Go Pampango!

MANILA, Philippines - Going, going, gone! Surely, chef Sau del Rosario’s Capampangan specialties disappeared from our plates and dissolved on our palates faster than anyone could say gule marangle (pinakbet with lechon and prawns). Chef Sau recently brought his 24-carat “Culinaria Capampangan” to Diamond Hotel — time-cherished Pampango dishes he grew up with, some of which he incorporated with, oui, French cuisine. Call it Pampango food with a French twist or accent.

The guests had two words for Culinaria Capampangan: Sau delicious!

Chef Sau grew up amid the tantalizing aroma of Pampango food cooking in his grandfather’s and father’s kitchens in Angeles City, Pampanga. That’s right, Sau belongs to four generations of chefs — grandfather, father, son, and Sau’s nephews. This burning passion for cooking has been faithfully passed on from one Del Rosario generation to the next. “A lot of these dishes have a history, a story to tell,” Sau tells us.

For instance, did you know why the bread pan de regla is called such? “It could be because of the red food coloring,” explains Sau. “Or because in the olden times, the taste of this bread depends on the mood of the one making it.”

Jiminy crickets: Camaru with vegetable spring rolls

Sau fondly remembers growing up with tidtad (Pampango dinuguan or pork blood stew). “It’s a very distinct dish,” he gushes. “You eat it with bread, which is like the pan de lemon, which you dunk into the tidtad.”

He adds with a twinkle in his eyes, “My mom would cook a very spicy kalderetang kambing with siling labuyo and lots of Parmesan cheese.”

In the hands of this creative, innovative chef, dishes take on exciting new twists. Like your favorite lamb shank, which sounds sosyal but acquires some local flavor with the addition of quesong puti (goat cheese). Or care for lamb chop with kalderetang sauce?

He asserts, “I try to elevate Filipino dishes without compromising their traditional taste. I grew up with sisig — not the sizzling kind and we use pork cheeks and ears for texture. But instead of liver, I use foie gras.”

Indeed, there’s splendor in chef Sau’s foie gras!

Sau delicious: Chef Sau del Rosario’s lamb chop with kaldereta sauce

He’s cooked his way through Europe, imbibing Mediterranean, Moroccan, Basque, Southern Italian, and Greek cuisines, and meeting great chefs like Alain Ducasse and Paul Bocusse. And now, Sau’s happy to be home — and we’re the happiest that he’s back home to regale us once more with his cooking. “I was French-trained, I take that as an advantage, but I think Philippine cuisine is delicious and unique in its own way, something we should be proud of,” he declares. “For Pinoy dishes to be more globally acceptable, we should love it, accept it for what it is, and make it more presentable.”

Pinakbet with lechon kawali and local organic vegetables? Oui! Chef Sau is an advocate of organic produce and he has a list of farmers that he supports. “Taste-wise, organic and non-organic produce may be the same, but organic gives you more years to live.”

We couldn’t get enough of chef Sau’s cooking at Diamond Hotel’s Culinaria Capampangan food festival. Like the whole baby lechon stuffed with curried rice (biringhe) at the carving station; crispy pata kare-kare with steamed local vegetables; fried catfish fillet with buru (fermented rice) and vegetables; duck adobo with boiled egg; prawn and chorizo gambas with a little olive oil; tinapa pineapple fried rice, pizza topped with salted egg, quesong puti, and longanisa; and camaru and vegetable spring rolls.

Truly corny: Brazo de maiz

Oui, camaru (cricket), that (in)famous Pampango specialty! “To make it more acceptable to young people, I put the camaru in a roll,” says chef Sau. “They were surprised, but they liked it and it disappeared fast from the buffet table. Because housing developments are sprouting in Pampanga and because of climate change, crickets are fast disappearing. Nobody wants to culture crickets anymore. I remember when I was a boy, my lola would give us five centavos if we could catch crickets and fill up a one-liter Coke bottle with them.”

This very sweet chef also laid out an irresistible spread of desserts for this food fest. We tried a little of everything with no guilt at all: leche flan with dayap, tibok-tibok or the Pampango take on maja blanca, marzipan de pili, tejadang kamatis (candied tomatoes), jaleya ube with piña and mango, brazo de maiz (much like the good old brazo de mercedes, but this one has yellow corn).

Adding color to the food fest was a show of the collection of Angeles fashion designer Philip Dizon Torres. Also there to spice up the launch of Culinaria Capampangan was Atching Lillian Borromeo, a.k.a. guardian of the Campampangan kitchen because she’s known for her traditional way of cooking authentic Pampango food. Among such delicious secrets are the San Nicolas biscuits. “The old women who make these biscuits don’t follow any recipe,” shares chef Sau. “They would pray ‘Our Father’ and ‘Hail Mary,’ but if the biscuits are not yet done, they would pray ‘Hail Holy Queen.’”

And we can only say amen to chef Sau’s glorious Pampango cooking.

Three for the show: Chef Sau del Rosario, Atching Lillian Borromeo, and designer Philip Dizon Torres at the opening of Culinaria Capampangan food festival at Corniche, Diamond Hotel