Eating your way through ASEAN

MANILA, Philippines - Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts in the Philippines has partnered with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Ladies Foundation (ALF) in a collaboration of cuisine and culture.

The four hotels and resorts – Makati Shangri-La, Manila; Edsa Shangri-La, Manila; Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa, Cebu; and Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort and Spa – will feature a Southeast Asian food festival until November, with dishes recreated from the cookbook ASEAN Culinary Delights, a project of the ASEAN Ladies Foundation, to share the culinary treasures of the 10 member countries of ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The cookbook is divided into five sections: Childhood Favorites, Signature Dishes, Delectable Delights, Festive Fare and Celebrity Chefs.

Each member country has contributed a dish for each section, while the last section, Celebrity Chefs, features dishes from notable chefs, two of whom are from Shangri-La: Makati Shangri-La’s executive sous chef Gene del Prado, who contributed a recipe for sinigang na lapu-lapu sa miso at kamias (sour fish soup with miso and bilimbi), and Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort and Spa’s executive sous chef Azlan Juri, who shared a recipe for ikan asam pedas dengan nasi lemak (spicy sour fish with coconut rice).

Makati Shangri-La, Manila kicked off the food festival last Aug. 8, a significant date as this marked the 47th anniversary of the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Mano Hirubalan, president of the ASEAN Ladies Foundation, project chair of the ASEAN Culinary Delights cookbook and spouse of the ambassador of Singapore to the Philippines, attended the opening and book launch, together with Gretchen del Rosario, founding chair of the ASEAN Ladies Foundation and spouse of the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Notable dishes in the cookbook that will be featured in the food festival include gado gado, banana heart salad, kilawin tanguigue (fish ceviche), chicken tinola, tod man pla (fish cakes), chicken rice, beef rendang and pulut hitam (black glutinous rice pudding).

The ASEAN Culinary Delights food festival ends today at Circles Event Cafe at Makati Shangri-La, for lunch and dinner.  The food festival will then “travel” to HEAT at Edsa Shangri-La from Sept. 1 to 14; Tides at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa, Cebu from Oct. 3 to 17 and Vintana at Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort and Spa from Nov. 5 to 20.

“The ASEAN Culinary Delights cookbook is a fruit of our efforts, envisioned as a gastronomic odyssey to introduce the delights of ASEAN cuisine which is unique, rich in taste, tempting to the palate, fragrant, enticing and a potpourri of colors,” said Hirubalan. “Funds generated from the sales of the cookbook will be channelled to assist in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of typhoon-ravaged areas in the Visayas. So, more than anything, this publication is a true manifestation of the ASEAN spirit of unity and solidarity, a contribution to the ASEAN culinary scene.”

“We are honored to have contributed to the ASEAN Culinary Delights cookbook, in cooperation with the ASEAN Ladies Foundation,” said Alain Borgers, area manager of Shangri-La hotels and resorts in the Philippines and general manager of Makati Shangri-La. “We are unified in this journey to showcase the culinary heritage of this diverse region, where our hotels and resorts are also well represented. Through this project, we hope for better awareness and appreciation of the shared and assortment of flavors of ASEAN cuisine.”

The ASEAN Culinary Delights cookbook will be available for P499 at the respective hotel outlets during the food festivals, or through the ASEAN Ladies Foundation.