ILOILO -- For the past three years, the Megaworld Hotels and Resorts (MHR) HR F&B council composed of chefs and F&B professionals come together to learn from industry professionals and each other. The La Meza De Kultura is the culminating event where the participants come together for creative culinary interpretations of the host city and its surrounding areas.

This year, the participants were in for a treat as Richmonde Hotel Iloilo played host with the UNESCO 2023 Creative City of Gastronomy districts as inspiration for the La Meza. A key session this year from the Food Council was making the MHR hotels more accommodating to Muslim guests with resource speakers from Indonesian boutique hotel company, Archipelago Hotel Group.

This kicked off initiatives that were outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Department of Tourism and Megaworld Hotels and Resorts during the Arabian Travel Mart held in Dubai last May.

The partnership focuses on many objectives. This includes the thorough implementation of the 2024 National Accommodation Standards (Filipinization Indicators), Halal and Muslim-Friendly Tourism Standards and Guidelines, Balik Bayani sa Turismo (reintegration program for returning overseas Filipino workers), Philippine Retirement Authority accredited merchant (offering value-added promotions to retirees across the chain), and lastly the Filipino brand of wellness.

This edition of La Mesa De Kultura was special because there were two versions of the dinner. One that brought guests all around Iloilo City and one where there were slight Muslim-friendly detours. The key learning that was shown here was how to cater to Muslim guests without having a halal kitchen. One of the more obvious ways to do this was to replace pork in the dishes. For entrees where pork was an essential ingredient, the chefs just took the spirit and concept of that dish and cooked up a suitable replacement.

Chefs from the Archipelago Hotel Group even cooked alongside the Megaworld Hotel & Resorts Chefs to prepare the dishes.

Iloilo’s port district Lapuz was the port of entry of this year’s La Meza. Chef Kit Carpio (Savoy Manila) and Chef Andrew Ko’s (Belmont Manila) version of lumpia ubod had, instead of lumpia wrapper, a flower-like crispy egg karathong for the carb component that symbolized the waterways and bridges of Iloilo topped with ubod puree, rock sugar caviar with a side of smoked shrimp tartare. 

The dishes of the second course from Chef Paul Aligaen (Belmont Boracay) and Chef Nickson Valmeo (Savoy Boracay) paid homage to the city proper’s street food culture. The first was a Nori Taco with chicken inasal and atsara, the ginger and brightness standing up to the strong  umami of the shell.

This looks like isaw but this isn’t made of animal intestine, rather it’s made with takway, the root of a gabi plant. It had the chewy texture of the isaw, but it was plant-based. 

Molo isn’t only known for pancit molo, it’s also known for its special fishballs. Chefs Pedro Paluga and Aaron Pastilloso from Richmonde Hotels integrated the sweet and sour sauce into what looked like a thick molo wrapper topped with garlic chive powder.

As La Paz batchoy is made of pork, this couldn’t be included in the Muslim La Meza menu. Instead of making a non-pork version of batchoy, Indonesian chefs Windoe and Risman made Soto Betawi, a herby coconut soup with a beef skewer with a side of diced onions and tomatoes. 

Richmonde Iloilo chef Ariel Castañeda’s palate cleanser was both striking and clever. The Guimaras Wheel was mango jello sprinkled with dragon fruit jam, bignay, kasuy bits, calamansi rind, and tultul shavings all throughout the spokes of the wheel. The result was mango, but with a different accent, with each bite. 

While the Villa Arevalo district on the southern side of Iloilo is known for their lechon festival, this is also the place to go for indulgent weekend family meals. Lechon was served for guests who opted for the Filipino menu got lechon, while the Muslim-friendly menu got a fully loaded plate of lamb rack spinach gratin and gulai sauce. 

Mandurriao, where the malls, business centers, and nightlife of Iloilo are located, was represented by a modern deconstructed take on Kansi Nilaga by Belmont and Savoy Mactan chef Paulo Aviso. This was 48-hour sous vide short ribs, bruleed banana and  bone marrow-langka mousse with annatto batuan gravy, and libas oil.

As the Jaro district is usually the last stop when visiting Iloilo for pasalubong shopping, this was also the last course of this year’s La Meza with desserts made by Chef Ariel Castañeda of Richmonde Hotel. This was a duo of desserts. The common one across both menus was the Biscocho X Pinasugbo ice candy on a stick. The Filipino dessert was a cheesy bibingka while the Muslim dessert was the Klepon, think of a chewy mochi with palm sugar inside with grated coconut and biscotti. 

To close the evening, Twin Lakes Hotel in Tagaytay was announced as the host for next year’s conference. I’d expect that next year’s La Meza De Kultura will have the chefs checking out recipes from different areas of Cavite.

As for the other initiatives, the hotel group is expected to roll out more hotel amenities and features for Muslim tourists and travellers. One of the immediate ones being Marhaba Boracay where an 850-sq.m. area of the Newcoast private beach will be allocated for Muslim guests. The area will be set up with pergolas, lounging beds and halal food service provided by halal certified Vienne restaurant inside the Savoy Hotel Boracay.