The 2010 Great Adobo Challenge
Where: Marco Polo Plaza Hotel
Written by: Kristina Tabon and Marini Esguerra
Word Count: 953
Sometimes I can see steam rising from asphalt roads in the scorching
midday heat. Water is a dream and iced water is . . . well, in Pluto,
something that never was. Such was the day when I braved the heat and
traffic to drive to Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. They were staging the
first-ever 2010 Great Adobo Challenge and I was admittedly curious if
anyone could live up to the "adobo of my dreams." Café Marco was the
inimitable stage of this lovely affair and the adobo specials were to
be had during their lunch and buffet dinners. To make dining even
more fun, diners get to rate their favorites while earning a chance to
win an overnight stay in Manila for dinner at the guest chefs'
restaurants or a round trip ticket for two to Hong Kong.
In the quest for the best adobo 'there is no try'. I will hunt it
down, I will find it, and eat without sharing. Adobo is the holy grail
of Filipino cuisine. It's the one soul-food that embodies the spirit
of the Pinoy. It's what we eat with steaming hot rice, with ice cold
coke on a Sunday brunch with the family. It's the ultimate "Lola's
Secret Recipe." I wanted some of that mouth-watering, tangy, sweet,
aromatic, unexplainably heavenly soul-food.
On March 29 to May 2, 2010, the Marco Polo Plaza challenged four of
the greatest Pinoy Chefs to open the armory and make the most
inspiring adobo humanly possible, and they did not disappoint. Fairy
Godmother made my adobo dreams come true! There it was, my dream
adobo, served on a pristine, white, unassuming plate in stark contrast
to the gleaming glutinous mound of rice. Tasting it was one of the
highlights of the month! Four gloriously talented chefs prepared
several varieties of the dish, each one better than the last, although
come voting time, I abstained. Don't get angry, I was genuinely
confused. I couldn't decide which adobo was better.
The 'Adobong Sugpo sa Taba ng Talangka' was cooked to perfection by
Chef Glenda Barretto. I can see why the Filipino Restaurant Via Mare
is very successful and world-renowned. She represented East
Philippines (Samar) and has secured her niche in the culinary world
when her creations were monumental hits at the Philippine Expo 1992 in
Seville, Spain, the World Expo in 1998 in Lisbon, Portugal, and in
2005, at the World Expo in Aichi, Japan. This formidable woman also
wields the power of the pen as she is a columnist of the Philippine
Star and has authored four cookbooks.
Next to the heavenly sugpo was the creation of Chef Myrna Segismundo,
called the 'Mushroom Adobo Terrine,' but to me it was 'Ingenious,
Yummy Adobo.' Chef Myrna gave my soul-food a modern approach. She is
the Managing Director of TV Food Chefs and is an advocate of the
preservation of traditional Filipino cooking. Also a food writer,
Chef Myrna produces TV Food Chefs with ABS-CBN. Having once been
chairman of the Chefs on Parade (a national culinary competition for
pros and students), she is no stranger to bright lights and
showmanship. On her belt are two cookbooks: The Party Cookbook and
the Philppine Cuisine. Chef Myrna represented Batangas for the Great
Adobo Challenge.
Then there was 'Tinupig Adobo' by Chef Danny de la Cuesta. This
talented food expert from Northern Luzon has two loves: fashion and
food. For both his loves he received tutelage and training overseas—at
FIT in New York for fashion and then at the Le Corden Bleu Ecole de
Cuisine et de Patisserie, in London, with Chef Jean Claude Boucheret
as a mentor. We could go on about where Chef Danny has been but this
is about his sumptuous adobo creation. His version was a twice-cooked
pork and chicken adobo in green mango grilled in banana leaf. Veeeery
nice. And the banana leaf was clever. As a take-away item, one could
microwave the dish for dinner and the banana leaf kept in every drop
of sauce. Marco Polo Plaza's PR Team had the nifty idea of providing
the conference attendees with bags of take-away, so I may have had my
fill at lunch and then relived the gustatory experience at supper.
Brilliant!
Chef Nancy Reyes-Lumen made adobo without the guilt, but with all the
flavor, having carved off every bit of fat from the meat. The name
'Liposuction'd Adobo' spoke for itself, but a taste of it was enough
to give me the warm fuzzies. She said her clan—the Aling Asyang Reyes
Clan—lives to eat. Chef Nancy is another one of those people whom the
Almighty bestowed ten talents: she writes (cookbooks and columns),
critiques, hosts TV shows, does broadcast radio, and shares everything
in her noggin through SMS daily food tips with Smart Telecomm. Like
the other chefs for the Adobo Challenge, she helps to promote our
native cuisine to the rest of the world, but she also works locally to
increase the dietary standards and food literacy in the Philippines.
I can imagine wanting to live one more day just to have that amazing
adobo. With every bite, it felt like global warming was a distant
reality, there were no power fluctuations, and the dolphins were
safe. Happiness really is directly proportional to a full stomach
because that afternoon, I headed out and the world was a better place,
everyone was happy, the sky was the perfect shade of blue with wispy
cotton clouds, and the birds were chirping in the golden sunlight.
When I left Marco Polo Plaza I had the silly smile of someone who
found peace.
