Chef and food writer Angelo Comsti has written five books. His first book was a recipe book on edible gifts made for Christmas. The rest of his books are all Filipino cookbooks.
His latest book, launched in 2019 and which continues to sell very well until now, is entitled “Also Filipino.” It is a collection of 75 regional dishes he never had growing up. Always in love with food, Angelo grew up with adobo, kare-kare, or kaldereta — Filipino food defined by what he ate at home. His visits to provinces around Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao exposed him to more food he never even tried. He wrote the recipes in this book to share his discoveries and fill in the gap for anyone who needed to know more about Filipino food.
With the book’s publication, he had collaborated dinners to promote his book. Angelo’s first collaboration was with chef Kenji Kawasaki in Tokyo’s Last Note and the second was with chef Mano Thevar at Thevar in Singapore.
He recently had his first Philippine collaboration with Filipino chefs Rhea Rizzo and Bettina Arguelles in Lanai by FreshStart in Bacolod.
The “Also Filipino” pop-up in The Coffee Academics in Greenhills was his first in Manila and his first solo outing. The two-night only dinner was held at the Guest Room bar, a speakeasy located inside the coffee shop.
With just two assistants, Angelo prepared a four-course dinner of Filipino regional dishes for two nights. The dinner started with “Chicken,” a plate with three small bites of chicken in three textures. First was “Ala Carajay” — chicken thigh with a brown mushroom sauce and herbed crumbs, a dish from Luzon. I can only presume this was based on “Pollo Asado de Carajay,” a Filipino dish with Spanish roots where chicken can be cooked with a variety of sauces in a “carajay,” which is similar to a wok. Angelo’s grilled skewered chicken with mushroom sauce was a crowd favorite. He served this together with a shot glass of Visayan chicken broth made with coconut meat, coconut water, and lemongrass and a flaky pastry filled with chicken breast, a soft boiled egg yolk, and turmeric, which he based on a Filipino dish from Mindanao. This first course was reimagined by Angelo and is the only course not included in his book.
His Mindanao dish was “Fish” — snapper with golden turmeric sauce, kalkag (dried bay shrimp), adlai (Job’s tears), and pako(fern) with bagoong (fermented shrimp sauce). I’m not fond of pako but loved his version with the shrimp paste! The second main course was “Beef” — short rib, linutik (classic Ilonggo dish made with mashed squash and coconut milk), balbacua (a Filipino beef stew originating from Visayas or Mindanao), chickpeas, and small pieces of crispy fried tripe.
Dessert was panocha (Filipino jaggery) ice cream with sago, saba (banana), bilo-bilo (sticky rice balls), polvoron and peanuts. This was so good I wolfed this down for a perfect evening.
The turnout for both nights was very good and people have been asking if he will be doing any more pop-ups in the future. Sadly, not in the near future as he will be concentrating on his new restaurant with chef Don Baldosano. Called Offbeat, this modern retro Filipino bistro will open next year in Makati. This is definitely something to look forward to next year! *
(For those interested in the book “Also Filipino,” you may order from Angelo by messaging either Angelo on Instagram (@foodudeph) or Libreria Filipiniana on Instagram or Facebook.)
Merry Christmas to everyone!
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