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'MasterChef' finalist shines light on Filipino food in New Zealand

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Karen Flores, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/life/05/18/leo.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">MasterChef New Zealand 2015 finalist Leo Fernandez poses for a photo before doing a cooking demo in Manila.<cite> Karen Flores, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – When Leo Fernandez moved to New Zealand, he considered cooking as a necessity, as a way for him to stay connected to his Filipino roots.</p><p>But now, he is using it as a platform to promote the Philippines to New Zealand and the rest of the world.</p><p>Fernandez joined the New Zealand edition of the cooking reality show “MasterChef” in 2015, winning over the judges with his modern take on Filipino food. </p><p>He finished runner-up in the show, giving his culinary career a good start.</p><p>“Back then I considered it a necessity to do cooking. It’s comforting. I’m a migrant and I lived on my own, so I had to learn how to do it,” he told ABS-CBN News during his visit to Manila on Tuesday.</p><p>“MasterChef is MasterChef,” added Fernandez, a former veterinarian and pig farmer. “It has opened so many doors, it’s been great.”</p><div><b>COOKING FROM THE HEART</b></div><p>Just a few months ago, Fernandez opened his own restaurant, Azon, in Parnell, Auckland. </p><p>Azon is all about “sticking to the roots and cooking from the heart.” The restaurant’s name is derived from Corazon, which is Spanish for heart.</p><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/AzonNewZealand/posts/1492189434148578" data-width="auto"> </div><p>Fernandez’ restaurant offers a range of Pinoy specialties from the familiar Chicken and Pork Adobo and Lechon Kawali to an appetizer platter with kwek-kwek (quail eggs coated in an orange batter and deep-fried), okoy (shrimp fritters) and salmon skin crackling. </p><p>“They (Kiwis) don’t know much about Filipino food, so a Filipino restaurant is something different, something new [for them],” he explained. “So you have to comply with the expectation that it should be good, it should be flavorsome.”</p><p>“It’s a challenge for us to introduce it in a proper way,” he added. “We have to tweak it a little bit and comply with the palate.”</p><p>Sharing his approach to introducing Filipino food in New Zealand, Fernandez said he places importance on plating, contrasts and the use of fresh ingredients, which Kiwis are known for. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/life/05/18/fruitykinilaw.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Fernandez’ Fruity Kinilaw combines New Zealand mussels with Filipino techniques.<cite> Karen Flores, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>“In New Zealand, you don’t have to be fancy about it,” said Fernandez as he did a cooking demo during Food Connection Manila, a trade show by the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. “Food has to be treated with utmost respect.”</p><p>“Other than having the food taste good, I want it to be presented very well, because you first eat with your eyes,” he ended.</p>

<p>When Leo Fernandez moved to New Zealand, he considered cooking as a necessity, as a way for him to stay connected to his Filipino roots. But now, he is using it as a platform to promote the Philippines to New Zealand and the rest of the world. </p>

When Leo Fernandez moved to New Zealand, he considered cooking as a necessity, as a way for him to stay connected to his Filipino roots. But now, he is using it as a platform to promote the Philippines to New Zealand and the rest of the world.

'MasterChef' finalist shines light on Filipino food in New Zealand

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'MasterChef' finalist shines light on Filipino food in New Zealand

Karen Flores,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 18, 2017 12:50 PM PHT

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Leo Fernandez

MasterChef

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