Asia’s Best Female Chefs Cook For A Good Cause

Talk about cooking for a good cause. UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) held a Children’s Ball on March 4 at The Peninsula Manila’s Rigodon Ballroom, and enlisted four of Asia’s Best Female Chefs to contribute one course each to a special four-course dinner, plus the canapés that were passed around during the cocktails beforehand.

One out of seven kids — five million Filipino children in total — have disabilities, and UNICEF aims to build four National Centers for Children with Disabilities in the Philippines to treat them, estimating that one center would cost P10 million.

“They will serve as one-stop shops for treatment,” said UNICEF ambassador Gary Valenciano, who sang songs like Bawa’t Isa Sa Atin that he wrote inspired by disabled children and UNICEF’s efforts to help them.

UNICEF special advocates for children Anne Curtis and Daphne Oseña Paez also went up onstage. Curtis introduced Bella, who was born visually impaired, and started to tear up as she listened to Bella talk about her brave attempts to live a normal life despite her blindness, and her optimism about finding a cure.

Paez, whose work for UNICEF usually takes her to far-flung areas to meet kids their moms, said, “This is the first fancy event for UNICEF I’ve been to.”

Around 400 people attended the ball, which had the Rigodon decked out in a paler shade of UNICEF blue with white trees. In a playful nod to Pinoy children, the menu was printed on a folded piece of paper that evoked the fortune-telling game of our childhoods, opening and closing the paper and lifting a flap to find out if “he loves me,” or “he loves me not.”

I fell in love with the food and the four female chefs, who were all beautiful, articulate and incredibly creative. Most of them started in different fields before discovering their passion for cuisine.

The night held one more surprise before dinner ended: Asia’s Best Female Chef 2017, May Chow, the Hong Kong tour de force behind Little Bao and Second Draft, joined the four other chefs in taking a bow after dinner, completing the roster of Asia’s Best Female Chefs and our night.

Bo Songvisava (Thailand) Asia’s Best Female Chef 2013

Bo Songvisava has the honor of being the first Asia’s Best Female Chef. One half of the husband-and-wife team behind Bo.Lan in Thailand, which is No. 37 on the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, Songvisava met her husband, Dylan Jones, when they both worked at Nahm in London. A supporter of the slow-food movement, chef Bo serves authentic Thai cuisine influenced by street food and home cooking.

PHILIPPINE STAR: What dish are you making for the UNICEF ball?

BO SONGVISAVA: For the canapés I have a rice cracker with minced pork wrapped in a pickled masakali leaf. For the appetizers I have three things: sticky rice dumpling with caramelized coconut, the crispy pancake with seafood, and chicken with Penang curry.

What is the story behind this dish?

It’s all mild but it’s all Thai food. I’ve been thinking when I was young, what would I eat? Not too spicy, like the rice cracker is what I have as a snack before the dinner starts.

Who inspired you to become a chef?

I think it’s mom and dad, because they cook all the time at home. It’s actually my dad who allowed me into the kitchen. He asked me to cut things for him and didn’t say, “No, you’re doing it wrong.” He let me do whatever I want.

What did you want to revolutionize in the Thai food landscape?

That’s why we have Bo.Lan, we want to have good food in a good atmosphere. Because you can go to any restaurant in a hotel and it’s really stereotypical type of food: really nice setting, really nice plate ware. If you want good food, you go somewhere with melamine plates, plastic chairs. We just wanted to combine that together. Thai food has been bastardized to fit foreigners’ palates, so we want to represent what it should be, like if it’s hot, it’s hot. If it’s not, it’s not.

How did being awarded Asia’s Best Female Chef change your life?

I feel I have more power and become more influential, so I pick the topics I want to talk about, and people start to listen. Because I’ve been talking about sustainability, organic produce, ethical raising of animals, even the environmental side of eating, like plastic spoons, Styrofoam boxes. It doesn’t make me a better chef, but this is the chance for me to speak up in what I believe in.

What advice would you give to a young woman who wants to become a chef?

Work hard, but smart. Don’t take shortcuts; do everything by the book but if you do it smarter, it’s more efficient and less tiring.

What do you see in the future of Thai dining?

A lot more organic produce happening, a lot of young Thai chefs wanting to cook Thai food, so I think it has a bright future. Because when I first start Bo.Lan, no Thai applied for the job, because “I don’t want to cook Thai food, I want to cook western food.” But it has been changing, and I can’t wait for this change to happen more and more.

Margarita Fores (Philippines) Asia’s Best Female Chef 2016

We’ve known and loved her food for almost 20 years, and now the rest of the world knows about her, too. Growing up in Negros, shuttling to Manila, living amid the excitement of ’80s New York and truly falling in love with cuisine in Italy, Gaita has blossomed into our very own Martha Stewart, running an empire of 10 food and lifestyle concepts that incorporate her passions with all she’s learned: Cibo, Cibo di M catering, Lusso, Casa Artusi, Alta, Fiori di M floralscapes, Grace Park, Gastroteca di M, Casa di M, and diet delivery service M Healthline. Her winning Asia’s Best Female Chef just validates what we’ve known all along, and certifies the Philippines’ status as the next hot gastronomic destination.

