WITH so many dining choices these days, Filipinos are able to enjoy cuisines from all over the world. One thing is constant, though: Whatever options there are, the Pinoy tummy always goes back to the flavors of home. There is a twinge of nostalgia when the people taste something similar to what lola or nanay used to make.
XO46 Heritage Bistro takes the throwback theme a bit further by taking diners on a tasting tour featuring our culinary history via a degustaćion menu, aptly called The Philippines on a Plate. Andrew and Sandee Masigan, the power couple behind XO46, took the throwback all the way back, even to the time before Magellan reached Philippine shores.
This took a lot of research, which Andrew acknowledges was done primarily by Sandee. She pored over books even to the point of having a Chinese script translated for a particular passage. They also went on “fact-finding missions” to even far-flung provinces with their chefs, in efforts to locate heirloom recipes slowly being forgotten.
To hear them talk with so much passion and enthusiasm about their finds help stimulate the appetite, both for the meticulously prepared food and for more knowledge about how our forefathers used to live. “Filipino cuisine is often undervalued and misunderstood. After much research, we put together the Philippines on a Plate degustaćion to reveal the many layers in our culinary history that we haven’t taken the time to understand yet,” Andrew explains.
The result of their hard work is an informative and enjoyable menu that highlights the sophistication and complexity of Philippine cuisine that traces from 30,000 years ago to the present.
“Our cuisine is not homogenous, and it has many different influences,” he offers, as the meal starts out with a round of appetizers that typify our food influences Pasag Yang Manok (Indonesian), Torta de Chorizo (Spanish), Bihud Canapes (Malay), and Hakaw in Seafood Sauce (Chinese).
These are followed by a Kinilaw Quadro of Tanigue, Tahong, Dilis and Kambing. Yes, raw goat meat stewed with palm vinegar and flavored with sea salt and turmeric are on the menu. This was how our ancestors ate, they explain, before they started cooking with fire.
Inihaw na Kalabaw is another pleasant surprise on the menu; it is not stringy, they explain, as it was from a special cut of meat somewhere along the back part. This was also the consideration that they made with the wild boar used in another main dish, the Binagoongang Baboy Damo at Kare-Kare.
As this is a celebration of Filipino food, a soul-satisfying Sinigang na Lapu-Lapu sa Santol is also in the degustaćion.
On this, Andrew annotates, “if you think about what the essence or soul of Filipino food is, it would be the sourness. If you look at it, the dishes that have endured through history are our paksiw, kinilaw and sinigang—all are sour dishes.”
The Chinese traded with the locals long before the Spanish arrived, and Sandee discovered that our chieftains were treated as royalty when they visited China. To represent this era, XO46 has a Pato Tim on the menu, the tender and flavorful soy duck nestled beautifully on a nest of mushroom vermicelli.
One interesting factoid they sprang on guests during the dinner launch was that our connections to Mexico are even stronger than previously thought. Since Spain was farther away, it would take longer for officials to travel from the motherland, hence our governor-generals actually came from Mexico. This is why, Andrew says, some Filipino traits are closer to the Mejicanos. This is also why we have maize and tomatoes, ingredients in their degustaćion course Ensalada de Mais.
From Spanish influences comes the next dish, the Bacalao Estofado Y Arroz Saffron. Barcino’s Oscar Bosch was on hand, as the menu is paired with his rose, red and white wines. He explains that in Spain, bacalao is a common man’s food, usually taken by sailors as sustenance on their long journeys at sea.
American arrivals brought convenience food to the fore, a fact highlighted by XO46’s dish of Grilled Cheese with Spam. A sweet ending was provided by a Sweet Potato Pie with Coconut Sauce.
Reservations for the 10-course degustacion meal must be made 24 hours in advance, and they are priced at P3,200 per person, and P4,700 when opting for wine pairings. The menu is available at the XO46 branches in Valero Street Makati, Century Mall, and Capitol Commons. Call 532-1652 or 553-6635.