From paper into sugar

Many summers growing up were spent between baking classes and art lessons. Fortunately, these tactile skills have now proven to be more than a little handy. It awes me to be able to VISUALIZE then REALIZE… proportions and dimensions, shapes and textures, lights and shadows.
There are clients who come to me with photos of cakes they want executed to scale. Those with great faith not only entrust me to conceptualize for them, but more importantly, work with me to design something bespoke, unique.

Eventually, as the relationship develops and matures, all it takes is a phone call, some details and voila! We are rockin! PhilAm Life Corporation has entrusted me with the birthday cakes of their beloved president, Jose L. Cuisia, long enough that such is the case. For possibly the most avid of La Salle supporters, I drew up Green Archer that was rolled in to the beat of the De La Salle Cheering Squad.

Ben Lozada and Ralyn Go capped their 10 year courtship with a July wedding entitled, ‘It’s About Time!’. The invitation was a clock face that, at one look, ingeniously gave all pertinent details of the affair: date, time, theme, color scheme. Ralyn had fallen in love with the Lantern Cake concept, and as Google would have it, I was led to the Lantern Clock, a little-known old English artifact. And so, after a little tweak here and a bit of engineering there, a wish was granted: light AND motion.

‘In showbiz, bigger is always better’, I have been told. I suppose that was why last year’s stack-of-gift-boxes took a back seat to Jollibee’s 4-foot cake for Sarah Geronimo. So for her 20th birthday, I pledged to make mine even more impressive. I put in color, I added height… taller and taller the layers became until it barely fit into my car. And our reward came. From the eight other cakes presented to her at Sunday’s ASAP show, it was our Yorkshire Terrier-topped tower that won the right to stand most prominently next to the celebrant-- AND hottie John Lloyd Cruz on stage. HA! So there!

What's in a name?

To those of you who are 80’s babies, these guys are urban legends: Jonathan Livingston Sy, Edgar Allan Pe, William Te, Andy Lim and Kenneth Sy.

The list of characters at Shortcrust is just as interesting. The major players through the years, bakers all, is led by my right hand and pioneer, PIN. There are the Esquilonas: decorating protege RUSTOM, and MONAY, the somber-faced yet cheery-voiced cashier. She was the replacement for older sister BEBOT, now married after having been with us for almost 10 years. And then the Santisimas: Elder GWAPO (as it tickles him to be called) was also with me for about a decade before moving on to Saudi Arabia where he is now an accomplished baker/decorator, ANONG is our toughie and closet handyman, and JESUS, my errand-companion and Man Friday. (It seems that these boys’ parents were mightily religious… or irreverent. They named their twins Jesus and Maria, then the next child Jose... Santisima. Jesus-Mary-Joseph-Holy Ghost.) Newest addition is F.O.B NICKNOK (cousin of NICKNAK).

I take pride in that every single one who has joined Shortcrust started out learning from scratch. It is sobering that some of my guys were once fishermen and butchers in the province. Today, they are indispensable partners in whatever success Shortcrust has achieved, more adept in the practical aspects of baking than all of my BakiPa students combined.Jesus leaves us tomorrow to try his luck in Riyadh, as Gwapo did two years before. We part ways with heavy hearts for he was my sidekick, my Divisoria-buddy, at times my sounding board and buffer. He was always so polite, humorous, and exuded such positive energy. In his enthusiasm he sometimes turned clumsy, but always well-meaning. Even before I could call out, “LOAD!” my 10kg tote was already tucked under an arm, laptop and books packed into the car. He made me Imeldific.

Just like the rest of Team Shortcrust, Jesus was family. I will surely miss him— when pushing carts at the grocery, rifling desperately through my junk for car keys, biting into a perfectly chewy chocolate chip cookie, and cursing in traffic when out on deliveries. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

God speed!

Hot Off The Press!

