Claude Tayag’s moveable feast at 7-Eleven

MANILA, Philippines - For many, nothing beats an honest-to-goodness home-cooked meal, the kind moms serve on a daily basis with tender, loving care. On the other hand, there are those who prefer special gourmet meals prepared by exclusive chefs in high-end restaurants. Others are regular patrons of convenience store packaged meals, while still others are simply fast-food junkies.

But what if you could get the goodness of healthy comfort food as well as fine, restaurant-quality meals in one neat package?

7-Eleven, the leading international convenience store chain in the country, partnered with renowned Filipino chef Claude Tayag to create “Chef Creations by Claude Tayag,” packaged Filipino comfort food that you can get at 7-Eleven convenience stores.

The premium line of ready-to-eat rice meals, hygienically packed in individual plastic trays, feature three familiar Pinoy all-time favorites: Pulled Pork with Adobo Dip, Pork Sinigang sa Kamias, and Pakbet with Bagnet.

While the adobo may appear to be the simplest of the three, it is actually the most complicated to do, chef Claude says. It involves a three-step process, starting with marinating the pork overnight, then simmering it for hours until tender, then putting the meat back in the sauce for aging.

“You need to let the acidity mature,” Claude explains. “You should never serve anything cooked with vinegar immediately after cooking. It’s a common mistake.”

An artist, sculptor, and food writer, chef Claude never had a formal culinary education. But being the ninth of 12 children in the family, he learned everything there is to know about cooking while helping in their home kitchen.

In his culinary travel guide book Linamnam, written together with his wife, Mary Ann Quioc, American celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who was a guest at chef Claude’s house-cum-restaurant, Bale Dutung in Angeles, Pampanga, commented: “Claude Tayag is the true master and greatest spokesman for Pampangan cuisine. He introduced me to whole new worlds of flavor.”

When he accepted 7-Eleven’s invitation, Claude knew one of the biggest challenges would be how to share his expertise with the cooks in the 7-Eleven commissary so they could replicate his recipes exactly. Mary Ann was initially not as excited about the idea as he was, since she could foresee potential problems.

Preparing dishes in batches and large quantities, to be individually packed and transported from the commissary to the different stores, is not the same as preparing meals for individuals and small groups.

It took almost a year of kitchen testing, with Claude travelling often from their home in Pampanga to the 7-Eleven commissary in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, to make sure they got it exactly right, Mary Ann relates. In the end, she says the 7-Eleven people deserve to be commended.

“Nothing was lost in translation,” she was pleased to say.

 Someone described chef Claude’s adobo rice meal as “sosi adobo” or “adobo na sosyal,” with the pulled pork slowly cooked and packed with the adobo sauce separately on the side.  As you open the sealed pack, you immediately get an enticing waft of the tangy adobo.

The Pork Sinigang sa Kamias is great taken piping-hot. The level of sourness may suit one more than another, depending on individual taste, but definitely no instant mixes were used. “It’s a healthy option since we use only natural and fresh ingredients,” Claude says. “We use the lean cut of pork. The proportion is one portion of meat, which is bite-size and boneless, to two portions of crisp veggies.”

Unlike the Ilocano pinakbet, which uses bagoong isda (thick salted fish sauce), chef Claude’s version of the Pakbet with Bagnet rice meal uses bagoong alamang (shrimp paste). It is less salty. The vegetables are blanched to retain their crunchiness. Crispy bagnet slices (lechon kawali) top the appetizing vegetable dish.

“We want to promote Filipino cuisine and offer customers healthy and restaurant-quality meals at an affordable price,” says Jose Victor Paterno, Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC) president and CEO. The premium meals are all below P100 — the Pulled Pork with Adobo Dip is P95; Pakbet with Bagnet is P89, and Pork Sinigang sa Kamias is P75.

“It made perfect sense to partner with chef Claude as he is one of the foremost advocates of Filipino cuisine to the world. He knows exactly how to bring out familiar flavors we know and love, and every dish from his kitchen can be considered a work of art,” Paterno noted.

The 7-Eleven premium meals are prepared at the commissary, which is equipped with state-of-the-art cooking facilities. Chef Claude personally pre-selected quality ingredients. The dishes are slowly cooked then chilled, and delivered to the stores daily.

Starting May 7, “Chef Creations by Claude Tayag” were rolled out to all 7-Eleven convenience stores in Luzon.

“I chose to tie up with 7-Eleven because they were willing to work with my philosophy of cooking nutritious and balanced meals without sacrificing taste,” Claude remarked. “By partnering with 7-Eleven, more people can now have easy access to healthy dishes.”

For those who are not able to go all the way to Bale Dutung, chef Claude’s ”by reservation only” restaurant in Pampanga, or their newly opened Downtown Café in Angeles City, there’s no need to fret. You can now enjoy chef Claude’s creations at a 7-Eleven convenience store near you.