The award-winning Filipino chef curates a buffet featuring distinct dishes from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao
One of the many ways to know a place is through dining. Food is beyond just sustenance. It offers a quick and delightful history course to nonnatives as they take one spoonful after another of a local dish. This is true in the Philippines. With more than 7,000 islands, the country offers numerous tales with truly scrumptious meals to match. And as we brave our way to our new world after years of isolation, it is best to start our journey by rediscovering the Philippines---and through food.
As we celebrate Independence Day this month, award-winning chef Tatung Sarthou brings the Philippine islands together through a special buffet he is curating for Diamond Hotel. Dubbed “Rediscover Flavors of the Archipelago,” the Filipino food festival happening at the Corniche Buffet from today until June 12 features local regional cuisines to kickstart people’s appetite for travel and all things local.
“It is very important to rediscover our cuisine. It tells more about us, our history, and our own family heritage,” Chef Tatung tells Manila Bulletin Lifestyle. “Once we are connected to our lineage, we know who we are.”
The dishes Chef Tatung has prepared for the special buffet include appetizers pako salad, kinilaw na tuna, and sinuglaw. Local comfort food such as sinampalukang manok, papaitan soup and beef hinalang are also present in the buffet. There’s also a carving section dedicated to the popular lechon belly roll and roast beef adobo. For dessert, diners can choose from a variety of delicacies such as browa, torta bisaya, leche flan, buko pie.
Manila Bulletin Lifestyle was able to try some of the main dishes the noted Filipino chef and cookbook author has prepared. What people should miss tasting is his take on the pusit pancit, a Cavite dish that puts a twist on the beloved dish spotlighting squid ink-tinted noodles. A smoky and savory experience is courtesy of the kulawong talong. The dish hailed from Laguna and Quezon Province is made of roasted eggplant, coconut cream, and burnt coconut meat served with large shrimps. From Pampanga is the bringhe, a Filipino paella-style dish that is full of flavors and textures.
“Food is incredibly powerful in how it speaks to our values as a nation and a people,” says Chef Tatung. “It is important then to continually pass on our knowledge about cooking in a clear and understandable way to reach as many people as possible. Making cooking ‘simpol’ and less intimidating allows the story behind each dish to thrive in the hearts and minds of Filipinos everywhere.”
“Rediscover Flavors of the Archipelago” is priced at P3,300 net per person, guests spending P5,000 net at the Corniche Buffet will get a chance to win roundtrip airline tickets for two persons via Cebu Pacific Air to any local destination of choice at the raffle.
Visit onlineshopping.diamondhotel.com for reservations.
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