Metro Weddings Vol.8 No.2 is finally out! As a special double cover issue, it has bride Cheska Garcia twice as beautiful-- if that's possible.

About 2 years ago, Metro Weddings Magazine challenged Manila's top cake decorators to design individual interpretations of A White Wedding Cake. I came up with the Taj Mahal, an ivory version of the very first LANTERN CAKE I made that was for Jiggs and Ven (Laurel) Hermano. This rendition was covered entirely with Chikankari, Indian white-on-white embroidery done in icing, and topped with a dome patterned after that of the actual architectural wonder.

It was quite funny to come to a studio where there were at least 8 other cake decorators with 8 versions of white cakes. You just KNEW that they were checking YOU out just as you were checking THEM out. Hahahahaha! No one was being paid, it was simply a matter of pride.

That was the beginning of a trusting creative collaboration with the team of Romina Urra-Gonzales (editor-in-chief), Joan Soro (managing editor) and Kaye Cunanan (associate editor). For the same issue, I was asked to create another cake to coordinate with a concept board that sought to bring different elements of a wedding together in color and feel. The minimalist urban project reflected sleek and modern sensibility in gray, canary yellow and pool blue. Since Romina was especially supportive of my signature Lantern Cake, fashioned from the silhouette of the New York museum was, The Guggenheim.

A silver-winged gumpaste replica of the only souvenir I picked up on a trip to Vietnam was the accent for Dragonfly, the cake for MW's bronze, gold and pewter affair. Romina sent me a photo of a country wreath that, too, was copied in sugar and brushed to a shimmering antique finish.

And for this latest edition, I was assigned to make a cake to compliment a garden reception with down-to-earth chocolate, gray and sunshine yellow. I studied different versions of Paul Revere lamps in designing my colonial-style Punched-Tin Lantern.

Romina, Joan and Kaye are now moving on to other interesting fields and I wish them the best in their endeavors. Thank you for the opportunities. Our partnership brought out in me some of my most inspired work.

Chocolatier for a day

Far from how we know it today, Chocolate-- or Cacao, its principal ingredient, was discovered centuries ago as Montezuma's coveted Aztec elixir. The taste was bitter and the color red. And for almost 400 years it was enjoyed only as a drink. Thankfully, human genius found a way for us to better enjoy it as a confection. Cacao's scientific name describes it best: Theobroma Cacao-- Food of the Gods.

There have been many decadent ways I have relished chocolate-- as Serendipity's Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, Vong's Molten Chocolate Cake, even as a chocolate body scrub. But the most indulgent experience so far was the Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Singapore, a week of learning the secrets of chocolate making from experts and with experts.

Once a term every term, I am guaranteed perfect attendance in my Baking&Pastry Arts laboratory-- that would be on CHOCOLATE DAY. With spirits high and expectations even higher, the room falls into an alien hush as energies are focused on blocks melted, cooled and warmed; details piped and brushed; then molds lined, filled and sealed. Twenty individuals know no hunger nor breath until the task at hand is done. Six hours is tolerable after all-- when elbow-deep in Belgian couverture. The mission is finally accomplished at the tapping out of pralines marked by a loud collective… WOW!

The Circle of Life

I consider myself blessed to have a job that gives me the opportunity to share major milestones in life: beginning with christenings, marking births, various anniversaries, moving on to weddings and back again. My work has made it possible to form, renew and cement relationships with individuals, couples, families, even entire clans.

Our growing (De La Salle) Zobel mafia alone has packed my portfolio with cakes done for schoolmates and their network through the years. John and Sam (Amigo) Laurel, Jiggs and Ven (Laurel) Hermano, then Ace and Gela (Laurel) Stehmeier had their wedding cakes design-inspired by big brother Rajo and executed by me.

