The culture of the long table

One particular association that I have been happy to be part of has been La Chaine des Rotisseurs, which held its annual formal induction and 42nd grand diner amical, or dinner among friends, on Saturday, March 15 at the Isabela Ballroom of the Makati Shangri-La hotel.

I’ve looked forward to this activity since I joined the worldwide society of food lovers in 2011, thanks to Bailliage de Manille’s head honcho or baili, my polo-playing friend Federico S. Borromeo.

The Chaine’s raison d’etre is the promotion of la culture de la table — the culture of the table, inclusive of “elegant manners, polite language, and pleasant conversation.” Over a formal dinner, members and guests are enjoined to completely avoid any talk of politics and religion, discouraged to leave the long tables at any time, even for the loo, and told not to expect water in lieu of the wines paired with the elegant dishes. Members must also wear their Chaine medallions/ribbons.

This year, following up on last year’s well-received “Tribute to Shakespeare” which featured dishes that evoked English medieval culinary fare, the theme was “A Tribute to Miguel de Cervantes.”

As Bailil de Manille Freddie Borromeo remarked in his welcome speech, “Tonight, in the tradition of the Chaine and with the inspiration of our Bailli Delegue Michel Lhuillier, we pay tribute to the great Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright Miguel de Cervantes. We will trace the travels of Don Quixote, that affable character whipped up by the windmills of Cervantes’ mind, and serve the food and wine of his beloved country.”

Freddie gave credit to the “tireless ‘tasting committee’ composed of Arnie del Rosario, Jay Labrador, and (his) wife Josephine, who spent an entire day exercising their taste buds as they went about sampling 40 dishes and 18 wines, to come up with the best pairings...”

As a result, we sat down to dinner that lasted at least a couple of hours, with each of the offerings printed in a fancy menu card brought in by a troop of formally garbed servers under the baton of Shangri-La Makati executive chef Paul Lenz, Maitre Rotisseur. 

Cocktails preceded the formal dinner, with the Baillage des Philippines Ceremonie des Introsinations or induction of new members conducted in a separate function room. Appetizers included cochinillo asado from the Borromeo farm, washed down by Champagne Lhuillier from Bailli Delegue Michel J. Lhuillier’s private cellar.

Promoted to Officier Commandeur after 30 years of Chaine participation were: M. Eugenio “Gene” Gonzalez and Juan Antonio Lanuza, while Carlos Rufino was promoted to commandeur after 20 years of membership. Bobby Horrigan was promoted to vice-charge de missions de Manille was Bobby Horrigan, while Juan Carlos Jr. and Bryan John Matthews were promoted to Pair de la Chaine.

Inducted as Dames de la Chaine were Miss Maria Georgianna Carlos and Mesdames Helena del Rosario, Diane Koppenhofer, Helen Ong, Ofelia Victoria Ramos, Anna Isabel Sobrepeña and Dellie Yap. Inducted as Chevaliers were Emil David, Noel Ackerman, Lazaro Huan Chyang Chan, Ivo John Dualan, Robert Love, Conrado Pascual Jr., Romain Renard, Johnson Gui Yee Tan. Madame Regina Patricia Gonzalez was inducted as maitre rotisseur, ditto Miss Giannina Ysabella Gonzalez.

Then we moved on to the ballroom, where we were greeted by emcee Raymond Lauchengco, and treated to thematic entertainment on stage, led by Mon Faustmann as Don Quixote in costume, “skitting” with his sidekick Sancho Panza, played by played by Robbie Zialcita, as they cleverly introduced each dish and wine pairing.

Other entertainers were dancers of Ballet Philippines as coached by prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, whose daughter Missy Macuja Elizalde danced the finale, to the tune of Somewhere in Time.

Indeed, while we were in the comfort-zone bosom of arguably Makati’s poshest hotel, we felt as if we were traveling somewhere else in space and time, while also gorging on the insight from Miguel de Cervantes: “A man must have a speck of salt with his friends to get to know them better.” 

The multi-course dinner started with Amuse Bouche consisting of Cervelle frisee and rucola salad with Jerez vinaigrette, paired with Gran Feudo Rosado 2011 from Navarra, Spain.

The same wine served to wash down the Starter of Endive tatin with duck salad and black truffle. Soup was Castilian white bean and garlic with poached scallop and crisp Joselito ham, paired with CVNE Monopole Viura 2011 from Rioja, which was also partnered with the Fish Course of Mullet fillet stewed in saffron, with tomato and olives.

The sorbet taste break was roasted Spanish pepper and raspberry sherbet with turon bridle, preceding the main dish — a duo of guinea fowl: pan-fried supreme and red wine braised leg with herbed Macaire potato and fine vegetables. For this treat, the excellent wine was Bodegas Altanza Lealtanza Crianza 2009 from Rioja.

The cheese plate had Manchego, almond biscotti, and apricot chutney with sherry wine, paired with Bodegas Altanza Lealtanza Crianza 2009 from Rioja, while the fabulous-looking-and-tasting dessert consisted of Deconstructed Crème Catalan with red wine ice cream and orange cinnamon streusel. 

As a final offering of more sweets, Friandise consisted of Olive oil white chocolate and vanilla, milk chocolate with passion fruit and rosemary, and dark chocolate and tangerine.

Now you know why I love this company of heart-strong food lovers. 

Speaking of which — I mean heart — my lovely date for the splendid evening was none other than my daughter Mirava, who the night before had won two prizes in the DLSU Literary Awards: second prize in Fiction (no first prize winner) and second prize in Poetry. Coincidentally, it was also Daughters Week, so that it seemed fated that I was to enjoy the company of a teetotaler who will be, by June, in her last year of her Vet Med course in La Salle–Araneta University.

Now you probably get my “heart-strong” connotation, er, association.

Back to the actual one, the epicurean selection of food and wine was indeed another memorable feast indulged over long tables of company like no other, since it shares in the experience of the finer things in life.

All of that, while tracing, as mon ami Freddie remarked, “the journey of that lovable idealist, Don Quixote de la Mancha, the character of Miguel de Cervantes’ most famous work — through the recreation of gastronomic jewels paired with ambrosia that are fabled wines.”

Vive la Chaine!