IN the past few years, the Discovery group of hotels has been taking on social responsibility programs. In terms of food and beverage, it has advocated organic vegetables and antibiotic- and hormone-free beef for quite some time. But all this time, corporate chef Anthony Raymond has been in constant search for one special advocacy that’s really close to the heart of Filipino diners. He found this in late 2014, when he had a lunch out with his family. He let his parents order their food, and they picked a number of braised dishes which, fortunately, did not take too long to arrive at their table. He noticed, however, that nobody was touching the food because the rice had not yet been served. A light bulb lit up inside his head, and he looked around to confirm the idea that popped in his mind. He noticed that other diners who had been served the food they ordered but without the rice yet were also not touching the food until the rice arrived.
“Rice is very much a part of the Filipino dining culture. It’s something that the Filipino culture cannot do without. So rice just had to be our corporate responsibility program,” Chef Anthony explains.
From there, he did research. He went to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and met Dr. Noli dela Cruz. He learned from the good doctor that IRRI had been focusing on heirloom rice for six years already but that it has been funded by the government for only two years. Dr. Dela Cruz gave Chef Anthony samples of 41 different heirloom rice varieties, and he experimented with these in the kitchen, testing their versatility, taste and texture through three rice preparations—risotto, pilaf, and plain steamed. He patiently tested the different rice varieties, as he looked for the type of rice that would run closest to Arborio rice. He also worked with doctors and scientists to find out the nutritional benefits of the rice varieties. Two of the doctors recommended Tinawon rice from the Cordilleras, so he got some and worked with it. He liked how Tinawon rice turned out and started developing dishes that would go best with Tinawon rice, although he also picked some brown rice varieties to use.
Two of the dishes Chef Anthony developed using Tinawon heirloom rice—Chilean Seabass (which is seabass with mussels, prawns and aromatic vegetables in a petite bouillabaisse, served with squid ink rice); and Arroz Loco (a Mediterranean fried rice with tiger prawns, Manila clams, herb-baked oysters, Vigan longganisa, chicken thigh, crispy pork belly, quail eggs, green olives, shaved queso de bola, chicken fat croutons, and chicharon bits)—were recently rolled out along with the new menu of Discovery Country Suites Tagaytay at the hotel’s Restaurant Verbena.
Chilean Seabass (Php1,350+) has its squid ink rice cooked the risotto way, while Arroz Loco (Php2,195+) is more of a Spanish or Portuguese paella type of rice dish.
A third dish, Lechon Roll (Php595+), is served with steamed brown heirloom rice. It’s basically a pork belly that has been fabricated into a roll, then subjected to a 3-hour cooking process to make it tender on the inside, crispy on the outside, and generally bursting with flavor. The dish is served with pickled green papaya and three dipping sauces: Pinakurat vinegar, toyomansi (soy sauce and calamansi juice), and Mang Tomas lechon sauce.
All three dishes form part of the new menu that has just been rolled out at Restaurant Verbena, which select members of Manila-based food media got to sample recently.
During the same tasting session, Discovery Country Suites’ resident manager and pastry chef Rhea Sycip also unveiled four new dessert creations that are now available to diners—Mangga Panna Cotta (Php220+), which is a delightful mango panna cotta served with mango coconut coulis, ripe mango and sago; Queso de Bola Cheesecake (Php240+), topped with cream, edam cheese and queso de bola frico, and drizzled with Dulce de Leche sauce; Crème Flan (Php210+), a gourmet custard version of leche flan with caramel sauce and dalandan rind; and Cacao Cookie Skillet (Php245+), a giant chocolate chip cookie on skillet with tablea chocolate ganache, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a sprinkling of cacao nibs.
“We change our menu twice a year based on two seasons. During summer, the menu offers lighter dishes; while during the rainy season, we have more of braised dishes,” says Rhea.
