23 days to christmas 30 days to 2009

My favorite author Doreen Fernandez once defined Christmas as “family: coming home, being together, giving thanks with the best one can afford, renewing the faith, affirming the bonds rooted in culture.” Roman Catholics start the celebration with the Misa de Gallo on December 16; food and drinks are served through out the Christmas season and plenty of work is in the horizon for your favorite food columnist.

In Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort (phone 231-0288, email: [email protected]), preparations are complete, not only for the Christmas season but also the corporate strategies for the incoming year, 2009. Food and service will play a major role, according to Shangri-La GM Raymond Bragg and the three food outlets namely Aqua, Tea of Spring and the Cowrie Cove must be ready to meet the challenges in 2009.

Select members of the press were invited to “When the Toque meets the Pen,” a sneak preview of the capabilities of these restaurants showcasing the latest additions to the menus. This means Italian delights at the Aqua, Chinese dishes at the Tea of Spring and Seafood Cuisine at the Cowrie Cove. Since each restaurant has its own specialized facilities, we had to walk the talk. This culinary tour was truly remarkable and unique.

Cocktails and selection of canapé started at Acqua and all the Top Guns of Shangri-La headed by GM Raymond Bragg were in attendance. We were introduced to the first dish by Executive Italian Chef Giancarlo Visciglia, a Pan-fried Foie Gras with red wine pear and Fondant potato and Arugula leaves.

My beloved readers know that foie gras is the goose or duck liver which has undergone fatty change by force-feeding, a practice done as early as Roman times. Very tricky to cook this liver, one minute too long in cooking and size is reduced by half; one minute less and it would taste like undercooked liver. Some chefs marinate the thinly sliced liver with milk and cognac, sear it quickly on both sides, add some sugar on the top, use a mini blow torch…so many tricks of the trade, these chefs.

 The second dish was the Cepes Mushroom Risotto flavored with white truffle oil. Also known as Porcini mushrooms in Italy, Cepe mushrooms are considered to be superior in flavor and texture and when Chef Visciglia added the truffle oil and served it in very generous portions, murag complete meal na, very delicious pa gyud.

At the Tea of Spring, domain of Executive Chinese Chef Kenny Yong, it was time for soup: Double boiled Abalone Soup with Sa Sam and Yoke Chuk. Chinese medicinal herbs are one of the aspects of Chinese cuisine I never dared to indulge in. There are about 200 herbs used in cooking and I could make only one dish, Bak kut teh!

Drink to accompany the soup was Eight Treasure Tea, a concoction of chrysanthemum, dried lemon and tangerine peel, honey suckle, red date, haw, rock sugar and tropaeolum. Very easy to enumerate the ingredients, I simply read the label. Only problem is that I do not know the type of tea used by Chef Yong, No.1 or No. 2! Bottom line was that I felt that my yin was now balanced with the yang and I felt good.

Last stop for the culinary excursion was the Cowrie Cove where seafood reigns supreme under the tutelage of Chef Paul Chia. Jumbo king prawns were the main entry, grilled (with honey, coriander and garlic soy sauce) and wok-fried with salted egg yolk granule. Two types of rice were also served; Garlic fried rice and steamed pandanus rice & mushroom medley. When decisions have to be made which dishes to choose, I take samples of both and decide later on larger portions and in this case, the prawn with salted egg yolk granule was simply irresistible.

My press colleagues closed this superb culinary journey with Pumpkin custard and ube ice cream; but not your favorite food columnist. I needed some aid in legislation, I mean digestion, and a cigar and cognac would have been wonderful but I settled for the second best, single malt scotch, served neat with water to taste.

Refreshed, I remembered what Todd Salamone of the Schaeffer’s Investment Research in Cincinnati said, “There’s just too much uncertainty out there.” And only the brave, the bold and the prepared like Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa can welcome the challenges of 2009.