Bagoong and patis take center stage in Madrid

MADRID — Bagoong and patis took center stage in the Spanish capital for this year’s Madrid Fusion, held at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos. The 16th edition had Toyo Eatery’s Jordy Navarra as the featured Philippine chef this year, who spoke about “The Wild and Untamed Flavors of the Philippine Islands.”

Onstage, Navarra, accompanied by sous chef JP Cruz and Panaderya Toyo (their new Filipino bakery) head baker Richie Manapat, wanted to showcase how fermentation — while a relatively new phenomenon in other food cultures — is a generations-old cooking technique in the Philippines, that happens quite naturally due to the climate and humidity.

They prepared Palamos prawns with green and ripe Philippine mangoes, homemade bagoong served with burong alamang with pork belly and mustasa — using two types of fermented condiments. “Buro is specifically salted alamang (baby shrimp), which is fermented with cooked rice,” shared Navarra. “Ours at Toyo is sautéed with toasted garlic oil and onions. Bagoong is salted alamang that’s fermented for 14 days before being sautéed with garlic onions, tomatoes and mangoes.”

BChef Jordy’s dish of Palamos prawns with green and ripe Philippine mangoes, homemade bagoong served with burong alamang with pork belly and mustasa uses two types of fermented condiments. Photo courtesy of Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet
 

Patis (fish sauce) was showcased in a signature Toyo chocolate, made with dulce de leche, which they brought from the Philippines for the audience to taste. They also prepared Tapai (fermented rice inoculated with bubod, a starter) ice cream with melon, nata de coco and reduced coconut vinegar.

We caught up with Navarra right after his presentation.

PHILIPPINE STAR: Why did you decide on this topic in particular — and what did you hope to achieve with your presentation at MF?

JORDY NAVARRA: We chose the topic because we wanted to share some of our traditions and techniques in the Philippines that they might not be aware of here in Madrid. By sharing with them parts and ideas of our food culture, we want them to understand more what we do and what we have in the Philippines.

Why did you decide to create Palamos prawns with Philippine mangoes, bagoong served with burong alamang with pork belly and mustasa, and Tapai ice cream with melon, nata de coco and reduced coconut vinegar?

We played around with classical Philippine flavor pairings like green mango and bagoong, as well as fish and buro. Our plan was to apply our fermented condiments with some of the products that are available here in Spain.

This year will mark the fourth edition of Madrid Fusion Manila. How do you think MFM has impacted the Philippines’ culinary scene?

It has been amazing for our dining scene because it gave everyone a reason to come visit Manila specifically for food and eating out. On top of that, it has put Manila in the spotlight for the past few years, showing our progress as a food town.

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