Chef Fern Aracama: The milkman cometh

Question: Which chef can ride with a busload of goats, get drenched with rain, tumble around like an action star, and yet still have the cheerfulness to whip out a can of milk as the Bionic Man-sound effects play in the background, and make dishes taste better? Answer: Chef Fernando "Fern" Aracama.

Half-Spanish/half-Pinoy Aracama who owns and manages Uva restaurant in Greenbelt 2, is featured in a series of Carnation Evaporated and Condensada ads, portraying the cheerful chef as a cuisine fix-it man equipped with a can of Carnation milk and solutions for everyday cooking dilemmas – from sweetening the halo-halo, to thickening soups, etc. Consider him your friendly neighborhood culinary McGyver, a chef always at the right place at the right time, or a superhero with a ladle and an apron.

"What’s great about the Carnation ads is that they were able to pull out my personality and apply it," says Aracama. "Nakita nila ’yung pagka luko-luko ko (laughs). I guess Carnation wanted to soften the image of the chef as high and mighty, to break the mold."

And the mold has defined chefs as grumpy kitchen scientists of sorts, immersed in their own worlds of woks and ovens.

Not Aracama. "I may not look serious but I know what I’m doing and have fun doing it," he says.

He and Nestlé go way back. Aracama’s parents loved to cook – dad Jesus Ballesteros Aracama cooked callos and other dishes with chorizo and olive oil that Fern calls tropical Spanish, while mom Elvira Luna Cruz cooked sinigang, paksiw, and other Filipino table staples.

He says, "To see my father in the kitchen affirmed the fact that cooking was not solely for women. So, it became my hobby as a kid, naging salimpusa ako sa kusina."

Later on, Aracama lived with his brothers in Manila and he became the designated cook, whipping up large vats of pasta.

"In the family, we use Carnation milk for desserts, soups, and beverages. Carnation offers us the consistency that we want in terms of flavor. It’s a quality product, that’s why you can’t go wrong with it."

While taking up hotel and restaurant administration in UP Diliman in the late ’80s, Aracama heard of a nationwide student competition sponsored by Nestlé called Maggi-Plan-A-Meal. An adviser encouraged Aracama to join. Among the prizes were a trip to Singapore and a kitchen showcase. He won in the regional and national championships.

"I joined because I wanted a food processor so badly – and I still have it (laughs)."

Aracama took up occupational studies in culinary arts at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, doing his internship at the Embarko restaurant in San Francisco. After working at Sign of the Anvil in PCI Bank Makati, he established Uva along Tomas Morato in 1999. His current baby is the Uva branch at Greenbelt 2.

"Uva is a Spanish, Italian, and Latin singular term for ‘grape’," he explains, underscoring how easy it is to recall his resto’s name. "I call our progressive Filipino. The underlying belief is that since I am a Filipino in heart and soul, every dish I come up with has a touch of Pinoy in it – even Spanish lengua or Chilean sea bass, for example. Usually, the sea bass is marinated in miso paste and served with soy dressing on the side. What I do instead is put burong mangga and pickled ginger. Our Ensalata Uva has kesong puti from Laguna. We treat tilapia like royalty. This is my approach to creating cuisine – to add unmistakably Pinoy elements to continental dishes."

Aracama says he doesn’t want to purvey adobo swimming in its own pool of fat, which is sometimes unappetizing even for us Filipinos. The trick is to discover what works together.

"Sweet and sour, or cold and hot, or soft and crunchy in one plate is always good because there’s balance. Counterpoint is very important. It’s a hit-or-miss thing. There are things that either do well or fall flat."

Appetizers work well at Uva. The restaurant offers a plate of "Not Joes," which are nachos garnished with pork adobo (instead of ground beef), mango cilantro relish (instead of salsa), and sour cream with calamansi (instead of the usual cheese dip). "That’s why we call it ‘Not Joes.’ For foreigners it’s a good introduction to adobo."

Humor plays a very important part in the Uva menu. Aracama amplifies, "I do things that make people smile. We have an item in our menu – mashed potatoes priced at P790. So expensive, right? But if the guest reads the menu carefully he’ll find out that the plate of mashed potatoes comes with a side serving of a 300-gram rib eye steak. You can’t be always serious in what you do."

This sense of play is why Nestle decided to get the services of Aracama, to do cooking demonstrations, develop recipes, and eventually star in the series of Carnation Condensada and Evaporated ads.

"Just like me, Carnation is versatile, flexible and able to adapt to all kinds of situations. I am a chef who also loves eating in a butas-butas na carinderia (laughs). Carnation Milk is a product you could use for intricate dishes as well as simple desserts. Imagination is key. In culinary arts, everything has been done, so I approach it with childlike eyes."

What’s his culinary philosophy?

"Leave room for creativity, but make sure that all bills are paid," Aracama concludes.

Here are some recipes from Chef Fern:

Corn And Ginger Chawan—Mushi

1 378-ml. can Carnation Evap
2 Tbsps. Maggi Savor, original
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 sachet Maggi Flavor-it, chicken
2 Tbsps. ginger juice
1 can corn kernel, drained
1 cup corn kernel liquid
3 Tbsps. chopped green onion

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into six medium-sized bowls or cups and steam for eight minutes or until set. Serve hot.

Munggo With Langka And Tinapa

1 red onion, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbsps. vegetable oil
2 cups boiled munggo, drained, reserve
liquid
2 cups langka, peeled, chopped and boiled
1 cup tinapa flakes
1 378-ml. can Carnation Evap
4 cups reserved munggo liquid
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
dash of Maggi Savor Classic to taste

Sauté the onions, tomatoes, and garlic in vegetable oil. Add the boiled munggo, langka, and tinapa flakes. Pour in the Carnation Evap, reserved munggo liquid, and water. Season to taste and bring to a boil. Serve hot.