Claude Tayag reinterprets Pinoy classics in 10 courses

MANILA -- Overlooked amid the many special culinary events featuring visiting chefs at last month's Madrid Fusion Manila was a charity dinner featuring local chef and food historian Claude Tayag.

Organized by Mission Manila, whose aim is to "promote our local chefs, Philippine cuisine, Philippine produce and products," the 10-course "Ang Kusinero" dinner was held at the Fairmont Hotel.

Foodie and writer Margaux Salcedo of Mission Manila noticed that none of the special dinners which were held during Madrid Fusion Manila featured a Filipino chef.

That's why she decided to quickly organize one, which also served as a fund-raiser for the El Nino-hit Kidapawan farmers.

"For the first time in my life I fully understood what the pop-up dinner means," quipped Tayag, who runs the acclaimed Bale Dutung in Pampanga.

Tayag said his 10-course creation was inspired by the east-meets-west theme of this year's Madrid Fusion Manila.

"All the dishes I’m doing are based on traditional tastes. They may look foreign, but they’re Pinoy. When a Filipino uses a foreign ingredient and adapts it to his panlasa, then it becomes Filipino," he explained.

But more than the dishes, the meal was made extra special with Tayag's informal lecture on the nuances of Filipino cuisine and a history of Pampanga cooking.

For those who missed this culinary event, Mission Manila is bringing back "El Kusinero" on Thursday at the Artisan Cellar Door in Pasong Tamo, Makati.

Here's what you can expect from this special dinner.