Four master chefs spell a fiesta at Pico de Loro
What happens when you put together four classical musicians, each successful in their respective careers, playing different instruments, and a top conductor under one chamber? This mini orchestra will make beautiful music for sure — a symphony of harmonious sounds led by the baton of the seasoned conductor!
Replace the word “musicians” with “chefs” — not just any chefs but four very successful Filipino master chefs — and the general manager of a world-class beach hotel orchestrating the event as conductor.
That’s what went through my mind when I was invited to the media launch of “Filipino Culinary Masters at the Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club,” held last week at Via Mare Café in Bonifacio Global City. It was a gorgeous lunch that could be called a symphony of different notes, tastes, aromas and textures that make up the flavors of Philippine cuisine.
Maggie Garcia, the general manager of Pico Sands Hotel and Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club in Nasugbu, Batangas, put together top chefs Glenda Barretto, Myrna Segismundo, Jill Sandique and Sandy Daza for a three-day Filipino food festival at Lagoa Restaurant, which will run from April 1 to 3 (this weekend, starting tomorrow).
The lady chef from Samar, Glenda Barretto, is considered the doyenne of Filipino cuisine. She is a cookbook author and chef-patron of Via Mare Café and catering. Her kitchen philosophy is creating familiar but classic Filipino flavors, something new through the presentation. For the festival, she’ll be cooking sugpo sa gata at taba ng talangka (prawns cooked with coconut milk and crab fat), pork humba with peanuts and tausi (fermented black beans); and kinilaw (ceviche) served with lato or seaweed grapes.
Chef Myrna Segismundo is a bestselling cookbook author, TV show host, and former executive chef of 9501 Restaurant ABS-CBN. Hailing from Lipa, Batangas, naturally, her brand of cooking has all the traces of the Batangueño dishes she grew up with. Her featured dishes are kilawin na isda (fish ceviche) with bagoong Balayan (salt-fermented fish sauce); pakô (fiddlehead fern) with salted duck egg; banana heart blossoms in vinegar; monggo with vinegar and olive oil; and the inimitable Batangas adobo (cooked with atsuete or annatto), which is usually enjoyed with burong (pickled) santol and paho, those little green mangoes that grow exclusively only in Lipa City, coming out for two to three weeks in March every year.
The third lady chef is Jill Sandique, a pastry chef-instructor and current lead trainer for the USDA Council of Chefs and US Culinary Theatre in Manila. She has studied classical French cuisine at the Culinary Institute of America (the “other” CIA) and Institute of Culinary Education in New York. For the festival at Pico de Loro, she has deconstructed the brazo de Mercedes, creating the burnt merengue with dayap (native lime) curd with fresh fruits and coconut snow, and a Malagos (Davao) dark-chocolate mousse Verrine.
Last but not least and the only thorn among the roses is chef Sandy Daza. He is a cookbook author, TV show host, and chef-patron of the very successful Wooden Spoon restaurant. The chef’s mantra is doing unusual dishes but with familiar flavors. For the festival, he plays with the bistek Tagalog (classic beef or pork flavored with soy sauce and kalamansi) using oxtail; lumpiang sotanghon (spring rolls with glass noodles) with tinapa (smoked fish), pinangat with fish and shrimp (taro leaves cooked in coconut milk); and pansit langlang inspired by Lipa’s 3 Kids restaurant using four different types of noodles cooked in adobo sauce.
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In conjunction with the Department of Tourism’s “Flavors of the Philippines,” catch the Filipino Culinary Masters at Lagoa Restaurant, Pico de Loro from April 1 to 3, available for dinner buffet on Friday, April 1; lunch and dinner buffet on Saturday, April 2; and lunch buffet on Sunday, April 3. For inquiries, call +464-78888. Visit their website at www.picosandshotel.com.
