer.
4. Add diced tomatoes and bring to a soft boil. Cook until the eggplant, red and green bell pepper are soft. 
5. Add fresh basil and toss with pasta. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.