Truly Pinoy

For most people, Pinoy food isn’t really a big deal. I mean, that’s what you eat at home, right? But when it’s culinary icon Chef Gene Gonzalez (you know, the guy in the ice cream commercial) cooking the food, you just gotta stop what you’re doing and grab a bite of his food. Ongoing until the twenty-first of June, Marco Polo Plaza’s Pinoy! Pinoy! Food festival showcases several of Chef Gene’s recipes, some of which I was able to sample last Monday.

Chef Gene’s sisig terrine is his take on the favorite Capampangan dish so loved by drinkers and drunkards. In this case though, the sisig takes on the form of a terrine, which is sosyal-speak for meatloaf. It’s served cold, though, which probably won’t make it a good pulutan, but does really well as an appetizer. If you’re a sucker for manggang hilaw, then Chef Gene’s mangga sa cerveza is a must-try. The half-ripe mangoes give a sharp bite, but the beer sort of deactivates the tartness of the fruit, cooling the mouth. Think “achara” and you have the general idea of how it tastes like.

The tinolang manok, or nilat-an in Cebuano, is comforting in its simplicity. Chicken soup, native-style, is what it is, with sili leaves and the addition of bilo-bilo or flour balls, much like the flour balls you find in binignit. Chef Gene’s chicken soup seems to prove true the saying “chicken soup is good for what ails you,” as I was feeling a bit queasy that day; a few sips of the tinolang manok rejuvenated me greatly.

Cebu not being a rice-producing province, frogs’ legs are something I have not had for a long time. I was delighted to find it on the menu, and was the first to dig into the serving platter. The turmeric gives it a yellowish tint, and adds a light, spicy taste to the frogs’ legs. While my preference for frogs’ legs run to the more garlicky version, with sliced chili peppers, Chef Gene’s frogs’ legs adobo satisfied my craving for this dish otherwise unobtainable in Cebu. Those with Fear Factor tendencies should definitely have a taste.

The adobo del diablo is more or less what the Tagalogs call “adobong matanda.” It’s dry and a bit chewy, because it’s supposed to keep for at least a few weeks. During the olden times, it was stored in a clay pot and buried underground to keep cool. It’s different from the saucy adobo most of us know, but no less tasty.

Another simple yet delicious dish that day was Chef Gene’s crispy pata con bihon. Simply put, it’s rice noodles topped with deep-fried pork leg. Imagine two tasty Pinoy dishes put together and you’ve got it.

For dessert, there was a dessert plate with halo-halo, shaved ice with preserved fruits and milk, Capampangan leche flan, which is the Pinoy version of crème brulee, and my favorite, the mantecado ice cream.

While Cebu has a couple of really good Pinoy restaurants, that shouldn’t stop anyone from going up Nivel and sampling Chef Gene’s food. Once you’ve gotten a taste of Chef Gene’s cooking, you’ll never take Pinoy food for granted ever again.