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PINOY FOOD: Next ‘big thing’ to conquer US www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Sunday, June 4, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 230
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 16 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
Fil-Am chefs come into their own with multiple James Beard Award nominations By Terry Tang The Associated Press
L
IKE a lot of chefs, Aaron Verzosa has been hustling the past three years to get Archipelago, his Filipino restaurant in Seattle, through the pandemic and its ripple effects. Getting a James Beard Award nomination was a validating moment.
“Being able to amplify and showcase stories about the Filipino-American culture, the communities here, specifically in the Northwest, and really the immigrant story that my parents came with.... I was just very humbled to be able to have the opportunity to showcase what the sacrifice was and be able to represent the region in that way,” said Verzosa, who is up for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific.
The Pinoy contenders
IN the culinary world, the awards are the equivalent of the Oscars. Three Filipino restaurants will be represented at the James Beard Foundation’s annual awards ceremony, on June 5 in Chicago.
CHEF Aaron Verzosa, who is nominated for a 2023 James Beard Award, poses for a portrait in front of capiz windows displayed at his Filipino American restaurant Archipelago Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Seattle. Verzosa is nominated in the Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific category. AP/LINDSEY WASSON
Abacá, in San Francisco, scored an Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker nod for Vince Bugtong. And Kasama, in Chicago, earned a joint Best Chef: Great Lakes nomination for husband and wife Tim Flores and Genie Kwon. Last year, Kasama was nominated for Best New Restaurant and also became the first Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant. Past Filipino American winners include Tom Cunanan, who snagged Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2019 for his now closed Washington, D.C., restaurant, Bad Saint. All this recognition is welcome praise for a cuisine that has historically been stifled by colonialism and a general lack of appreciation.
SPRING vegetables cooked in an in-house bagoong of Oregon pink shrimp, cauliflower ginataan, lovage, morels, and a wild nettle laing sauce comprise Anak ni Bet, a take on pinakbet, at Filipino American restaurant Archipelago, Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Seattle. AP/LINDSEY WASSON
These chefs are part of a younger generation giving voice to the Filipino American experience through the language of food. Before joining Abacá in January, Bugtong said he was having an identity crisis as pastry chef for an Oakland cocktail bar. He wanted to do more Filipino-centric desserts, but at the same time felt he lacked authenticity. At Abacá, he said, chef and owner Francis Ang gave him the freedom to explore his culinary roots. He has since experimented with dishes from the Philippines’ pre-Spanish days, like rice-based desserts, or kakanin in Tagalog. “In the small amount of time that I’ve worked here, I definitely
A CRÈME Brûlée Tart, made of lemon cinnamon custard, strawberry guava jam, macadamia coconut streusel and ube espuma, a purple yam foam, is shown at Abaca restaurant in San Francisco, Monday, May 29, 2023. AP/JEFF CHIU
learned so much,” Bugtong said. He enjoys playing around with ingredients from the Philippines. For example, he wants to make a granita with barako coffee, which is grown there, and pair it with muscovado jelly and leche flan ice cream. Leche flan is the Filipino version of crème caramel. Bugtong doesn’t worry about whether something is unconventional and outside the usual traditions of Filipino culture. “My thought process when I come up with stuff is, ‘Do I like it?’” he said. “Does it represent me as a Filipino American? Then the second thing that I think about is, ‘Is this approachable to other people? Filipino or otherwise?’ And then I
think of a composition that makes it aesthetically beautiful.”
Fil-Am ‘distinction’
IN Seattle, Archipelago, named because the Philippines is comprised of 7,100 islands, has been dishing out a seasonal tasting menu since 2018. Verzosa and his wife, Amber Manuguid, wanted a “Pacific Northwest restaurant first and foremost.” But there’s a “Filipino American-ness” intrinsic to the meals, too. For instance, Verzosa might swap out tamarind for wild lingonberries. He does his own take on Filipino banana ketchup with sweeter tubers or root vegetables. Continued on A2
A FIDDLEHEAD and a morel sit on the stove while being prepared for Anak ni Bet, Archipelago’s version of pinakbet, at the Filipino American restaurant on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Seattle. AP PHOTO/LINDSEY WASSON
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.2190 n JAPAN 0.4050 n UK 70.4312 n HK 7.1804 n CHINA 7.9193 n SINGAPORE 41.7302 n AUSTRALIA 36.9415 n EU 60.5029 n KOREA 0.0428 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.9914 Source: BSP (June 2, 2023)