What dish are you making for the UNICEF ball, and what’s the story behind it?

I’m doing two dishes that are a real expression of my Negrense childhood and upbringing. We’re all doing one pass-around each and one main course, so my pass-around is centered on inasal. My most favorite is the chicken liver, and what better liver to use than goose liver? It’s lightly marinated in an inasal mixture, and since foie gras is usually enjoyed with something sweet, I’m putting it on a piyaya wafer, which is also very Negrense.

For the main I chose the fish dish. I’ve recently discovered this beautiful white marlin from Bohol, it’s so moist and delicate, and I’m serving it with the ingredients of another childhood dish that was always the richest ulam on the Ilonggo table, and that’s the ginataan na kasag or alimango with tambo (bamboo shoot) and mais.

I’m also putting in new inspirations that I’ve encountered studying the food in Mindanao: we’re going to smoke the coconut meat first before squeezing out the gata; that dish always has sili leaves so we’re putting a crisp version of the sili leaf on the plate and top it with my most favorite ingredient, crab fat.

How do female chefs compare to male chefs?

As a female chef, as a woman who cooks, I think what you fulfill really is that maternal instinct in us, to want to feed and nurture people. I feel that when you do that, I feel that the grace that comes back to you is a hundredfold.

Is there anything you still want to change in the Philippine food landscape?

This whole love affair that we have with our own cuisine has become so infectious. All the other stakeholders in this industry have been a part of this process: the government, the Department of Agriculture and Department of Tourism who supported our efforts in the private sector, and the Filipino diner as well, who’s learned to appreciate our own cuisine. We should pat ourselves on the back and I’m really happy that we’ve gotten so much more global attention in the last two, three years.

That’s thanks to you.

It’s really been a group effort. The work we’ve done with the chef’s congresses, especially with Madrid Fusion Manila, plus all the other trade shows abroad where the DOT and DOA have supported us chefs and the exporters who have wonderful produce to show the world. All of that has allowed us to be discovered and at the same time we’ve been a bit behind as far as pushing agriculture. But in a way it’s been a blessing, because we didn’t get industrialized, and everyone from the more developed countries are looking to reverse the process. Because there’s still a lot of backyard farming, it’s awakened the young farmer. It’s now cool to go back to the soil. And have all these city boys and city girls looking for patches of land outside Manila to experiment and do new things.

How did being awarded Asia’s Best Female Chef affect your career?

Super life changer, really; it’s opened so many doors. I’ve always been a groupie for all these rock-star chefs, and to be able to be in the same room with them and to be treated as a peer. And one of the best blessings is that it’s gotten easier to get reservations at almost any restaurant all over the world. After 30 years in the industry, I think the award was more not so much about a signature restaurant, which I don’t have at the moment, but more about the body of work that I’ve done.

You run an empire of 10 concepts.  Which one is closest to your heart?

They all have something special. Maybe the advocacy to help the Filipino farmer at Grace Park is the most current. But each one has something special for a different stage in my life. Like Lusso, I did that when I turned 50, and it’s like the old-world elegance that reminds me of my first sip of champagne with my mother at a hotel lobby; or Cibo, on the other hand, 20 years in the industry, says a lot about my struggle to really achieve something and it’s still going strong; and of course the newest baby, which is the most challenging for me, is the hotel, Alta at Ascott. Hotel work is so different; it’s keeping me really excited about how it can get better.

What advice would you give to a young woman who wants to become a chef?

Really just follow your dream, don’t be afraid to fail. You know my catering business has been there 30 years and it was a very big challenge to build it. I gained a lot of growth and maturity from jobs that I did when I was still immature and irresponsible, and I’m just really lucky that people were so supportive and willing to give me so much encouragement. Also, do different things: travel, fall in love with the way your grandmother or mother cooks a certain dish, because that’s what will make your work unique later on. Be a sponge! Absorb everything.

Vicky Lau (Hong Kong) Asia’s Best Female Chef 2015

Chef Vicky Lau studied graphic design at New York University before training at Le Cordon Bleu Bangkok. She worked at the Michelin-starred Cepage in Hong Kong and was hailed as one of country’s rising chefs before establishing her own restaurant, Tate Dining Room & Bar in Hong Kong, which has earned a Michelin star for its fusion of French and Asian cuisines. Lau is known for creating edible poetry, believing that “like a painting, food is a canvas for expression, triggering memories, emotions, and limitless imagination.”

What dish are you making for the UNICEF ball?

I’ve been assigned to do the dessert. My dish is about a candy that I used to love as a kid. I would always save up to buy this candy. It’s made of honey and lemon, and also a hint of tea. So the dessert has a similar flavor profile as the candy and also I have a very fond memory of visiting a bee farm in Hong Kong as a kid.

