Guess who got bowled over by Filipino cuisine?

Anyone for Filipino food? (Tom Parker Bowles, Esquire Aug. 2011)

And yes, since you were wondering, he is the son of the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles.

Thank you Mr. Parker Bowles for allowing us to reprint your story. Do come back to the Philippines and explore more of our cuisine. We're so glad you got "us" and our food.

Many thanks as well to Charisse Chuidian, Mandarin Oriental Manila's super energetic Director of Communications, for sharing this piece with us.

Bourdain cares

CHEF Anthony Bourdain is a really decent chap. Check out the last paragraph on his latest blog entry:

"Lastly, I want to thank Augusto Elefano for getting my sorry ass to finally make the trip to the Philippines. I would not have done it without his final push. He and his family were lovely to me and my crew -- and the fact that they were a bit shy with cameras jammed in their faces -- if anything -- speaks well of them. I'd rather a shy, thoughtful guy, telling me something real about himself than an "expert" professional anytime. Thanks as well, to Claude, Ivan and special shout out to MarketMan -- whose preparations for the Cebu lechon extravaganza made the filming of Apocalypse Now look quick and easy."

I suspect Bourdain has heard about or read the nasty comments about Augusto and his family, and felt bad for putting them on the spot. Other celebrities wouldn't even probably given a rat's ass about those comments. I think that says a lot about the kind of person Bourdain really is and how he genuinely cares about other people. This makes me even a bigger fan.

So can Augusto's detractors shut up already and let's just enjoy this once in every 20 years positive mention about the Philippines in the international media? The last time the Philippines got this much favorable attention was during the People Power in Edsa.

No Reservations on the Philippines (full episode)

(Part 1)

(The rest on YouTube. Many thanks to ArcApex of Toronto.)

I couldn't help but love this episode. The hosts Ivan Dy, Claude Tayag, and MarketMan were entertaining and informative enough. Augusto, the guy who sent in a fan video w/c convinced Chef Tony Bourdain to come to the Philippines, unfortunately, was not.

Poor guy. He seemed lost and his family was rather bland. I think Bourdain has been to some Filipino-hosted events and knows how noisy and festive we can be when we get together. So it was kinda a letdown for him I suppose that Augusto and his Cebu family were not animated enough for this episode. Na-conscious siguro sa cameras. Still, if not for Augusto, Bourdain wouldn't come, so he still gets props from me. Clap for the guy will ya?

I have no arguments against the foods served by the various hosts to Bourdain, from fishballs and taho in the beginning, to lechon at the end; the episode showed authentic Pinoy cuisine which even the masses appreciate. And we know how Bourdain loves street food. Yum! Sorry, no cholesterol-laden high-priced restaurants here, w/c would have been so out of place. It was just simple and sincere cooking, and in a few instances, served up in a group setting w/ San Miguel beers in hand. (I told a friend at SMC's PR Dept that they should probably send a one-year supply of SMB to Bourdain in New York for showing the product so prominently on the show. haha.)

Now I want to try the four-ways goat. That goat head broth looked particularly intriguing. How cool was it for Bourdain to just get a hook on the cheek and eyeball of that goat! Winner! I also want to try Aling Lucing's sisig. I've eaten sisig in restaurants here in the metro (w/ the one at Trellis supposedly the best), but Aling Lucing claims to be the original.

Btw, for Ivan Dy's info, adobo came by way of the Spanish conquistadores. It actually means "to marinate" w/c can mean in anything from soy sauce and vinegar, or tomato sauce, etc.

I only take issue w/ Tayag's rather un-PC comment about Capampangan food being "the best", and that "you can't be a Filipino w/o being Pampango first." Even though I identify myself as an Ilongga, I am conscious enough of regional sensitivities, and will not proclaim on international TV that Ilonggo food is the best.

I've eaten lots of dishes from different regions and provinces, and each has its own unique flavor and attitude. We should really stop this regionalistic behavior w/c is what's dragging us as a country down. We should all be Pinoys first and all local dishes, whether from Davao, Cebu, Iloilo, Pampanga or Ilocos Norte, are the best. Period. Nairita ba ako? That said, Tayag's kare-kare looked particularly appetizing. Mmm.

It's true though what Mary Tayag says, Pinoy cuisine is not popular abroad because there are so many different versions of say, adobo. Or sinigang. In the north, they use guava or sampaloc. In the south, they use batuan for the kansi, which is like a sinigang na baka. So foreigners will not take away one outstanding memory of the sinigang, but several confusing versions of it.

I don't quite agree that it's because no one visits the Philippines. I think it's because when the foreigners come, we always make yabang and treat them to the "best" or "newest" restaurants, which may not offer Filipino cuisine. I am partly guilty of this. When my cousin from the States arrived for the first time in Manila, we took him to what was considered the best Japanese restaurant then. And w/ my aunts, to the best Spanish restaurant. Ngek.

Pinoy food is so ordinary and everyday for us, we normally don't think of treating our guests to a Filipino restaurant unless they specifically request for it. We don't think of offering up Pinoy cuisine maybe bec. we think the dishes pale in comparison to the more sophisticated foreign cuisines. Perhaps deep inside, we still carry some of the colonial atiitutde, and continue to suffer from a national inferiority complex. We think of Pinoy as "baduy" but anything foreign as "modern, improved, and better."

