Volume 5, Issue No. 31
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
Our latest as of Monday, April 8, 2024
~ The Philippines' colonial past is reflected in culture, in food particularly, according to some pundits. One story goes that Filipino cuisine as we know it "is sometimes characterized as the 'original Asian fusion cuisine'." Arguably it is, if the excellent fusion foods two Philippine-born chefs are whipping up daily at their restaurants are taken into account.
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2024 FILIPINO RESTAURANT MONTH
Filipino-Canadian Fusion Food Shines
Manila-Born Chefs Helm the Kitchen at Mineral and Mother Tongue
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
“Food is the avenue into a culture.” ―
TORONTO - The idiom "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach" comes to life in this the 2024 Filipino Restaurant Month (FRM) undertaking by Philippine diplomatic missions in eight provinces in Canada.
Though the heart and the stomach have different biological functions, the phrase describes exactly the dining experience Consul Mary Grace Villamayor, artist and journalist Michelle Chermaine Ramos, and this reporter, had last week.
It's certainly a tender, even romantic, way of expressing appreciation for the cook who spends hours putting together a fine meal, and in our pleasant case, for two Philippine-born chefs, namely, Daniel Cancino and Francis Bermejo.
Not only did they capture our hearts, they also succeeded in stimulating our appetite for fusion cuisine, a field they excel in, and served at Mineral restobar (1027 Yonge St. in Rosedale) and Mother Tongue (348 Adelaide St. West).
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The wave that Cancino and Bermejo create at their restaurants may be fortuitous for, perhaps not quite well-known, the fact that "Filipino cuisine," according to Wikipedia, "is sometimes characterized as the 'original Asian fusion cuisine', combining native culinary traditions and ingredients with the very different cuisines of China, Spain, Malaysia, Thailand and Mongolia, among others, due to its unique colonial history."
The rich elements of East and West are on full display during the two successive days Consul Villamayor had set for a visit - Wednesday, April 3 at Mother Tongue and Thursday, April 4, at Mineral, to try the food there in consonance with the 75th celebration of Philippine-Canada relations.
It could be said then that diplomatic ties between the two countries - once soured by Canada's garbage (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbBj_7HJk3w T) - have gone from political, economic, and social to the more self-fulfilling gastronomy.
The bad weather on those days did not dampen our enthusiasm to discover for ourselves why fusion food is such a big hit in the two Toronto establishments, not because the chefs are Filipinos, but due to their creativity and culinary expertise in whipping up mouthwatering dishes.
Small wonder why their clientele was undaunted either. The palate that's long used to ancient and contemporary Filipino food got supplanted, albeit temporarily, due to what Ms. Ramos called "amazing" taste of culinary fusion.
I rarely hear such a word spoken so candidly and spontaneously as a reaction to food laid out on the table - an intermingling of foodstuffs known to Filipinos and Canadians and resulting in delightful comestibles.
All I can say was "very good" to define the blended nourishment Mineral and Mother Tongue were serving the three of us instant gourmands partaking in the Philippine government's annual FRM program.
The first two years of FRM were discoveries and adventures in Filipino dining. In April 2022, there were nine participants in the Greater Toronto Area. In 2023, that number went up to 12.
This year's third FRM - limited by choice to two fusion restaurants in Toronto - was rather a confirmation of what we knew all along, i.e., that Filipino chefs are world class if given the chance to bloom.
Cancino and Bermejo, the executive chefs in the two restos, should be on their way to seeding the traditional Filipino food into Canadian menus. Just to prove my point, come, visit and dine at Mineral and Mother Tongue. It'll be a delightful experience. (Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved).
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