Your bio says you create verses of edible poetry. Did any poetry verse inspire this dish?

The menu is inspired a lot by Pablo Neruda. He can describe a tomato with, like, three pages full-on description, and that gives me a new perspective in seeing things, how you need to appreciate all the small details in life and use them as well, because all parts can be beautiful.

What did you want to revolutionize in the Hong Kong dining scene?

Many things. I think the mood and the whole setting of the guest walking in is very important. So we challenge many things like, do we really need to serve bottled water in fine dining? We decided to give up on that, and we put in a strong filter system because the carbon footprint is just too much.  We do all the sparkling ourselves within the restaurant.

I challenge my guests as well. Nowadays, everyone’s on their phone all the time. So I put in a little drawer to encourage people to keep their phone there for the duration of the meal, and remind them that human interaction is important.

How did being awarded Asia’s Best Female Chef change your life?

The origin of this award is to encourage more females to get into the industry. I think that’s important to have that, especially in some countries, where it’s not really encouraged. It also opens up a lot of doors for me to talk to different chefs.

What is your style like in the kitchen, do you bark out orders or are you calm?

In the beginning I was quite tense, and now I’m a little bit better, because I try to meditate every day, twice a day, so that helps me clear my mind. And realizing that yelling doesn’t work, it’s more about the teamwork and how to get the team together, but obviously some yelling because of passion and fire, but that’s okay, because you release the tension and the stress.

What is your favorite food memory or most memorable meal?

Eating with my grandpa is one of my most memorable. At home while my grandpa was still alive we’d eat a lot of Chiu Chow food. So now I’m creating a lot of dishes inspired by Chiu Chow food as well. Now I have a new dish inspired by marinated soy sauce within which are 10 different kinds of spices with goose meat.

Lanshu Chen (Taiwan) Asia’s Best Female Chef 2014

Lanshu Chen studied Foreign Literature for four years before diving into cooking, her interest spurred by her mother and grandmother. She took pastry at Le Cordon Bleu before studying culinary at Ecole Gregoire-Ferrandi, and worked at restaurants like Relais d’Auteuil and Thomas Keller’s French Laundry. Her restaurant Le Mout in Taiwan is all about modern French cuisine.

What dish are you making for the UNICEF ball?

It’s US beef tenderloin with rice essence and pickled mustard greens. This dish is actually focusing on the sauce, which is made with rice — a Cantonese-style congee that we cook for many hours and then there will be a very silky, smooth part on top. We just take that part to make it as a sauce and we mix with the pickled, fermented mustard green and it’s quite a different sauce compared to other French classic ones.

What is the story behind it?

I chose this sauce because of my childhood memory: I lived, grew up with my grandparents and they have congee almost every day, so it’s my memory with them.

Who inspired you to become a chef?

Actually I studied in pastry, so I think it’s a family influence. I just love food, and that just makes me want to play in the kitchen. I decided to be a chef after I went to Paris, after I stayed two years, I saw many good chefs working in the kitchen and was quite amazed by their work.

Who was your mentor?

I always say Jean-Francois Piege. He’s the first chef that I worked with and he’s a very special person, very talented chef, amazing imagination about the flavors, so he affected and influenced me a lot on the combination of flavors and presentation.

What were the most important lessons you learned from Thomas Keller?

Actually his kitchen is the most efficient I have ever seen. The way we manage the kitchen is really from his style, his management philosophy. The French Laundry, they have different ways to manage the brigade than the French way, so it’s very interesting and kind of a culture shock for me to work in that kitchen.

What did you want to revolutionize in the Taiwanese food landscape with Le Mout?

I think it will take a long time to do it, because Taiwanese cuisine is basically very like home cooking, so it’s not a luxury or fine dining-based culture. When Chinese cooking came to Taiwan, it’s Fujian, east side, and it’s more based on fresh food and simple cooking methods, so people are used to very original flavors and not over-processed food. We still keep the flavors or sweetness of ingredients but we make it different and surprising to your palate. We call it art de la table, or art of the table. It’s a kind of beauty you can have from food.

How did being awarded Asia’s Best Female Chef change your life?

It makes the restaurant internationally known. We don’t have to compromise with the local market, but it also changes the way I work with my team. We have more chances to work with other international chefs.

How do female chefs compare to male chefs, in running a kitchen and in front of house?

Most male chefs are more ambitious, and I realized most of the female chefs I know, they are into the work itself, not really marketing themselves or competing outside.

What is your favorite food memory or most memorable meal?

I think it’s in Roca’s (El Celler de Can Roca) in Spain. It was a very amazing dining experience with a very impressive pairing. Because normally in a good restaurant they should have a good sommelier introducing nice wines, but that meal was exceptionally good with creating another sensation with the food and wine together and bringing you to another level of flavors.

What advice would you give to a young woman who wants to become a chef?

Be confident and work.