Naturally healthy, naturally Peninsula

A lot of  people, even if they think it’s an extremely good idea, already give up on healthy fare even before they even try it, apprehensive of the number of greens they think is required and reluctant to take a hiatus from meat, which they feel they have to eat. And they’re also reluctant to give up that one thing that makes eating such a delightful fête: taste.

What most of these people don’t realize is that not all healthy, “skinny” food is tasteless just because it lacks the flavor provided by all the calorie-laden creams, butter, sugar and salt. As the Manila Peninsula’s new Naturally Peninsula menu proves, healthy is not just confined to limp salads and a glass of lemon water.

Each year the Peninsula comes up with a Naturally Peninsula menu, which tries to teach the “relationship between our food choices and their effect on our physical, mental and emotional health.” This time, the menu takes up residence in the Pen’s Italian restaurant, Mi Piace. Chef Massimo Veronesi offers lovers of la cucina Italiana the Healthy Italian, “a well thought-out and health-supportive selection of dishes that incorporate an ever-expanding array of nutritional approaches to cooking without compromising on flavor.” Simply put, healthy food that’s nowhere near as bland as the sawdust dishes a lot of nutritionists bank on.

This is gourmet health food: notches more complex than anything Giada De Laurentiis will prepare on her show, tastier than any South Beach meal and possibly healthier than the vegetarian dishes served in veggie fast food booths. And each dish packs an average intake of 150 calories — I don’t think even Subway offers food that skinny. If you combine a starter, a soup, the main course and dessert, you’ll probably only consume 700 calories; you’ll get that, plus a greasy aftertaste, from a fast-food cheeseburger alone.

Start out with the Il Salmone. This salmon tartar dish topped with arugula salad and the barest sprinkling of vinaigrette has only 123 calories and five grams of fat. The protein count, however, is impressive at 15 grams. But the most remarkable thing about this appetizer is not its lack of fat but its taste. It seems like a simple dish but when eaten together with the medley of citrus fruits, capers and tomato chunks that patrol around the fresh salmon, the dish becomes a concoction of different flavors. The bitter arugula balances out the zesty bursts of sweetness from the citrus fruits, the capers dash in that salty booster and the dressing, though light, is very distinct. According to Gio, the friend I dragged along to pass judgment over the meat dishes I couldn’t sample (being a vegetarian), “the dish has a number of interesting flavors blended together in a balanced manner but distinguishable individually.”

The soup is my favorite simply because, well, I love soups. This two-in-one sinfonia dish presents tomato in very different ways: one as a brothy consommé with vegetable ravioli and soya beans and another as a cold juice-soup with extra virgin oil. Normally, I stay clear of cold soups (I find them as useless in filling up the stomach as a fragile umbrella on a really stormy day) but this one was excellent, especially when alternately sipped with the consommé. I wouldn’t really describe clear soups as hearty, but this one was very much so and packs as much flavor as a loaded vichyssoise. And with only 158 calories and six grams of fat, this tomato duo should be taken over any creamy concoction any day.

The most interesting of all the dishes in this Naturally Peninsula menu would be the Il Polipo. That would be Italian for octopus. Although, when presented, you wouldn’t really know there was an octopus in it because it’s served pressata or pressed. Mariano Garchitorena, the Peninsula’s PR manager, tried describing the process of pressing an octopus and it involves thinly slicing the meat crosswise and then flattening it out. Anyway, the result is a pancake-thin, flower-shaped doodad that becomes a base for any topping. For this dish, Chef Veronesi tops the octopus with semi-dried tomatoes, fennel, arugula and a drizzling of lemon-scented extra virgin oil. By itself, the octopus is a bit tasteless with a slightly gummy texture. With all the greenery, however, the dish makes a whole lot of sense and would be an ideal alternative to the usual carpaccio appetizer. All yours for only 148 calories and two grams of fat. Protein count? A whopping 20 grams.

On to the main course. The menu offers a couple: fish and fowl. The Il Pesce combines seared codfish with simmered calamari stuffed with spinach. Poached asparagus and truffle sauce finish up the recipe. Like all the others, this dish is light, extremely tasty and doesn’t tire out the palate. The fish, all alone, would be nothing without its flavorful accompaniments and would just be blah without the squid. Once again, the combination of different, yet subtle, flavors is what makes this dish excellent. Surprisingly  (or maybe not), this has the lowest calorie count at 104. 

The most calorie-packed dish would be the Il Pollo, a slow-braised chicken breast dish crusted with bell pepper topped over a mushroom reduction. What contributes to the calorie count? Probably the red wine tagliatoni pasta that accompanies the dish. Though the dish is good and the chicken tender, Gio claims that, compared to the other dishes in the menu, the chicken would be the most average. A definite okay while the others would be outstanding.

There is such a thing as healthy dessert that doesn’t involve just fruits and a swizzle stick dipped in sugar-free chocolate. The Il Semifreddo, a prosecco (a variety of white grape wine from Veneto in Italy) and strawberry sorbet parfait with marinated fresh strawberries, is a delightful dish that slips right down your throat and doesn’t sit heavily on the stomach. Packing a punch of 200 calories, it’s not as sugary as your regular gelato but it does do well with whetting sweet cravings after a nourishing meal.

Buon apetito!

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The Healthy Italian–Naturally Peninsula promotion runs from August 4- 24. For inquiries and table reservations,  call The Peninsula Manila at 887-27888, extensions 6737 and 6738 (Mi Piace) or 6694 (restaurant reservations).