“Meet us at the market parking lot at 8…Bring beer.” …said the cryptic text as we prepared ourselves to be kidnapped by some guerillas in Manila. Nobody freak out. By guerillas I actually mean the guerilla chefs of Manila-based Pinoy Eats World – a company that creates events that revolve around food. To be honest, I was quite willing to be captured — strike that — I begged to be taken to their secret kitchen where they would be cooking a special dinner as my introduction to Filipino cuisine.
Salted Duck Eggs in the Secret Kitchen
Upon arriving at the secret kitchen, I thought to myself — it’s a good thing they aren’t real guerillas as the delicious smells coming from inside would be a dead giveaway. Instead, I found JJ Yulo and Namee Jorolan, 2 members of the Pinoy Eats World team. Born and raised in the Philippines, these two friends received formal culinary school training abroad as well as worked in some pretty amazing places. ( JJ at Nobu in NYC and Namee at Chez Panisse in Berkeley among others) No chef-whites for them tonight. JJ wears an edgy t-shirt and is larger than life. He’s like a more cuddly Bourdain, but with the same kick-ass taste in music. Sweet Namee is petite and soft-spoken– and really knows her stuff. We talked a lot about Alice Waters and Chez Panisse where Namee worked and where I had a memorable meal with my now-husband when he was going to school at Cal. It was the precise place that turned me into an accidental foodie.
Namee cooking and JJ being JJ
The twist of the night was when I found out that I wasn’t just going to be eating my first Filipino meal, I was going to have to cook it as well!! I’ve never claimed the kitchen to be my power sector. Winning a quickfire challenge is not in my future, unless it involves making Sangria or brownies. Sport that I am though, I gave it a go and chopped leeks as if my life depended on it. When it got to be too much, I volunteered to take pictures instead and got to witness the pros at work.
Proof that I have some knife skills!
The food was done in a flash after I got out of everyone’s way. There were perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs, topped with a rich sauté of leeks, and tomatoes. A refreshing salad of cherry tomatoes and radishes, bound together by a silky dressing made of salted duck eggs. Tortang talong, which is like an eggplant fritatta, filled with ground pork and spiked with the most amazing bacon brittle. It was savory, sweet and smokey both from the bacon as well as the eggplant.
Sarsiadong Itlog – Eggs topped with a tomato and leek sauté
Prepping the eggplant for the torta
Mmmm…bacon brittle
Namee attending to every detail
The best dish of the night for me though was the Adobo. I was told that this is almost considered the national dish, and everyone has their own version. JJ and Namee simmered theirs with roasted and peeled chestnuts and studded it with roasted whole heads of garlic. The dish was the perfect balance of salty, a touch sour from the vinegar and a hint of sweet from the chestnuts. While I am not a hardcore foodie, I know what I like and this stuff was good.
There are no pictures of the adobo because we ate it. It was that good.
Getting to know the Philippines food scene that night was one of the highlights of my trip. I don’t know if I had any expectations coming into it, but I do know I couldn’t have gotten a better primer than the one from my new friends. I hope to come back and continue my education (Probably more on the eating side and not the cooking) by going on one of their food tours or by getting to experience one of their guerilla dinners for real. In the meantime, I’m scheduled to have dinner at Café Chez Panisse Friday night, where I will raise a glass for Namee, JJ and that adobo, which I have been dreaming about for months.
Till we eat again