For the second regional lunch at Madrid Fusion Manila this year, it was sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, and curated by Nina Diaz-Puyat, Sasha Lim Uy Mariposa, and Idge Mendiola. They focused on “Nose-To-Tail Eating”, and invited noteworthy chefs like JP Anglo of Sarsa Kitchen + Bar, Kalel Chan from the Raintree Group of Restaurants, Niño Laus of NINYO Fusion Cuisine & Wine Lounge, Jay Angeles of Health Kitchen Manila, Patrick Go of Black Sheep, Francis Lim of Tipple & Slaw and Nav Modern Thai Cuisine, and Sunshine Puey of Gourmandise by Sunshine to participate.
Nose-to-tail eating is the sustainable practice of consuming every single part of the animal, from the head to the skin to the hooves. Because we’re so resourceful, we Filipinos have actually been doing it for centuries! (Think isaw [chicken intestines], betamax [congealed pork blood], kare-kare [tripe in peanut sauce], and even lechon!) Economically and ecologically sustainable, it also encourages chefs to be more creative, and pushes consumers to be more adventurous too.
Manam Comfort Filipino does a different take on sisig here with their unique Sisig Fideo. Deliciously crispy sisig sits on a bed of seven different flavorful Filipino Asian noodle varieties, carrots, and purple cabbage.
An undoubted favorite at today’s regional lunch was Chef JP Anglo’s next generation adobo. Literally using all the parts of the chicken, it hits all the right flavor notes: salty, spicy, slightly bitter, and sour. Chef Anglo made full use of the chicken heart, intestine, gizzard, tail and skin, resulting in four flavor profiles: that of 70% Davao dark chocolate and cacao nibs, batwan, kamias and tuba.
We also loved Chef Mikel Zaguirre’s (Locavore) flavorful take on kare-kare –he made it with different textures of tripe and braised oxtail with a 3-nut purée, pickled banana hearts, braised peanuts, binatog and balao-balao.
One of the crowd favorites at today's regional lunch was Chef Francis Lim's (Tipple & Slaw, New Modern Thai Cuisine) Kilawin Kambing Terrine, which uses all the parts of the goat (loin, leg, rib, shoulder and skin), and is served with piquant vinegar dressing.
Would you eat a pig's head? We certainly would if it was prepared like this, by Chef Patrick Go of Black Sheep. It's Pig Head's Skewer with Brown Rice Pudding – pickled pork tongue, batwan braised pork ears, and coconut-smoked pork cheeks with smoked pork hock congee.
Dinuguan taho? Why not! Chef Kalel Chan from The Raintree Group of Restaurants made it into a kind of blood pudding, with sampaguita-kaffir sauce to be eaten with charcoal-infused puto. Delish!
We could eat buckets of this stuff – Chef Sunshine Puey's take on Buko Pie, which is coconut pie with smoked coconut cream, brown butter latik, and cashew crumble!
Hiraya Bakery hits it out the proverbial (dessert) park with this Sampinit Tres Leches Cake! Sampinit is our local native version of raspberries, and here it’s used to accentuate this sponge cake with vanilla chantilly cream and roasted white chocolate streusel on a lining of sampinit-cinnamon compote.