Ready to rock in Singapore again

MANILA, Philippines - Pastry chefs are like rock stars. You see their works and you’re instantly impressed. And each bite of their sweet creations is like experiencing nirvana. The total experience will rock your world.

The chef members of the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines (PAP) are the kitchen rock stars of the country. Well, some members can perhaps carry a tune or beat the drums, literally, but it’s their kitchen wizardry that makes them rock stars. In fact, they are again ready to rumble on the international stage and show their culinary wizardry at this year’s Food and Hotel Asia (FHA) competition in Singapore on April 8 to 11.

“We’re very ready. And I feel very good, very confident about our joining the FHA next month,” said celebrated pastry chef and PAP president Buddy Trinidad. Buddy is the hands and brains behind the yummy creations in the kitchen of Park Avenue Desserts.

“The FHA, a biennial culinary challenge, is one of the largest, most prestigious and most awaited expositions in the region,” says PAP vice president James Antolin. James, the genius behind Antolin Culinary Consultancy, is equally excited about his team’s entries for this year’s FHA competition.

The PAP representatives who will join the FHA this year are top qualifiers from the 4th Philippine Culinary Cup (PCC) held last year. At last Saturday’s press event at the Marriott Hotel, PAP proudly presented the masterpieces its competing members will showcase at the Singapore Expo’s FHA competition.

The indomitable tandem of Bryan Dimayuga and Rizalino Manas of Makati Shangri-La Hotel will compete against other national teams in the tough and exhausting Asian Pastry Cup live competition. Romain Renard, the executive pastry chef of Makati Shangri-La, is the jury representative for the Asian Pastry Cup. He also serves as the coach of Bryan and Rizalino. At stake in this category is the opportunity for the winners to move on to the 2015 World Pastry Cup in Lyon, France. The live competition is done for eight hours before winners are declared!

S’adonner, a French phrase that means “to inspire,” is the appellation Christopher “Peng” Borja of Brasserie Cicou, who made a dainty yet powerful creation for the Wedding Cake category. Peng, who studied Food Management at the Istituto Culinario, is the only gold medalist for Wedding Cake at the 2013 PCC. His entry to FHA 2014, a three-tiered chocolate-mango pound wedding cake with flowers made of gum paste, is so elegant and graceful it would really inspire one to say, “I do.”

Asked how a man like him could create a wedding cake so dainty and delicate, Peng just broke into a shy smile. “I poured my heart and mind into creating this,” he said, looking gratefully at his PAP mentors, Penk Ching of Pastry Bin (who won silver in FHA 2010, Pastry Showpiece category) and Peachy Juban of Shortcrust (who won gold at the FHA 2010, Wedding Cake category). That, in itself, is the true-blue stance of a winner.  Well, Peng is already a winner; he won bronze at the FHA 2012 in the Wedding Cake category. He’s aiming this time for the gold medal.

If it were a beauty tilt that she would compete for at the FHA, Jae Louise Cortinas of Edsa Shangri-La Hotel would be a real force to reckon with. But beauteous Jae also has a formidable entry in the Plated Desserts category. Her three plated desserts of dark chocolate Asian cake (“Fluidity”), caramel flan (“Indulgence”) and compressed melons and pineapples (“Rejuvenate”) are a beautiful testament to Jae’s culinary invention. If a haiku could take on edible form, its delicacy could be tasted in Jae’s plated desserts.

Jae is beautiful not just because of her comely mien and knowledge of pastry. She also has a good heart and is thankful to her mentors: Miko Aspiras of Raffles and Fairmont Makati and Jackie Ang Po (who is also a previous medalist of the FHA) of Fleur-de-Lys.

If there’s someone who can prove that success is carved from the heart of a dreamer, it would be Christopher Balane. He finished the Aircraft Maintenance Technician program at PATTS and landed a job as an ice and fruit carver in a hotel. Now Christopher is the notable chef artist of Marriott Manila. At the FHA 2014, he will carve four kilos of chocolate into a beguiling obra for the Pastry Showpiece category.

His showpiece is titled “Bushido Tai Shinobi” or “Samurai versus Ninja.” Like a captivating diorama, his chocolate-y creation depicts a samurai (made of dark chocolate) and a ninja (made of white chocolate) in their best fighting form, on top of a platform made of milk chocolate. Look closer and you will see the stark and stern facial expressions of each warrior. This piece is sculptural poetry or a straight leap from a fight novel, especially when you see the continuity of action — a cut in the arm of the ninja, a bloodstain at the tip of the samurai’s sword, and a splat of blood on the floor, directly under the ninja’s cut arm. They’re all chocolate! It’s a marvelous piece, even if I would not dare eat it.

“As I said, I am hopeful about our entries,” said Buddy, in deference to the people behind PAP, which formally germinated in 2008, though its imminent members started joining the FHA culinary challenge in 2006. 

“We showcase Filipino talents to the world. That’s already a deal.”

He added: “I want the PAP team to grow. I want the kids to learn as much as they can. And the only way for all of us to grow is to share our knowledge with others. Sharing makes us grow; it also makes us better people.”

With that perspective, the PAP members and their entries to FHA 2014 are already winners.

Rock on!

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E-mail the author at bumbaki@yahoo.com.