From eldest to youngest, the Montelibano brood, now all married off, were joys to work with. Neil and Jay (Montelibano) McLeod gave me a family fruitcake recipe to use as a base for their plaid Scottish tartan cake. Alvin and Tracy (Montelibano) Aquino who met in the UP carpool had a model car as accent. JD and Liza (Tajanlangit) Montelibano chose a seashell-dotted cake for their Tali Beach affair. And lastly, Richard and Jackie (Montelibano) Mendoza's December wedding cake sparkled with sugar poinsettias, edible Christmas balls and holiday glitter.

After Jocar and Cherie (Ocampo) Cervantes' 2006 Moroccan-inspired reception, we again collaborated, this time on the July baptismal of their firstborn, Javier.

Time does not just fly. More and more it gains turbo speed. I just recently realized that I had been making cakes for Gilbert and Donna (Pangilinan) Simpao and their 4 kids every year for the past 13 years since their wedding!

I am truly honored and privileged.




*Simpao photos courtesy of Donna

Mely Rolls

Often I am asked… from whom did you learn to bake? My requisite response is… not from my mom! However, even more important than teaching me to cook, my mom made it conducive for me to learn-- by giving me cookbooks, buying ingredients, later on pushing the products of my experiments to friends, and now helping out as my adviser and floral arranger. In other words, my mother is my secret weapon. But if I were to trace where I may have inherited culinary DNA, it must have been from LOLA PASAY.

Amelia Valencia Juban, native of Calapan, Mindoro and long-time Pasay resident (thus the monicker), is my paternal grandmother who was a talented cook. Loli had a limitless supply of kitchen gadgets, most of which she would in the end confess to not knowing how to use or operate--- then offer it to me. Now I have all these knick-knacks that I, too, know not to use. In other words, these things simply migrated.

Among the popular repertoire we grew up with, top faves are Pineapple Upside Down Cake (THE ultimate lola-cake), Camote Pie (with peanut or cashew streusel top), Cathedral's Window (gelatin with milk and fruit cocktail), Nilupak (lightly sweetened saba that we as kids fought to mash with an oversized wooden mortar and pestle), and her version of a jelly roll (light and fluffy sponge cake with condensada custard filling). Somehow its that roll that epitomized my beautiful Loli-- classic and simple and comforting. So while she was sick, I promised to learn that recipe and bake it for the family.

Today we laid her to rest.

Every sotanghon guisado will be compared to hers, hot pandesal with butter downed with Coke will always make me think of meriendas in Valhalla, and each of the MELY ROLLS I bake will be a tribute to my Lola Pasay.

Chefs On The Go

If a trend were to hit Manila, it might as well be something positively life-affirming like running. And these days, high society has succeeded in making it the latest IN-thing. Dailies, magazine articles and tv spots feature Filipinos conquering marathons, dualthons and the ultimate, triathlons. But to be fashionable, the minimum requirement would be running in New York, Boston or Hawaii.

My favorite running partner, Tito Jonee, and I always have a blast at San Francisco's Bay To Breakers.
Four years shy of it's 100th anniversary, the B2B has established itself as the funnest of fun runs. 12 kilometers go by swiftly with the entire city coming out in true San Francisco style to cheer/heckle the participants, a large number of both runners and oglers dressing in costume (and some WITHOUT!). Expectedly, every year gets more creative than the last.

Bright and early this Sunday morning, a sea of green flooded The Global City in Taguig, host to One La Salle's inaugural Fun Run. Despite a more-than-light shower, Lasallians 5,000 strong trekked in for the 3k, 5k and 16k routes with friends, family, even dogs in tow. Inspired by the B2B, SHRIM chef-instructors planned to run in toques but chickened out at the starting gun, sporting them just long enough for a great photo-op.

I kept pace with a spirited group of student-marines entertaining with their colorful chants-- though at times getting a tad too"green" for 6am. Things turned a bit chaotic at half-mark with marshals taking cover as rain fell, leaving runners to wonder about left vs. right. Then there were the lengthy, muddy queues in the aftermath. But it's funny how one mutates into patience-incarnate for loot bags, Gatorades and Krispy Kreme freebies.

