Originally posted on May 14, 2012.
ONGOING at Diamond Hotel Philippines’ premier dining destination Corniche until May 19, 2012, is Culinaria Capampangan, a Capampangan food festival featuring the dishes of renowned celebrity chef Sau Del Rosario.
Chef Sau hails from Pampanga, which is considered as the Culinary Capital of the Philippines. Proud of his heritage, he serves Capampangan food in his critically acclaimed restaurant, Villa Café, where he gives traditional Capampangan dishes a contemporary and gourmet twist. For one, he turns Pampanga’s exotic crickets, called camaru, into chic Camaru and Vegetable Springrolls. He serves his kilawin with pomelo segments in shotglasses, calling it a hip Ceviche with Pomelo, and serves his buro (fermented rice) not just with fried fish and mustasa but with crunchy Fried Catfish Fillet. Look how he elevates other common dishes into gourmet delights, including Pork Sisig with Foie Gras and Organic Egg, Lamb Chops Kaldereta with Local Vegetable Ratatouille, U.S. Sirloin Bistek with Shiitake Confits, Crispy Pata Kare-kare with Steamed Local Vegetables, and Whole Baby Lechon with, no, not the usual paella but with Curried Rice or Biringhe. On opening day, guests were raving about Chef Sau’s Pork Sisig, Lamb Kaldereta, Sirloin Bistek and Crispy Pata Kare-kare– and for a good reason.
Even his desserts, which are the highlight of the dessert buffet of Corniche during the Culinaria Capampangan run, feature very interesting twists. Chef Sau has Brazo de Maiz on dessert glasses instead of the usual Brazo de Mercedes in slices. He serves his halayang ube with pineapple and mango topping in Jaleya Ube with Piña and Mango. Then he has Tibok-tibok, Plantanilla and Suspiros de Macapuno to go with the quintessential Halo-halo.
Other interesting finds on the buffet spreads include an Adobo, Quesong Puti and Salted Egg Pizza, Lemongrass Escargot with Puff Pastry appetizer, Bulanglang Salmon Belly soup, Duck Adobo with Boiled Egg, Crispy Pata Kaldereta and Gule Marangle (pinakbet with lechon and prawns). Everything on the Culinaria Capampangan spread is so characteristic of Chef Sau, who’s fearless when it comes to flavor innovations.
The star of TV’s Sarap to Heart, Chef Sau was born and raised in Pampanga, which is considered as the Culinary Capital of the Philippines. After his hotel management degree from UP Diliman, he took his professional culinary training in Nice, South of France, under the guidance of Michelin chef Christian Plumail of Restaurant L’univers. He then worked in the prestigious three Michelin Restaurant Le Divellec in Paris the following year before moving to China to open Luna in Shanghai. Two years later, he became Chef de Cuisine of the famous Raffles Chain’s Equinox in Singapore. He came home in 2005 to open M Café and Chelsea, and later on helped launch Le Bistro Vert and Toro. Now, he proudly owns and runs Villa Café, whose menu shows Chef Sau’s Capampangan heritage and culinary creativity.
During opening day, Chef Sau featured another Capampangan culinary icon, Atching Lilian Borromeo, in a short but informative demo on how to make San Nicolas Cookies using original wooden molds. San Nicolas Cookies are an ‘invention’ of Augustinian friars back when egg whites were used in the construction of churches and egg yolks were being thrown away. To put those egg yolks to good use, San Nicolas Cookies came to be. These arrowroot cookies are special because they bear the image of San Nicolas, whose Feast Day is on September 10, using antique wooden molds. Today, only Atching Lilian Borromeo makes these cookies, and, so, culinary tours in Pampanga make regular stops at her place in Mexico, Pampanga, where she gamely does demos of San Nicolas Cookies.
Catch Chef Sau at Diamond Hotel Philippines’ Corniche. The Culinaria Capampangan foodfest runs until May 19, 2012. Buffet price is P1,600++ nett per person. For inquiries or reservations, call 528-3000 local 1121.
