Ilonggo Cuisine Deconstructed, by Chef Ariel Castaneda
I’ve had countless degustation experiences before, and as a foodie, I believe it’s the best way to perfectly savor each distinct flavor of an ingredient. However, when it comes to deconstructed food, I think there are some cases where it’s a hit-or-miss. Deconstructed food is the art of dismantling the food to its most basic parts to better appreciate each flavor. But in my latest experience at LaMeza Ilonggo, I loved how the Chef highlighted Ilonggo dishes in his own way of “deconstruction.”
In our recent visit to Iloilo, Granary Richmonde Hotel General Manager Nat Lim invited us to sample Chef Ariel Castañeda‘s 5-course degustation, LaMeza Ilonggo.
Chef Ariel Castañeda, a past winner of Tabu-an, an annual cooking competition in Western Visayas, joined Richmonde as an executive chef during the pandemic. The Granary is a popular restaurant in Iloilo that caters to family and friends. Aside from the usual fare, The Granary aims to invite people to try their new specialties in their 5-course Degustation.
Looking at the menu, I knew it was special because apart from featuring local fares, Chef Ariel’s aim is to showcase his own version of several iconic Ilonggo dishes. In the culinary world, we call it deconstruction, where food is served from a unique perspective without necessarily showing the original components.
Our first course was Pancit Molo Xiao Long Bao and Baked Talaba Bomb. He curated the dish by having the pork and shrimp filling wrapped in homemade wonton skin and then steamed a la xiao long bao. They added spring onion confit too, so that the flavor would be subtle but without losing the taste of pancit molo. It was uniquely served in a bowl covered in edible paper. The paper must be burned to uncover a banana leaf-wrapped xiao long bao-like dim sum with pancit molo gelee.
On the other hand, the Baked Talaba Bomb uses milk butter, white cheddar, fresh oyster, and garlic confit and is paired with Chateau Los Boldos Chardonnay 2018. It’s your typical baked oyster, but breaded in a pancake batter and then deep fried. At first glance, it looks like a Spanish potato bombas, but this time, you get fresh oysters inside. I’m not a fan of oysters to be honest, but this one is something I genuinely love eating.
KBL was our second course, which, I admit, was the one I was looking forward…
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