Handcrafted Italian Dishes

CEBU, Philippines — We were invited for lunch in a tratorria at the 4th floor of the Terraces at Ayala Center Cebu. The place specializes in making signature salads, handcrafted pastas, oven-roasted meats, and hand-tossed pizzas topped with artisan meats and cheeses. It is called the Tavolata; the name means “to gather around a table.” It belongs to Abaca Group which also operates the Abaca Restaurant, Maya Mexican Restaurant, Phat Pho, Abaca Baking Company, Luncheonette and the Red Lizard.

In Italy, especially in Tuscany, there are four classifications of dining places: the trattoria, osteria, ristorante, and enoteca. Trattorias are usually family-owned, casual dining places; while osterias are wine bars that have evolved to serve simple meals. Originally, enotecas served no food, only drinks but also later grew into serving appetizers; while ristorante are the establishments we know as restaurants.

In the recent media lunch, we had four dishes as antipasto: Beet root & Chopped Salumi Salad and Crispy Chicken & Calamari. Pecorino and walnuts made the beet salad savory while the Salumi had processed meat cuts, roasted peppers and fior de latte (semi-soft cheese from Australia, similar to the Italian Mozzarella) that lent its flavors. The chicken and calamari were crispy and well drained leaving no oil residues in the paper towel.

Two pizzas were served, the Prosciutto and Seafood pizza or the Frutti di Mare. The former had arugula and parmesan cheese, while the latter was loaded with prawn, clams and scallops with a mild chilli flavor. They used slow-rise dough, aged for 36 hours and San Marzano tomatoes, grown in volcanic soil at Mt. Vesuvius in Naples.

I tried to dissect the taste of the pizza dough at the Tavolata and compared it with another pizza I had eaten two nights earlier; however, my taste buds were unable to differentiate the pizza dough. This left me wondering what if I had eaten the pizzas together, would I be able to differentiate or will the delicious toppings at the Tavolata mask it.

Three types of pasta were used: two house made (one made from a recipe using 40 egg yolks and the other egg-free); and the pasta, 100 percent semolina, Pasta de Cecco, imported from Italy. We tasted two pasta dishes, the Traditional Bolognaise with beef, pork and the Puttanesca Papperdelle with olives, anchovy and capers. I liked the blend of the saltiness of anchovy with the acidity of capers and olives.

We had tried eight dishes before a main entry was served, the Pork Chop “Milanese” served with chilled potato salad; the serving was huge, great for sharing by two to three people. The sight of the pork chop brought back memories of a lunch in Rome, where we had to share a much smaller pork chop. We wanted to try the cuisine of Rome and later Florence and for maximum experience, and we had to share our food because budget was tight. There, we met Filipinos in every street corner and they were entirely surprised when we told them that we were, excuse me, tourists!

Two desserts were served, Panna Cotta and a Chocolate Pudding.

What’s the best bread for bread pudding?

In general, bread pudding is usually made with white flour-based breads. Often French bread, brioche, cornbread or challah (egg bread) are recommended. But whole wheat bread could also be used, but it’s better to shy away from anything strongly flavored such as pumpernickel or rye. What’s important is that the bread works best if it is stale.

Commonly, though, bread pudding is made from any bread that is white-flour based. The best and most used types are French or Italian bread, brioche, challah – usually torn into pieces or cubed. A very nice bread pudding can also be made with croissants and one can even use doughnuts, if preferred. It is ideal if the bread is stale as this will ensure that the custard soaks well into the bread. And it is recommended to always make sure to give the pudding ample time to stand for a bit of time to soak before baking, so that the custard is properly and completely absorbed by the bread.

Some people use fresh bread instead of stale bread, the reason being that they just prefer it that way.