It’s not often – maybe ever before – that you see a multi-course tasting menu filled tip to tail with Filipino flavors and Aussie beef, lamb and goat. At an Aussie Meat Academy event in San Diego last month, Chef Roy Villacrusis and host Chef John Bacolod delivered just that, in style! We’ll get into a few of the highlights of the night’s “Window into Filipino Cuisine” while you peruse the menu. Warning! May be drool-inducing!
First off, yes, there were lumpia stuffed with Filipino picadillo, with ground beef, lamb and olives. Bistek skewers were another passed app to get the party going, with caramelized onion and onion blossoms. The Pochero Chawanmushi was a creative mashup of traditional Filipinobeef and bone marrow stew (Pochero) with Japanese savory egg custard (Chawanmushi), with Aussie beef ribs as the anchor.
Two dishes from the night that guests are still talking about took classically humble dishes and elevated them right to the top. The “lamsilog” takes the all-day garlic fried rice and egg (silog) and paired it with lamb breast and lamb chop, the latter given an adobo treatment. The plating tells you right away this isn’t Auntie’s silog!
Another showstopper is the chefs’ take on kaldareta, a traditional one-pot goat stew made with liver and tomato in the braise. The balance of bitter, sweet, sour and umami is classic Filipino cuisine, but the chefs gave it a Michelin-grade styling on the plate and a serious dose of technique. Good thing the Aussie goat is worthy of the royal treatment, including pave-style plating. Wow!
Massive appreciation to the chefs – those who came to eat, and especially the crew in the kitchen – Chef Roy, John and his team from Vintana. A night to remember!