Meanwhile, maybe we could take a leaf from what the Thais did. Their tourism authority simply drew up uniform recipes for traditional Thai dishes and exported the cookbooks abroad. So if you notice, Thai dishes anywhere have the same ingredients, tastes, and textures. Very few restaurants stray from the original recipes. But then yun nga, who's to say whose adobo version gets to be included in said official Filipino cookbook? I used to think all you had to do was pick up Nora Daza's Cooking it Up with Nora and you have the traditional chicken, pork adobo. (I like my version deep fried and flaked.)

Anyhoo, despite some minor irritants, it made me proud to see this show. It speaks tons of Bourdain's respect for his Filipino fans that he became a bit anxious about what exactly to show in the episode, and if he showed enough. Most of us were pleased. Kudos again to the hosts, and to Augusto. Wherever you are, I hope you enjoyed rediscovering your Pinoy roots through our wonderful multi-faceted cuisine.

(UPDATE: Upon request by MarketMan, we deleted his real name out of respect for his privacy.)

Comings and goings

SO Anthony Bourdain was here. It was a short visit which took him to Sofitel Philippine Plaza where he was billeted (why there I don't know, but yeah, let's wow him w/ the sunset at Manila Bay why don't we?), Pampanga, and Cebu.

Whenever I'm out of town, I usually switch on the TV to Discovery Travel and Living and just veg out watching all the travel and cooking shows, especially Bourdain's No Reservations. (We don't have the channel in the basic package of Skycable, ay kaluoy!, so I've long been thinking of switching to Global Destiny.)

He is one cool dude I would love to hang around with because he eats so well and is into all the simple cooked meals of all these countries he visits. Hindi sya maarte kumain, not like some of those girls in Lonely Planet. If he were Pinoy, I think he would enjoy eating sinangag, tuyo or daing, itlog na maalat, with a steaming cup of coffee on the side. Or not.

I heard he had dinner with a handful of very young journalists last Saturday at a private room at Spiral. (Oh noes! 'wag naman sana yung walang kamatayang buffet! haha). His visit was a much-anticipated event among media especially by those of us who love to cook and eat. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to have graced his table. Boo-hoo-hoo!

They ate some goat cheese wrapped in salmon, according to Josemari Ugarte, editor-in-chief of Rogue who was one of those invited. (I should be hating you right now Josemari, except that I just love your Dad and Ana so much. So you are saved from my wrath, haha. I am looking forward to your Bourdain story. But Rene Nieva, phooey to you! harummph!)

Btw, someone just sent me a photo of Saturday's dinner. (It happened apparently bec. Chef Gene Gonzalez, whom Bourdain was supposed to meet, was in Vietnam.) Anyhoo, "the Chosen" were seated at a round table, taking notes or listening in rapt attention to Bourdain probably explain why he will also not eat balut anymore. But no one was seated right beside him. Everyone seemed to be in awe of Bourdain, whoa, parang Jesus Christ Superstar!

I just hope the people who brought Bourdain around didn't make him eat at any sissy pretentious restaurants patronized only by their owners and their wanna-be sosyalero friends. Mercifully, one of his escorts was Claude Tayag who brought Bourdain to Pampanga, of course. (Crispy camaru anyone? Yum!) He also visited Cebu, so visions of Bourdain sweating it out in a sutukil resto by the road side, ice-cold San Miguel beer in the left hand, his smokes in the right hand, tickled me no end. This guy has no hang-ups really about eating even at carinderias of the world. Basta masarap, masaya sya. One thing for sure, he will not eat any lechon. He knows it, he's eaten it, he is up to here, according to his blog. (One visitor to Bourdain's blog actually suggested Lydia's Lechon! hahaha. I prefer Elar's though.)

If I had a chance to show him around, I would have brought him to Sosing's where all the sweaty cabbies and jeepney drivers have their fill of delicious home-cooked meals. Of course, ever since the drivers' amos and the Makati execs discovered Sosing's, it has ceased to be just your ordinary carinderia. Still, people go there for the best nilagang baka, the sweaty ambiance, and the large servings of rice. Ayuus.

(Photo from anthonybourdain.net)

OOPSIE! Anthony Bourdain did get to meet Chef Gene after all, w/ our very own Judy Ann Santos who takes cooking lessons at Cafe Ysabel. Read the account in Gianina Gonzalez's blog. (Ang di alam ni Bourdain, mas sikat sa kanya si Juday haha!)

* * * *
Speaking of comings and goings, arriving tomorrow is fertilizer scammer Joc-joc Bolante. I am curious who will eventually meet him at the airport...the NBI, Senate sergeant-of-arms, or Mike Arroyo's boys who will make the former DA undersecretary promptly disappear. (The idiots probably have learned their lesson from that failed Jun Lozada show off off off broadway!)

As of the last TV news I watched, the G-men were still arguing who would take custody of Joc-joc as he re-enters Philippine soil. Supposedly he will be escorted by US Immigration marshalls...ngek, how embarrassing naman! But I wonder though if he really is arriving at the NAIA. There are rumors that Joc-Joc will be arriving either at the DMIA at Clark, Pampanga, or at the Mactan International Airport in Cebu from Hong Kong. He will want to avoid publicity and those who want to ensure that he keeps his mouth shut, may try to secretly whisk him away.

Well, let's just wait for the big show tomorrow.