"It's Olson," the Trade Rep. from the Canadian Embassy told me, "not Olsen like Olsen twins." Oh.
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| Chef Anna Olson, Micky Fenix, Maria Brown of the Asian Food Channel |
I slinked into my chair, late as usual, rushing in from the Christmas traffic of Makati Avenue. "I'm just going to slip into this seat," I smiled at everyone at the table. "Right," a lovely black lady with an English accent said, "Like we all can't see you." Sincere laughter from round the table and I immediately felt welcome, tardy as I was. As it happens, I "slinked" into the VIP table: to my left was the Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines, Christopher Thornley (or, as his card reads, "ambassadeur"). Beside him was the guest of honor Chef Anna Olson. To Anna's right was my idol, Inquirer food columnist Micky Fenix, and to her right was the lady who created the Asian Food Channel, Ms. Maria Brown. (To my left was the gorgeous Chef Rob Pengson whom I had not met until this event, although I had reviewed The Goose Station a while back.)
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| Rob Pengson, Amb. Christopher Thornley, Anna Olson, Micky Fenix |
The evening was meant to be an introduction of Chef Anna to the Philippine culinary community but also an effort at a culinary cultural exchange between Canada and the Philippines. It led to conversations like this:
Rob to Anna: So what's Canadian food?Anna: Good question. I will have to make the Canadian ambassador answer that. (Laughs from the guests)Rob: Maple?Anna: Yes, maple is definitely Canadian.
But I learned some interesting (if not controversial) things from the Ambassador.
Amb. Thornely to Kat Reambillo, Canadian Embassy Trade Commissioner: What items do we bring in to the Philippines?Kat: Bread, pork.Me, Micky: Pork?!Ambassador: (Nods) Yes, and chicken.Me, Micky: Chicken?!!Ambassador: Yes, in fact, I think Jollibee gets their chicken from us.Me, Micky: Jollibee?!!!
Me: Well whaddaya know, the Chickenjoy is made from Canadian chicken!A minute later, Rob asks me something.
Me: Sorry, I zoned out after Jollibee. I'm still in shock!!!
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| Whippet |
For dessert, we were fed a lovely chocolate-marshmallow concoction called a Whippet. After Rob and I started singing "Whip it ... whip it real good ..." Chef Anna corrected us. "Hmmm if this is Canadian maybe it should be whee-pay?" True enough, the Ambassador confirmed that there should have been one of those accent signs on the menu.
The Whippet looks like a giant Kiss (which made me ask aloud: If you have one piece of Hershey Kisses, is it called a Kiss? and the unanimous answer was yes!). But inside, it's all marshmallow with a tiny raspberry filling and a crunchy sugar layer at the bottom. It's definitely yummy and a lot of fun! I would want that as a Christmas dessert, and for more of a Christmas spirit, maybe put some peppermint sprinkles atop it!
Chef Anna Olson (she has a wiki page!) is a Canadian pastry chef with six cookbooks published and three cooking shows to her name: Sugar, Kitchen Equipped and Fresh. Sugar was obviously about desserts; but Fresh is more all-encompassing, showcasing Chef Anna cooking from her home in the Niagara region of Canada and using fresh, seasonal ingredients in her recipes.
Maria Brown was an Englishwoman in New York (like Sting!) working for the BBC before moving to Singapore to create the Asian Food Channel. Over breakfast today she shared with me that the AFC was started by just herself and guy named Hian Goh around five years ago. From an empty 2,000-square meter office, they have now become the official Asian Food Channel present in SIngapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Mongolia (!) and soon Vietnam.
We can now all catch Fresh with Anna Olson on the Asian Food Channel SkyCable Channel 22.
Oh, she has a one-day appearance at the Home Zone (Level 3) of Greenbelt 5 on December 4 from 3pm to 6pm.
