JUST got back from San Miguel Pure Foods Guerilla Food Tour, which took Raff and I and a coaster load of our colleagues in media to Tagaytay, Alfonso and Silang, Cavite. We stayed overnight at Nurture Spa Village Tagaytay, where San Miguel Pure Foods’ new products, the Chicken Sausage and the Magnolia Brown Eggs,were introduced over breakfast this morning (March 13, 2013).
After the hearty buffet breakfast, Nurture Spa’s Chef Laurence Porras conducted a quick demo on how to prepare healthy detox smoothies to cleanse and heal the body. He prepared three interesting kinds – Banana-Malunggay, Kale-Lemon, and Pechay-Saluyot-Mango. While each smoothie had its own interesting flavor profile, the one that I liked best was the Banana-Malunggay Smoothie.
Of course, you can never go wrong with banana. Wherever you put it, be it a shake, a juice or a smoothie, banana’s always a winner, both in taste and in nutrition. It’s a good source of fiber and potassium.
For its part, malunggay is a power-packed vegetables that’s good for the entire body. Malunggay enjoys a heightened interest and attention these days, so much so that it is added to almost anything – a vegetable dish, a soup, event noodles.
According to Chef Laurence, the Banana-Malunggay Smoothie he made this morning is a potent shot of health booster for the body. It aids in dieting or losing excess weight and helps one feel lighter and more energetic throughout the day. A shot or more of Banana-Malunggay Smoothie every morning should do your body wonders.
So, if you’re ready to try this potent fruit-and-vegetable smoothie drink, here’s how to make it.
1/4 cup malunggay leaves, cleaned and removed from the stem
2 pcs. señorita bananas (or 1 pc. of latundan or lakatan banana)
1 cup crushed ice
2 tsps. honey
1. Combine all ingredients in a blender.
2. Process until smooth.
3. Pour into a tall glass and enjoy.
Cooked seafood on ice at Marriott Hotel Manila’s Marriott Cafe
SEAFOOD lovers like me, rejoice! Over at Marriott Hotel Manila in Newport City, a special treat awaits you at the Marriott Café. It’s Ocean’s Harvest at the Café every Friday and Saturday night, dinner only. So it’s seafood galore!
The different active stations already offer a good number of seafood dishes, particularly at the Japanese station, where the sushi, sashimi and maki selections are teeming with seafood, such as ebi (shrimp), kani (crabstick) and unagi (eel), and fish and shrimp tempura are freshly cooked a la minute. There’s also a good variety of cooked seafood on ice, including crabs, blue crabs, mussels and prawns. The hot dishes in the chafing dishes also carry a lot of seafood concoctions prepared by Marriott Hotel’s team of chefs. During Ocean’s Harvest dinner last Friday (March 8, 2013), which my husband Raff and I shared with marketing communications director Michelle ‘Mitch’ Garcia, Lualhati Fausto, Fernan Nebres and Gillian Gacuma of Philippine Star, and Marvin Nisperos, Cez Cabiles and his team from Philippine Graphic, the hot dishes included a special Fisherman’s Special Paella and Seafood Lasagna.
Fresh Catch of the Day, which teems with everything seafood, is set up at Marriott Cafe for Ocean’s Harvest every Friday
Lapu-lapu in Sweet and Sour Sauce
Shrimps Cooked in Lemon and Butter
Cooked Crabs on Ice
The icing on the seafood cake, though, is the Fresh Catch of the Day section, which Marriott Café puts up especially for Ocean’s Harvest dinner every Friday and Saturday night. It’s like a huge aquarium of all things seafood – scallops, shrimps, prawns, tuna, salmon, lapu-lapu, squid. You just pick what you like and tell the server or chef how you want it prepared. You can have your prawns simply grilled or friend into camaron rebosado, or you can have them cooked with sweet chili sauce, Thai style, or sautéed with lemon and butter.
The idea of Ocean’s Harvest’s Fresh Catch of the Day is the dampa and paluto concept in fresh seafood markets but elevated to Marriott level. You simply choose what you want to eat and have it prepared the way you want them. As much as you want. As many different ways as you want. And if you run out of ideas on how best to have your seafood prepared, you can ask the chefs for suggestions and they’d gladly give you some.