All in all the exercise was a pretty good way to start one's day.

RUN! Run because you can!

Hail to the Chef!

Les Toques Blanches Philippines (LTB) organizes a monthly Chef’s Table which sees top industry practitioners taking a break and getting together to touch base while enjoying and appreciating great food.

The most recent dinner was hosted by Aubergine, the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management’s (ISCAHM) showcase restaurant. Along with the invitation, a menu is usually posted listing the various courses paired with the particular wines. This time however, Chef Norbert Gandler teased with a “surprise” menu. Although that most probably meant Norbert didn’t have a menu in mind just yet, as testament to the impeccable reputation his team has established through the years (having swept numerous competitions both here and abroad during the Mandarin and Shangri-la days), the evening was fully booked. Whoever wasn’t there was a LOSER! It certainly was one of the best meals of my life!

Amuse bouche

Aubergine appetizer delight
Duck foie gras tart with granny smith and Calvados jelly, home smoked Chilean sea bass on truffled beetroot salad with carrot orange foam and fennel pana cotta on tomato relish, accompanied by mesclun greens tossed in raspberry vinaigrette

Essence of duck with duck confit ravioli

Oven roasted Australian quail, stuffed with foie gras and Portobello mushroom, served on pumpkin risotto and balsamic-Curacao glazed grapes

White tomato and Basil sherbet

Trio of grilled US beef tenderloin with Pommery-mustard crust, roasted rack of lamb and braised veal cheek, served with Port wine jus and vegetable-potato galette

Parmesan espuma and melted French Brie cheese on grilled water melon with watercress relish and walnut bread

Gratinated lemon chiboust on strawberries with orange butter sauce, warm chocolate fondue cake and mascarpone-rosemary ice cream

Friandises

One of the highlights of the evening was a reunion with a life-mentor instrumental in inspiring the path my career has taken. Chef Ernie Babaran was Pastry Chef of the Mandarin Oriental Manila during my apprenticeship and now Pastry Arts instructor at ISCAHM. He was always a wonder to watch work, quiet and deliberate, a natural talent honed by decades of hard work and fine-tuned by vast experience. To this day, there is not a pastry chef in the country more respected.

The opportunity to pose with our icon was shared with Chefs James Antolin (CCA Manila) and Buddy Trinidad (Park Avenue Desserts), Philippine representatives to the 2008 Valhrona Asian Pastry Cup.
(Aubergine
32nd and 5th Building
5th Avenue cor. 32nd Street
Fort Bonifacio 1634 Taguig City
www. aubergine.ph
For reservations, e-mail the restaurant at dine@aubergine.ph or call [63] 02 856 9888.)

READ!

When asked to recommend a cookbook, any professional would certainly roll up their eyes at you. The list would simply be impossibly long.

At a recent book-buying trip I was sent to by the school, I was floored by the size of the publishing company warehouses in Singapore-- a couple required forklifts! For most of the venues, we had to skim through each and every shelf, go up and down what felt like hundreds of aisles, even climb ladders in search of material to add to CSB's already impressive collections. Benilde must have the most complete and best stocked LRC amongst the hotel and restaurant schools in the country.

I was also amused at some of the titles that actually saw print: How To Avoid Falling In Love With a Jerk (my Pulitzer Prize candidate!), How To Work For An Idiot, The Complete Gay Divorce... and those Dummies sure need to learn more than a thing or two!

The current issue of READ Magazine, a PowerBooks publication, features SHRIM faculty members and their top picks for cookbooks essential for the home kitchen as gathered by Joonee Garcia. My choice is DESSERT by Abigail Johnson, from the Williams-Sonoma series.
"This award-winning selection will equip the enthusiast with a strong repertoire of classics for all occasions. Instructions are clear, with information on ingredients that lists both volume and metric measures, and includes valuable tips for today's more discriminating home baker."