Keen home cooks enjoy shopping in a place where fruits and veggies are still fresh with dirt and the unmistakable odor of fish lingers all day long. Most decorated chefs are no different. An unpretentious wet market is full of raw culinary inspiration for lovers of good food.
On the morning of Apr 6, Chef Margarita Forès prepared a Pinoy-style culinary adventure to welcome elite chefs in the country. The Farmer’s Market tour was organized to give guests a glimpse of local cooking and color.
“If you need to fasttrack understanding Filipino cuisine and culture, the best thing to do is to come to the market, even just for an hour. You get a bird’s-eye view of what’s great and what’s delicious about our country,” said Chef Gaita to Coconuts Manila
Spotted in the tour group were chef Jordi Butron of Espai Sucre and chef Fernando Perez-Arellano of Zaranda, both from Spain. International journalists and media were also present.
A handful of critically-acclamied chefs arrived in the Philippines to celebrate Madrid Fusiòn, a gastronomic affair scheduled on Apr 7 to 9. This market tour was the kick-off party.
Chef Gaita was enthusiastic about showing us her playground.
“As a young girl, I would come here to the market very often, especially when I started to do my work with food. I love sharing it with everyone else,” said Asia’s Best Female Chef of 2016.
We started our foray at the meat section where she showcased the different kinds of meat our country has to offer. The Spanish chefs were particularly interested in longganisas, local chorizos prepared using Pinoy spices.
Things got more exciting at the seafood section, where Chef Gaita prepared kinilaw on the spot. Kinilaw is a vinegar-based appetizer much like ceviche. Good kinilaw requires fresh seafood, a vinegar-based dressing and a good squeeze of calamansi.
Chef Gaita happily mingled with the fishmongers. Two of them became momentary stars as they displayed their experties in deboning fish.
The next stop was at a stall called Dolores & Flory, where the audience was introduced to the different kinds of seaweed delicacies: lato from Marinduque, and arusep and guso from Cebu. Some of the chefs tried out these Pinoy favorite resembling small green grapes.
Chef Fernando Arellano told Coconuts Manila that he was particularly impressed by the seafood selection of the country because seafood is common in Spain. He was also excited about our fruits.
After exploring the bountiful seafood section, the chefs got interested in Baker’s Fair hopia. Though it was not actually part of the tour, they spent a good time observing how these hand-made sweets were made.
On the way to the dampa area, where a breakfast buffet was prepared, the foreign guests caught sight of itlog na maalat (salted duck eggs) with bright pink shells. Chef Gaita emphasized that these were not balut. She opened one and explained how the eggs were preserved for about eight days.
The tour ended with a Pinoy-style breakfast fiesta, complete with banderitas and servers in colorful Filipiniana outfits. Popular Pinoy breakfast favorites like longganisa, daing, goto and tapa were generously served to the guests.
The foreign delegates were interested in the bibingka and suman. Some of them had buko juice out of coconut shells.
“What’s great is that people are starting to appreciate our cuisine,” said Chef Gaita about Filipino food. “It’s been a big help that the Madrid Fusiòn has been in Manila now for two years. It has really helped bring our cuisine out there on the global stage.”
Madrid Fusiòn is a gastronomic celebration of flavors from different parts of the world. It’s happening on Apr 7-9, with the theme”East Meets West”, in celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Galleon Trade that linked Asia to the Western world.
Visit their site for more details about the event.
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