After telling the chefs how you want your seafood, you are given a number, and you hang it in a fishbone hook on your table, and in no time at all the servers are going to bring your food over.
Ebi Sushi
Platter of Salmon Sashimi, Ebi Sushi, California Maki and Kani Sushi
Salmon Teriyaki
Camaron Rebosado
Last Friday, which was the media launch of Ocean’s Harvest at Marriott Café, I first went for sushi, sashimi and maki with ebi tempura for starters, then proceeded to the Fresh Catch of the Day and had my lapu-lapu grilled, my scallops baked and my salmon prepared into delicious Salmon Teriyaki. The table was teeming with prawns and crabs prepared in different ways, and Mitch had her lapu-lapu steamed, which was another way I liked my lapu-lapu.
After the group had ‘demolished’ the seafood on the table, we all capped the satisfying dinner with a dessert of ice cream, pastries and fresh fruits. I stuck to fresh fruits – but I don’t always do.
It was one dinner that I truly enjoyed from start to finish. No red meats to avoid, no set menus to waste… Just plain, savory seafood to keep me extremely satisfied.
TOOK an Indonesian culinary tour yesterday (March 6, 2013) without going to Indonesia. I actually just hopped over to Edsa Shangri-La Hotel’s HEAT, which was hosting an Indonesian lunch yesterday to formally open the Indonesian Berjalan-jalan food promotion that’s ongoing until March 20, 2013.
Guest Indonesian chef Didin Saepudin of Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta jetted in to Manila specifically for the food promotion, and yesterday when he gave members of the local food media and the officials of the Indonesian Embassy in Manila a taste of Indonesian cuisine, he really gave everyone an authentic Indonesian gastronomic experience. The function room in HEAT had an Indonesian feel to it, with long tables set with Indonesian fabric as tablecloth, and the buffet area in one corner teemed with authentic Indonesian dishes, starting with appetizers like Asinan Mangga (Pickled Mango), Ikan Acar Kuning (Fish with Yellow Pickle), Selada Udang dan Soun (Prawn and Glass Noodle Salad), Rujak Buah-Buahan (Mixed Fruits with Brown Sugar Sauce) and Karedok (Mixed Raw Vegetables with Peanut Sauce).
Soto Bandung
Kare Kambing
Ayam Bakar Padang with Bihun Goreng
Individual servings of Soto Bandung (Beef Soup with Turnip) were served, a la carte style, and then it was back to the buffet table for the main courses of Nasi Kuning (Yellow Rice), Bihun Goreng (Fried Rice Noodles), Empal Daging (Fried Beef), Kare Kambing (Lamb Curry), Ayam Bakar Padang (Grilled Chicken Padang Style) and Tumis Cumi Cabe Hijau (Sautéed Squid with Green Chili). The carving of Kambing Guling (Roast Lamb) quickly commanded a short queue.
And, yes, Indonesians call their lamb kambing, which, in the Tagalog language, means goat.
Dessert Platter
Dessert was again served, a la carte style, in individual platters that came with three different desserts. I have yet to get the names of these desserts, as their names were not immediately available yesterday, but they bore stunning similarities to Filipino desserts. One, a banana fritter, reminded me of the local maruya. The pandan flavored balls rolled in fresh grated coconut seemed to me like a cross between our local pichi-pichi and the Singaporean ondeh-ondeh. The flat oval shaped delicacy dipped in coconut or palm sugar sauce was like our local palitaw in naked form. The dip was like a gula melaka sauce which I encountered in Singapore in the past.
Berjalan-jalan Indonesia offers diners at HEAT a taste of authentic Indonesian cuisine. On a daily basis, several Indonesian dishes will be prepared by Chef Didin and the Edsa Shangri-La kitchen team and incorporated into the daily lunch and dinner buffets. These dishes, which put together a festive presentation of Indonesia’s colorful cuisine, culture and multi-ethnicity, are sure to delight diners with curiously familiar tastes (as a lot of dishes are similar to Filipino dishes, only rendered in a more spicy way) mixed with unique flavors from Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and the rest of the Indonesian regions, where different spices grow in abundance and are thus used heavily in Indonesian cooking.
