Food for the blessed

MILLIE: Some of my most memorable moments as a caterer were meeting or seeing VIPs and celebrities up close.  These include not only local personalities but also foreign heads of states like former President George W. Bush, the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Chinese Premier Li Hsien-nien,  former World Bank president Robert S. McNamara, movie celebrities like George Hamilton and Brooke Shields, to name a few. But the one most precious not only in my memory bank but also in my heart was catering for the Blessed Pope John Paul II. I was privileged to have been chosen to cater for His Holiness when he came to Manila in 1981 and then again in 1995.

Actually, during the first visit in 1981, we were requested by His Eminence, the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, to provide round-the-clock-food service for His Holiness. We designated a chef and a waiter to prepare all his meals. We were, naturally, briefed and given practical tips about his food and beverage preferences as well as specific protocol guidelines and concerns.

We learned, for instance, that the Pope liked to eat steak, seafood, and pasta and this was greatly considered when we concocted dishes for him. One such dish was named Steak Pope John Paul II and was served at a dinner in his honor, graciously hosted by the late Cardinal Sin at the sprawling Villa San Miguel in Mandaluyong.

The dish was similar to a surf and turf concept featuring food he liked to eat. The dinner was not lavish or ostentatious but simple and elegant, certainly fit for a Pope!

Karla Reyes recreates an original Plaza dish concocted for His Holiness Pope John Paul II when he came to Manila in 1981 consisting of grilled fillet of beef topped with a giant prawn and served with Sauce Bearnaise, fresh asparagus, cherry tomatoes with basil oil and roasted marble potatoes

Invited guests included then President Ferdinand E. Marcos and First Lady Imelda R. Marcos, distinguished members of the diplomatic corps and honored bishops. Security was very tight and some areas were restricted so it was not easy to roam around. Although I knew Cardinal Sin’s villa by heart, I respected the security measures imposed and willingly obliged, confining myself to the kitchen area while my mom and sisters all waited in the reception area to welcome His Holiness.

I comforted myself with the thought that I would find a way to see His Holiness up close sometime during the dinner. Lo and behold! When the Pope arrived accompanied by Cardinal Sin, his vehicle proceeded to the back door by the kitchen instead of the main entrance. I was then by the hallway and although I was greatly stunned, I managed to collect myself and bowed and genuflected as he passed. Cardinal Sin stopped to introduce me and His Holiness extended his hand and I was able to kiss his ring. Cardinal Sin told His Holiness that I was the caterer and he gave me a blessing. I cannot forget the magnificent glow, not just a halo, but a radiant, luminous, shining, effervescent glow emanating from His Holiness and suddenly, I felt tears of joy running down my cheeks. I felt so blessed at that moment and although my mom and sisters were lucky to have had a photographer capture the moment when they met His Holiness, mine was forever etched in my heart. Even as I write this, I get goosebumps just recalling that  memorable event in my life.

You can just imagine how thrilled and doubly blessed I felt when The Plaza was again chosen to cater for His Holiness the second time he came to visit in 1995. It was a simple luncheon held at the Arzobispado in Intramuros exclusively for some 150 honored bishops. Like the first encounter, I  once again noticed that magnificent radiant super glow and that smile I will never, ever forget.

KARLA: On both occasions that Pope John Paul II visited Manila, I was not able to meet him in person. Mom would often tell me stories of how she felt when she met him, how preparations for his visits would be and even what he ate during these occasions. Even our waiters remember serving for him, and our chefs as to what they had prepared for his meals. The closest I probably got to him as a kid was a picture of my lola and the Pope hanging on our wall. I’ve always wondered how it would have been if I were there, until finally, in 2003. I was in Avila, Spain to learn gastronomy and the Spanish language. It was also the summer of the canonization of St. Pedro Poveda. Together with two of my friends, Nicole Ignacio and Carla Concepcion, we decided to go on our journey to Madrid. We took the bus, which was around an hour and a half, then the train to get to where the ceremony would be. But we got caught up in the train station and got lost. By the time we re-surfaced to the street level, the Mass was over and right in front of us was this huge screen with a video feed of the Pope in his little car waving goodbye, and I started crying.

Blessed John Paul II during his 1995 visit with the late Imelda Albano Reyes

So when I learned of Pope John Paul II’s beatification, one step to becoming a saint, I immediately researched on the dishes The Plaza had concocted for him and recreated them. I intend to re-introduce these dishes as part of the menu repertoire we offer for caterings. These are classics that are part of the rich history of The Plaza, now in its 45th year.

One of our cooks, chef Gary helped me re-create these dishes. His father, the late chef Rudy Dimaculangan, was one of the lead chefs during the Pope’s first visit. Gary was a young kitchen helper in 1995 during the Pope’s second visit and still recalls the menu and details of the event.

The dish served at the dinner hosted by Cardinal Sin in 1981 was called Steak Pope John Paul II  and consisted of  200 grams beef tenderloin seasoned and  grilled to perfection, then topped with a giant freshly steamed coral prawn, served with a special sauce similar to Sauce Bearnaise and garnished with  fresh asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and roasted marble potatoes.

Another dish, which was served on the second visit of Pope John Paul II was called Braised Chicken Emilia, which was named after the Pope’s mother Emilia Kaczorowska Wojtyla. The chicken is braised in Italian red wine, tomato concassee, Parmesan, and rosemary leaves, and served with homemade fettuccini with truffle oil.

We treasure these dishes fondly as we treasure memories of having served the Blessed Pope John Paul II!

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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on facebook: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.