Christmas desires
I will never forget those crispy, bacon-wrapped bananas. Our home in Alabang smelled sweet and savory. Tempted, I would run to the kitchen in my little smocking dress and half braid with red ribbons and impatiently eat one of those delicious bites. I had to chew and blow at the same time to avoid burning my mouth.
Our garden was filled with twinkling lights and the tables were all done up. The minus-one was set so that I could later sing my rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I believe the children are our future…” But before that we would feast on our home-cooked favorites: bacalao and paella, roast turkey and a golden lechon. This, to me, is what Christmas was all about.
See, for most of us, Christmas food memories are filled with tradition and childhood nostalgia. However, if anything and everything were possible and we allow ourselves to listen to our innermost desires, what would be on our ultimate noche buena table?
Personally I would love to have fresh fines de Claire oysters from France, followed by a luscious and velvety scallop carpaccio and above all, double — no, triple — portions of Atelier de Joel Robuchon’s grilled baby lamb chops… succulent and deliriously tender. I would finish with this amazing chocolate millefeuille I had at the Tasting Room in City of Dreams Macau and save space for a midnight snack of puto bumbong and bibingka with really good dark hot chocolate. Oh! And I would still love to have some of those bacon-wrapped bananas!
Following suit, I’ve asked a few chefs, foodies and food writers what their ultimate noche buena would be. Beware, this may make your mouth water!
Chef Chele Gonzalez, Vask
I miss my mom’s Christmas food. In our family the biggest day is Christmas Eve. She cooks the best lechal lamb — suckling baby lamb — in the world! Of course! She’s my mom! Just slow-baked in the oven with a bit of garlic. We pair it with a simple green salad. This is a must in our Christmas dinner. We all fight for the baby lamb kidney but only my mom can eat it as sign of love and respect. I really miss this!
Cyrene de la Rosa, food writer
My ultimate Christmas feast would have either a selection of new dishes that I would like to try or a selection of old favorites. I would love to have a Star Trek transporter and beam the following dishes for noche buena: for appetizers some pastrami lox, creamed pickled herring with onions, chopped liver and smoked salmon tartar from Russ and Daughters New York; for my entrees, Nigerian suya (skewered beef BBQ) with fried yam chips and Scotch Bonnet hot pepper sauce from the Ikoyi Club in Lagos, Nigeria; Bebek goreng at Ubud’s Bebek Tepih Sawa, and from Hong Kong, roasted goose from Yat Lok or Yung Kee and some spicy Typhoon Shelter crabs from Under the Bridge Spicy Crab. Some Peter Luger Steaks with a side of sliced tomatoes and onion, creamed spinach plus pecan pie and cheesecake served with schlag. For dessert, red velvet cake from Cake Man Raven, sticky toffee pudding from Schiller’s and the seasonal banoffee pie at The Spotted Pig — all three from New York. For drinks, all of my favorite wines, craft beer and single malt... plus Coke Zero, of course!
Jin Perez, www.jinlovestoeat.com
The one ultimate noche buena dish for me would be the binagoongang lechon from Pepita’s Kitchen. Everything about this roasted pig is so perfect, from the crispy and crackling skin to its tender, loaded-with-flavor meat. Paired with the bagoong rice stuffing, this lechon makes for a complete Christmas meal on its own. And because I am such a dessert lover, a Christmas Eve feast would not be complete without my favorite Filipino sweets: Dulcelin’s mango torte, Nathaniel’s buko pandan, Via Mare’s bibingka with salted duck egg, homemade hot tsokolate, and ube halaya on everything!
Chef Cyrille Soenen, Brasserie Ciçou, KA by Chef Ciçou and Impressions
Well, since Christmas is all about family dinner and being together and sharing together, my ultimate dish is a nice piece of beef like a very high-quality beef tenderloin or maybe a nice big roasted prime rib to share with a nice sauce Perigordine (truffles and foie gras) and well paired with a nice Margaux — a good year, maybe 1989 or 1996 or 1999 — those three years are the years when I met my wife Anna, then when Cassandra was born and my son Antonin was born.
Angelo Comsti, food writer and author of From our Table to Yours
I know it’s not typical in a noche buena feast but what I’d love to feast on right now is Wylie Dufresne’s cheeseburger, which he recently launched at Alder and is on limited offer. The patty is made of chuck, brisket and ground shio kombu that’s been cooked in sake and tamari, topped with his signature beer cheese and sandwiched in between a toasted potato bun that’s been slathered with beef fat. It’s interestingly restrained given his capabilities, and so it makes me wonder and crave for it even more. Burger for Christmas, why not? It’s by genius Wylie anyway.
Abba Napa, restaurateur
Oddly enough I would love to have a beautiful bowl of Penang laksa — flavors I grew up with that are so hard to replicate out of their origin. There are two kinds: the tamarind-based Asam and the coconut-based Siam. In Penang they do a mix of both called cham... creamy, sweet, sour, spicy, zingy and savory all at once. Amazing! Childhood flavors are hard to beat and Christmas is always great with a dose of nostalgia.
Erwan Heussaff, food blogger and restaurateur
My favorite and ultimate dish is a lobster à Larmoricaine from Brittany. It was the first dish my dad taught me and was a staple at our noche buena table for several years in a row and when we are lucky enough to find beautiful and full lobsters.
Marco Rodriguez, food entrepreneur and chef/owner of Xancho
If I could have anything for noche buena it would have to be the moist, tender lamb and cochinillo from Asador de Aranda in Barcelona. Either one would make the perfect centerpiece on many a Christmas table. Otherwise, there’s always my go-to traditional recipe to fall back on: holiday prime rib slathered in duck fat with whiskey gravy and horseradish cream.
Chef J Gamboa, Cirkulo
For noche buena, if someone else was making it, I would love to celebrate with an old-school beef Wellington with mushroom duxelles, foie gras and Madeira.
Adrian Cuenca, chef of Elbert’s Steakroom
My ultimate noche buena dish is a good chicken relleno.