Indonesian cuisine is quite interesting, really, and a taste of it educates the palate and makes it more sophisticated and knowledgeable to identify a wider spectrum of flavors.
WAS over at InterContinental Manila’s Café Jeepney yesterday (March 5, 2013) for the launch of its Stopover Aklan food, fashion and culture festival, which is ongoing until March 24, 2013. Three components – food, fashion and culture – go into the Stopover Aklan promotion, which was put together by InterContinental Manila in partnership with the Provincial Government of Aklan and the Aklan Provincial Tourism Council.
A Western Visayas province, Aklan is famous for its beautiful beaches, mangroves and mountainous landscapes. It is best known for its world-class tourist attraction, Boracay Island, which keeps both the Boracay Airport (or Godofredo Ramos Airport) in Caticlan, Malay, Aklan, and the Kalibo International Airport in Kalibo, Aklan very busy. Aklan is also quite famous for its Ati-Atihan Festival, which is held annually in the province, mainly in Kalibo. It’s a Mardi Gras-like festival featuring street dancers whose exposed skin has been colored black and garbed in colorful costumes.
The food component of Stopover Aklan comes in the form of an Aklan food festival held at Café Jeepney, where featured Aklanon chefs, including Chef Arlyn Conanan, prepared a number of Aklanon dishes to include in the daily lunch and dinner buffets. On opening day yesterday (March 5, 2013), there was a spread of appetizers – Fish Kinilaw, Ubod Atchara and Shrimp Kinilaw – and there was the Aklanon version of Bulalo at the soup station.
Shrimp Kinilaw
Ubod Atchara
Among the hot dishes were Bangus Cordon Bleu, Inubarang Manok, Linabog na Langka, Ati-Atihan Rice (black rice) and Chicken Binakoe. Over at the carvery, a crisp and golden lechon that was flown in from Aklan turned out to be a big hit with Café Jeepney diners. The Chicken Binakoe already gave diners a glimpse – or flavorful taste – of Aklan’s culinary heritage, as the native chicken, all cut up, had been cooked with coconut juice in bamboo tubes, just like it is traditionally cooked.
Bangus Cordon Bleu
Inubarang Manok
When it comes to desserts, Aklan was not to be outdone either, as the dessert spread presented generous servings of Cassava Bicho-Bicho (caramelized fried cassava cake), Latik (glutinous rice cake topped with caramelized coconut strands) and Cassava Pichi-Pichi (cassava cake with grated cheese).
Cassava Bicho-Bicho
Latik
Cassava Pichi-Pichi
The menu cycle will change over the duration of the food festival, but an authentic taste of Aklanon cuisine will always be there.
Over at the Lobby of InterContinental Manila, Amazing Weaves: An Aklan Fabric Show takes place until March 24. This represents the fashion and culture of Aklan that is on spotlight during the Stopover Aklan promotion. It features fabric installations by Rachy Cuna; piña fashion by Cesar Gaupo, Rajo Laurel, Jojie Lloren, Frederick Peralta, Barge Ramos and Milka Quin; and fabrics by La Herminia of Aklan. The exhibit showcases some of the most beautiful hand-woven fabrics of pineapple, raffia and abaca fibers, as well as cutting-edge but easy-to-wear pineapple fabric (piña) dresses by the top Filipino fashion designers mentioned above, who have designed them to go well with the modern lifestyle.
Exquisite dress featured in the amazing Weaves exhibit at InterContinental Manila’s Lobby
Designer creation using piña fabric
Elegant and eye-catching piña outfit
Handloom weaving is an intricate art
In a corner of the lobby, hotel guests get to witness actual handloom weaving demonstrations on certain days, and people will get to purchase Aklan fabrics, handicrafts, novelty items and food products from a counter that has been put up specifically for this purpose.
