Choosing the subject matter every year for the Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award (DGF Award) is a delightful chore. From the 11th year of the competition in 2013 up to the 22th edition in 2022, the board has decided that the focus should be on ingredients used in cooking.
Supertyphoon “Lawin” came midway through the National Food Showdown (NFS) culinary competition held in Baguio last October.
Tymad Bistro, located at the Maria Luisa Banilad area, was the first on my list of places to visit in Cebu. I still remembered the buckwheat galettes or crepes, both savory and sweet, the last time we were there.
Was it a sign of the times when French outlets started disappearing from hotels? Champêtre at Bonifacio Global City and Cicou in Greenhills are gone.
Quiapense. It means a person from Quiapo. That term I learned from Chona Trinidad who once served as our guide during one Fiesta of the Black Nazarene (every Jan. 9) when we dared to go through this fabled Manila section before the millions could descend on the place for the annual religious procession.
Maybe because they were women, I naturally gravitated to their talks in Madrid Fusion 2017, which happened Jan. 23-25 in Spain.
Pedro Subijana’s smiling face behind the handlebar moustache greeted us as we sat to interview him. He was one of the senior Basque chefs present at the Assisa Madrid Fusion 2017, but he was there not to give a talk but to listen to those who were presenting.
Mitos Benitez Yñiguez is a whirlwind disguised as a person. When we met in October last year, she said she was opening a café with a fantastic view. I had thought it would take some time for it to push through. But she opened Café Adriana at Outlook Ridge in Baguio a month after.
Whenever I’m introduced to a vegan, my first impulse is to look at his or her shoes. Because that’s what I remember of vegans—they don’t wear leather shoes because they’re made from the hide of animals.
The lingering thought among those who attended the recent Madrid Fusion Manila food congress was, could they taste any of the dishes presented. Yes, they could have, if they had reserved seats for the dinners held at various restaurant venues.
