Amid flu scare in HK, Pinoy chefs excel

By Vangie Baga-Reyes
Reporter - Lifestyle
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: May 13, 2009

A HUGE CELEBRATION MARKED the release from eight-day quarantine of some 300 guests and staffers from Metropark Hotel in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. They were finally declared flu-free.

But another unprecedented celebration by Filipino chefs rocked the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibit Center, located a few blocks away from the hotel.

Yes, amid the influenza A(AH1N1) scare in HK, Filipino chefs and culinary student assistants from the Center for Culinary Arts-Manila went on to compete for the country and ultimately amassed medals and certificates at the 13th Asian International Exhibition of Food and Drink, Hotel and Restaurant and Foodservice Equipment, Supplies and Services Exhibition (Hofex 2009).

Erika Tabio de Leon bagged the bronze for her Portobello Mushrooms in Balsamic and Thyme Vinaigrette, Curried Provencal Vegetables on a bed of Saffron Couscous, which was under the Vegetarian-Western Cuisine category.

De Leon’s mushroom recipe was a perfect mix of Moroccan and Middle Eastern influences. It combined the use of exotic spices with traditional staple of couscous and several European ingredients. The sun-dried tomato coulis (sauce) was placed on a hot plate, topped with the molded couscous, covered with a nice mound of curried vegetables, and then crowned with Portobello mushrooms. It was garnished with a quenelle of smoked eggplant cream and a gaufrette (thin slices) of sweet potato (yam).

De Leon was assisted by CCA student Dennis Diosana.

“It’s my first time to compete in a culinary competition such as this,” said the ecstatic 35-year-old De Leon, who finished her culinary studies at Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney, Australia, before joining the CCA faculty where she teaches a course on soups, stocks and sauces and other cooking methods.

Cool and confident

De Leon, who held practices a dozen times prior to competition, was cool and confident before a group of Asian judges led by chef Mario Brueschweiler of the Thai-Swiss Culinary Education Center in Thailand.

“I was confident but nervous toward the end. My hands were shaking while peeling the carrots. And, the oven was too hot. I had to adjust it before the mushrooms get burnt,” recounted De Leon, who would give out a smile every time a judge would check her workplace.

All participants were to prepare and present their dishes within 60 minutes, one main course for four persons. De Leon finished hers in 52 minutes.

They were judged according to the handling and arrangement of their materials and tools, appropriate work and cooking methods, and taste.

De Leon bested other chefs from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Modern Chinese cuisine

The biennial culinary event also saw another Filipino entry under the Modern Chinese Cuisine Hot Cooking Challenge.

Rodrigo Reloj, another CCA chef, assisted by Jun Salme, presented the Herb-crusted Chicken Roulade in Abalone Sauce before a group of judges led by Mongo Tsang Chiu Lit of The Mira Hong Kong.

Though he failed to make it because his designated cooking pan and the induction stove did not heat up right away, thus delaying him so that he went overtime by 12 minutes, Reloj was also cool and confident during the competition.

His chicken roulade got raves from a group of Pinoy chefs who flew all the way from Manila to give support to the Philippine team, including chefs Brando Santos and Irene Santos.

Exposure

“It’s always been our objective to expose our students and the faculty to various culinary competitions,” said Badjie Trinidad, chief executive officer and general manager of The Cravings Group, which includes CCA. “Win or lose, it’s part of their continuous learning. You don’t just stop after winning gold or losing to someone. The most important thing is that you learn from the experiences.”

Proud to be Filipino

Aside from De Leon and Reloj, more Filipinos joined the Hofex competition in various categories and brought home gold, silver and bronze.

Select members of the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines (PAP) competed in the bakery and pastry events. Winners included Buddy Trinidad (Live Plated Desserts Fantasy Table, bronze); Ador Mendoza (Sugar Showpiece, bronze); Penk Ching (Sugar Showpiece, bronze); Mel Avino (Ice Carving, silver); Kim Naval (Under 25 plated desserts, bronze); Ria Lingad (Live Bakery team, gold); Roel Vargas (Live Bakery team, gold); Charlene Ngo (Live Bakery team, gold); Carol Lavin (wedding cake); and Martha Ebro (Live Plated Desserts Fantasy Table).

The PAP support team included James Antolin, Pixie Sevilla-Santos, Peachy Juban, Jackie Ang-Po, Alma Cui and Sonny Mariano.

It was the first time for the newly-organized PAP to join an international competition.

