Filipino Chefs Wow Toronto Foodies
Left photo: Chef Romy Dorotan and the Purple Yam Team demonstrates how to cook beef short ribs adobo. Right photo: Ms. Amy Besa delivers a short introduction on Filipino artisanal ingredients
10 October 2017 TORONTO - Ms. Amy Besa and her husband Chef Romy Dorotan as well as two Filipino Chefs, Raphael Cristobal and Alvin Cruz, of the famed Purple Yam Restaurant in Malate, Manila were on their 4th leg of the culinary tour entitled ‘Hidden Flavors of the Philippine Kitchens’ in Toronto, the only Canadian city among five cities that formed part of the culinary tour from September 29 to October 04.
The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto partnered with the premier culinary school in Canada, George Brown College Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts (GBC) to develop a program for the Toronto leg of the tour. Two major events were held under the auspices of the GBC: the cooking demo held in the School Auditorium of GBC on October 02 and the dinner at the GBC`s signature restaurant The Chef`s House on October 03. Both events were sold out.
The cooking demo included the following recipes: 1) beef back ribs adobo, cooked two ways-braising and sous vide-paired with two (2) heirloom rice varieties from the Mountain Province, namely: ominio (violet rice) and kalinga unoy (aromatic rice); 2) eggplant kulawo (a cooking method using burned coconut) and mangosteen ice cream for dessert.
In her remarks during the cooking demo at GBC, Ms. Amy Besa said “Filipino food is basically sour because adding a souring agent like vinegar preserved food and during the pre-refrigeration era, our ancestors had to find a way to preserve food. If I want you to know what Filipino food really is, you have to use ingredients that came from the Philippines, ingredients that carry the soil, water and air of the places where they were grown in the Philippines. For Filipinos, food is not good until you share it and our joy is to share it.”
The dinner at The Chef’s House was the highlight of the Toronto leg of the culinary tour. Chef’s House is the signature restaurant of the GBC, where students of GBC gain hands-on experience in the culinary field.
The menu for the dinner can be described as a marriage of Canadian and Filipino ingredients, interspersed with Filipino flavorings and cooking methods. It consisted of the following: 1) Cabcab (cassava wafers from Bohol) paired with eggplant kulawo, Bicol Express with homemade bagoong; 2) Malpeque Oyster Kinilaw (in watermelon ice, citrus bath and sorrel); 3) Ontario beef short ribs adobo using sukang iloko and kalamata leaves; Banana leaf-wrapped Fogo Island Cod (with oyster mushroom and leeks, high bush cranberries, robusta coffee been and coconut milk sauce); and for dessert, pili maple syrup tart topped with Tigre y Oliva 80% chocolate and Macapuno ice cream.
In describing the menu for the dinner, Ms. Besa imparted a profound thought, “the ingredients we brought from the Philippines are products of the water, air and soil of the places in the Philippines, in the same manner that the ingredients we used here such as the Ontario beef, the cod and maple syrup are products of the water, air and soil of Canada, and when cooked together, incorporating ingredients from both countries, create delicious food.” END.
For more information, visit www.torontopcg.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philcongen-toronto.com or https://www.facebook.com/PHinToronto
Left photo: Chefs from the Purple Yam pose for a souvenir photo with Chefs from the Centre of Hospitality and Culinary Arts of the George Brown College. Right photo from left: Arleen Galano Administrative Coordinator, Chef John Higgins Director/Corporate Chef of George Brown, Assistant Secretary Leo Herrera-Lim from the Office of the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations, Heather DyerCafé Enterprise and Event Manager for the Centre of Hospitality and Culinary Arts, and Mr. Eoghan Banks, Food & Beverage and Event Manager of the Chefs’ House.