10 Hands, 4 Restaurants, 1 Night

MANILA, Philippines - It sounds so simple but for the elegance of its execution. Take something familiar and create something unfamiliar — this was how chef Chele Gonzalez of Gallery Vask explained the motive behind his “savory halo-halo” — bites of yellowfin tuna kinilaw marinated in pinakurat vinegar, red onions, ginger and chili, smoked coconut milk and finely shaved ice made with calamansi.

“It’s the shaved ice and the presentation that makes you think of halo-halo,” Chele says, “but it’s first a kinilaw.”

The exceptional skill of taking what seems quite ordinary and transforming it into something extraordinary was demonstrated by the five internationally renowned chefs who participated in Cheryl Tiu’s Cross Cultures gastronomic event, “10 Hands, 4 Restaurants, 1 Night,” which was held at Gallery Vask in BGC. 

Still flush from yet another successful presentation of Madrid Fusion Manila, which had just concluded that afternoon, the stage of chefs Josean Alija of Michelin-starred Nerua Guggenheim in Bilbao; Julien Royer of two Michelin-starred Odette in Singapore and #9 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants; Ray Adriansyah and Eelke Plasmeijer of Locavore Ubud, #49 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants; and host chef Chele Gonzalez’s Gallery Vask, #35 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, extended into the long night, where they showcased their cookery delights, dish after dish.

For starters, we had Prawn Consomme, Curry and Nata de Coco. Who thinks of something like that?  Well-known as the master of minimalist cuisine, chef Josean Alija is in constant “search for essence.” Drawing inspiration from a previous visit to the country, he took shrimp stock (“You clarify the broth until it is totally transparent and you get the soul of the shrimp,” he explains), combined it with coconut cream, and took a few pieces of nata de coco — yes, that gelled fermented coconut water that we find in desserts like halo-halo — and added it to the soup.

The Tomates en Salsa, Hierbas Aromaticas y Fondo de Alcaparras from Nerua featured five sweet tomatoes that rested on a thin, salty broth made from tomato water with a hint of capers. Nothing complicated, simply exquisite.

The Kokotxa, that traditional Basque delicacy made from gelatinous cod jowl served with a clam and bacalao emulsion and pilpil sauce, was yet another perfect demonstration of chef Josean’s minimalist cuisine.

There was drama in the presentation of chef Julien Royer’s 55’ Eggs, which were brought to the table steaming in their original carton packaging. The organic eggs had been poached at 63 degrees for 55 minutes. I took an egg in its shell that had been cut open at the top, and dropped it into a bowl of smoked potato foam and puree, with bits of fried chorizo Iberico and rosemary. 

An advocate of nose-to-tail cooking wherein chefs avoid waste by using all parts of the animal in creating their dishes, chef Julien presented his pigeon dish — well, literally nose-to-tail — deep-fried head and neck, sous-vide barbecued breast, leg confit, with a side of liver and heart jus.

Nose-to-tail cooking supports local produce and sustainable farming, which the theme of the recently concluded Madrid Fusion Manila 2017 was all about: “Towards a Sustainable Gastronomic Planet.” For chefs Ray Adriansyah and Eelke Plasmeijer of Locavore Ubud, this means going local and being part of the community where they work.

“Into the Sawah,” a signature Locavore dish, embodies this concept on a plate. “Sawah” in Indonesian means rice field. The dish features everything that grows in and around the rice fields: high-quality grain from Tegalalang in Bali, rice-field snails cooked in garlic stock, frog floss, wild chili flowers, and duck egg yolk. Ducks lay their eggs in rice fields.    

500 by Gallery Vask had red snapper for its main ingredient, so-called because it is an adaptation of a 500-year-old recipe that is Spanish with Moorish influences. The dish can be enjoyed two ways: “First, on its own, and second, mixed with Majada made of almond and raisins that sit on the side of the plate.”

And for a sweet ending, Yam Yam by Gallery Vask featured our very own ube in different forms and textures: ube halaya, ube foam, ube chips plus ube mochi and coconut ice cream. Petits fours were Es Buah from Locavore, Caramel Mou from Odette, Pandan Bomb and Bean from Gallery Vask.