“Working as one family toward a common goal of giving an excellent impression to the rest of Asia that the Filipinos have very talented, hardworking, and competitive pastry chefs, we felt we have achieved this,” said Sevilla-Santos.

“There was never a boss or a head in the team. Everyone was an equal, a support team and a friend to one another. Everywhere we were in the competition our presence was felt because of our contagious team spirit and love of country. We were very proud to represent the Philippines in the pastry competition, waving our flag up high with pride and dignity,”

Members of the Les Toques Blanches (LTB) also brought home the bacon. Chef Carlo Miguel of Sala Restaurant won a bronze and a silver for the Western Cuisine Category-Norwegian Herring Class and Western Cuisine Category-Pork Shoulder Butt Class, respectively.

The Gourmet Team Challenge, composed of Ariel Manuel, Fernando Aracama, Marge Villena, Andy Tabotabo, Pauline Lagdameo and Bubbles Cruz-Lerias, got the silver award, with the support of David Uy, Mark Lesaca, Nana Nadal and Mike Aguas. The team was under the supervision of J Gamboa, LTB director, and Othmar Frei, LTB president.

Here’s the winning recipe of chef Erika de Leon.

Portobello Mushrooms in Balsamic and Thyme Vinaigrette, Curried Provencal Vegetables on a bed of Saffron Couscous, served with Quenelle of Eggplant Cream and Sundried Tomato Coulis

Balsamic Mushrooms:

4 pieces Portobello mushroom caps (about 4-4 ½ inches in diameter), approximately 250 grams
60 ml extra virgin olive oil
30 ml balsamic vinegar
8 g minced garlic
5 sprigs fresh thyme, stalks removed
salt and cracked black pepper, as needed

Curried Provencal vegetables:

150 g red and yellow bell peppers, fine julienned
100 g carrots, fine julienned
80 g zucchini, fine julienned
150 g sliced onions
30 g spinach leaves
1-1½ tsp curry powder
vegetable stock
salt and pepper

Couscous:

120 g medium-grained couscous
200 ml vegetable stock
A pinch saffron threads
¼ tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 small piece cinnamon bark
A pinch ground allspice
15 g chopped pistachios
25 g dried cranberries
30 ml lemon juice
salt and black pepper

Eggplant cream:

1 pc Japanese eggplant, skin blackened and peeled
100 g firm feta cheese
5 g minced garlic
lemon
salt and pepper
Olive oil

Sundried Tomato Coulis:

30 g sundried tomatoes
3/4 c crushed tomatoes
60 g minced onions
20 ml olive oil
180 ml blood orange juice
3 g potato starch
3 g ground cumin
salt and pepper

Garnish: fried sweet potato gaufrette and chive oil

For the mushrooms: Remove stalks and gills from Portobello mushrooms. Combine balsamic vinegar, thyme, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to make vinaigrette. Marinate mushrooms for 10-15 minutes. In a hot sauté pan, sear one side of the mushrooms briefly. Turn it over and place in a moderately hot oven for 2-3 minutes.

For the Curried Provencal Vegetables: Cut bell peppers in fine julienne. Use a turning slicer to make ribbons out of carrots and zucchini, finely slice onions and chiffonade spinach as well. Sauté in olive oil until tender. Add some vegetable stock to cook vegetables. Season with curry powder, salt and pepper.

For Sundried Tomato Coulis: Sweat onions until soft. Add tomato puree and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Simmer for five minutes. Transfer to a food processor and make a puree. Return to saucepan and add blood orange juice, potato starch and season with ground cumin, salt and pepper. Simmer until coulis slightly thickens.

Smoked Eggplant Cream: Pierce the eggplant all over and grill over open flame until the skin blackens and vegetable softens. Remove from flame and cool slightly. Remove flesh of eggplant and discard blackened skin. Add feta cheese, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well and chill to firm up.

Couscous: Combine vegetable stock, spices, saffron and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and toss in couscous. Allow to sit for 3-4 minutes. Add lemon juice, chopped pistachios and dried cranberries. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve: Mold couscous into square (or even round) shapes. Spoon sun-dried tomato coulis onto hot plate. Place molded couscous on top of the sauce. Make a nice mound of curried vegetables then top with cooked Portobello mushrooms. Garnish with a quenelle (poached dumpling) of Smoked Eggplant cream and a gaufrette of sweet potato (yam).

Yield: 4 servings