On opening day, Ayala Center shoppers and not just InterCon guests got an extra treat when 45 KSAFI Ati-Atihan dancers from the Province of Aklan paraded down East Street, Ayala Avenue and Courtyard Drive towards dusk. The smaller scale version of Aklan’s famous Ati-Atihan Festival finally converged at the InterCon front lawn for an exciting fire dancing exhibition led by former beauty queen and model Rachel Lobangco.
Let’s see… Well, there’s fresh oysters on ice, which is common in hotel buffets; and there’s Oyster Rockefeller (oysters on half shell, topped with spinach and butter sauce, and baked or broiled), Oyster Kilpatrick (a classic Australian dish of oysters on half shell with tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce), Oyster Shooter (shucked raw oysters served with Tabasco sauce, vodka, tomato juice and worcestershire sauce in shot glasses), and Oyster Omelette (a Chinese dish of shucked small oysters in starch-and-egg batter and chopped greens, fried into an omelette). You can also have Baked Oysters by topping fresh oysters on half shells with chopped garlic, butter and cheese and baking them.
These are classic oyster dishes that the world enjoys.
Oyster Frittata
Oyster Tempura
Oyster Sushi
Fresh Oyster with Ratatouille
Fresh Oysters from the Bar
But have you ever tried Oyster Pizza? Or Oyster Frittata? Maybe Oyster Tempura? Or Oyster Sushi? How about fresh oysters on half shell topped with Ratatouille or Mango Salad?
You can get to enjoy your oysters any way you like them at Makati Shangri-La Hotel’s Circles Events Café every Monday night. Circles just launched its featured dinner buffet theme every Monday evening called Oyster Nights. An fresh oyster bar is set up as part of the dinner buffet on Monday nights, and you can just pick up as many fresh oysters on half shells that you want, drizzle on any of the many dips and sauces available at the oyster bar, and enjoy them fresh.
If you prefer your oysters cooked, you can ask any of the chefs at Circles to prepare them the way you want them. That is if you cannot find what you want from the buffet, because the different stations of the dinner buffet also carry a number of interesting oyster dishes. There’s Oyster Pizza, for example, sitting under a hot carvery light for the taking. There’s Oyster Sushi over at the Japanese sushi bar. You can have Oyster Tempura ‘custom-made’ for you in an instant at the tempura station. Explore the hot dishes, too, and you’ll find interesting oyster items such as Oyster Frittata. The classics, Oyster Rockefeller and Oyster Kilpatrick, join Oysters with Garlic and Cheese on beds of salt on the buffet spread.
Oyster Rockefeller
Oyster Kilpatrick
Oyster with Mango Salad
Oyster Shooters
Thai Style Oysters
Oysters with Garlic and Cheese
Area executive chef Paul Lenz and his Makati Shangri-La chefs check on the freshness of the oysters at the oyster bar
Chef Paul Lenz, area executive chef of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, and his kitchen team at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel make a real effort to satisfy the gastronomic cravings and whims, even fantasies, of oyster lovers during Oyster Nights at Circles. Crates upon crates of fresh oysters are flown in from Europe every week. There are at least 10 different kinds of imported oysters on the buffet spread every Monday night and about 10 to 12 different oyster preparations available for diners’ enjoyment. So it’s real oyster heaven for oyster lovers on Monday nights. Trust me. I got to try Oyster Nights at Circles last night with Makati Shangri-La’s director of communications Lesley Tan, assistant communications manager Mica Siquijor-Cordero and communications coordinator Margaux Hontiveros, and a few colleagues in media in an intimate dinner. I had planned on just taking a piece or two of oysters before going, but I ended up trying at least six different oyster preparations – and the freshness is unquestionable.
JUST got back from San Miguel Pure Foods Guerilla Food Tour, which took Raff and I and a coaster load of our colleagues in media to Tagaytay, Alfonso and Silang, Cavite. We stayed overnight at Nurture Spa Village Tagaytay, where San Miguel Pure Foods’ new products, the Chicken Sausage and the Magnolia Brown Eggs,were introduced over breakfast this morning (March 13, 2013).
