Chef Rob
Pengson's Rizal Menu is back!
I missed the
first one so trying out this one upon the invitation of Hostess with the
Mostest Bella Yuchengco was an absolute delight.
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| Hostesses with the Mostess! Bella Yuchengco and Sunshine Puey-Pengson |
The first thing
I realized upon checking the menu was that it is not just about Noli Me Tangere but
about the chef's impressions of Rizal at various points of his life. The chef articulates on the plate how he perceives Rizal must have felt in the milestones of his life.
The degustation
started with Coconut, Crab and Fermented Mango. This was inspired by the Rizal
quote "one who does not know where she came from will never get to his
destination". Ang di lumingon sa pinanggalingan, di makakarating sa
paroroonan. (I didn't even realize that quote was by Rizal!) When you order
this, try to name each Filipino flavor you try! Here's a giveaway: the brown
sauce there is not balsamic vinegar but latik!
Must apologize, this photo does
not do the dish justice. The mood lighting got in the way of Instagram! These photos are the most that I
could muster with an iPhone. :(
Second course
was this salad with strawberries and Laguna cheese. It represents Rizal's
childhood. Jamon accented the sweet Baguio
strawberries without tempering their sweetness. If the chef's objective was to make the guest feel happy
like Rizal as a child, well, I don't know if it was the company but I found
myself smiling while eating this dish!
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| Where to find the best Kesong Puti? |
This was
followed by a sosyal na tocilog! "My mom came here once and asked for
sinangag," Chef Rob Pengson confessed, laughing. The egg is supposed to
represent Rizal's delicate mission as a young revolutionary while he was in
Europe.
Instead of rice,
this dish has inuling na kamote (sweet potato). The chef is on a mission
to incorporate Filipino cooking techniques in the degustation as well.
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| Cured Lechon Kawali, Egg and Pickles |
The fourth
course was the big hit of the night, apparently an all-time favorite I had
never tried before: foie gras taho. Well. Ito na ang pinaka-sosyal na taho that
I have ever tried in my life!
You will be deceived at first and think it is just pearls look but underneath ... foie foie foie!!! It presents something that is familiarly ours (taho) with something that is familiar with the rest of the world (foie gras). "We take that feeling (of mistaken identity - the feeling abroad that no one has a proper concept of the Philippines) and use it to transform something simple and familiar into another thing altogether," the menu reads.
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| Foie Gras Taho |
Course No. 5: Beef Tartare. This dish represents a fusion of cultures. Rizal did travel around the world and left a mark in Spain, Germany, Japan, etc. And that green mush underneath? Eggplant aka aubergine aka talong! And what looks like French fries is kamote (sweet potato).
What's a Filipino meal without lechon? The sixth course had lechon kawali. So good. It also sends this message: Lechon is not for pigging out, hahaha! It is possible on a degustation menu! This piece represents the Noli Me Tangere part of the life of Rizal - the chef believes that at that point in time Rizal knew the danger of his advocacy. So there is the anticipation of the blood that will flow from the revolution - represented by ... dinuguan!
The last main course represents the last chapter of Rizal's life: his capture and exile in Dapitan. The idea is to make you experience provincial/barrio/exile life so you can eat this dish without utensils. I think it was a little more rugged than this in Dapitan, haha, but this was my second favorite dish of the night (really loved the starter with latik). Really, it's ]sosyal na barbecue. But it has perfectly cooked "24-hour steak",as the chef calls it. AND you see that yellow puddle? That is sea urchin! To die.
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| Wagyu Barbecue with Sea Urchin Dip |
We capped the night with this dessert of Sampaguita and Coconut. The white stuff on the plate - that is sampaguita powder. Cool, noh? Reminded me of the Sampaguita ice cream in Ilustrado. That red blob is Rizal's blood :( But the rest of the dish is all white to represent hope for the Filipino people.
I would encourage you to read about Rizal before coming to this dinner. It makes for great conversation while enjoying the degustation. We talked about Rizal's amazing grasp of Filipino recipes, as seen in his written works, and - may he rest in peace - his girlfriends around the world, hehehe! Macho pala siya!
Bring out that patriot in you, read up on our national hero and experience the Rizal Menu at The Goose Station.
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| Fab foodies: Bella Yuchengco, Sunshine Puey-Pengson, Claude Tayag and his darleng Maryann, Micky Fenix, Cyrene dela Rosa, Sandy Daza, Gourmet Goddess Beth Romuladez, and yours truly Margaux Salcedo. |
