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Taste and passion: In the kitchen with Chef Gene Gonzalez
Manila may have been the country's capital, but the best parties of 19th century Philippines were in Sulipan town in the province of Pampanga. While the Spanish colonizers were busy calling Filipinos simple indios, Sulipan chefs were learning European culinary techniques from visiting traders, adapting them for local use, and creating grand feasts for visiting dignitaries.
While you won’t find Sulipan on any map these days, the story of its people is inescapably tied to Filipino history. Sulipan chefs were behind the 1898 Malolos Banquet, a French luncheon where General Emilio Aguinaldo and other revolutionaries declared their independence from Spain.
Over a century later, Chef Gene Gonzalez, the founder of the Center for Asian Culinary Studies, is keeping the Sulipan way alive.
Tracing his heritage directly to one of the chefs at the Malolos Banquet, Chef Gene recreated the lavish luncheon for the upcoming GMA News TV special “Sa Hapag ng mga Bayani.” In between preparing the feast and entertaining guests, Chef Gene opened up about his life, his passion for food, and his hopes for Filipino cuisine.
The history of flavor
Born in 1958, Chef Gene grew up in a culinary-rich family. “I grew up in a traditional Pampanga household in Quezon City,” he says. “We used to have an area in our backyard just for making lechon.”
At age of 23, Chef Gene opened Café Ysabel in Greenhills, San Juan with the help of his landlady, veteran actress Susan Roces. Thirty years later, Café Ysabel is recognized as one of the best restaurants in Metro Manila, serving up dishes that range from the classic (Boneless Bangus Belly ala Pobre) to the exotic (Frogs’ Legs, anyone?). Their wine cellar boasts rare vintages, as well as blends crafted to celebrate Café Ysabel’s 30th anniversary. 
While Chef Gene’s French training shows in dishes like Halibut Amandine and Sole Meuniere, Café Ysabel’s menu isn’t intimidating to the average diner. With dishes like Capampangan Wedding Omelet, Pampango Adobo Flakes and Paella Sulipeña, he blends the foreign with the familiar to create a dining experience that is simultaneously global and Filipino.
A bottle of wine commemorating Cafe Ysabel's 30th anniversary is labeled with a letter from the maker to Chef Gene.
Perhaps Chef Gene isn’t too different from his Sulipan ancestors. They, too, were legendary entertainers. “We had a lot of social interchange with the Europeans who docked in Pampanga to get sugar and other ingredients,” says Chef Gene. Trade had made Sulipan rich, and stories of old Sulipan paint a very extravagant picture.
Old Sulipan entertained Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, drank from delicate crystal and imported foreign ingredients. There came a point, Chef Gene says, when the rich of Sulipan took the saying ‘born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth’ to the next level. “Their silverware wasn’t actually made of silver—it was solid gold,” he says.
Regions and traditions
Chef Gene first served his interpretation of the Malolos Banquet in 1998 to commemorate the centennial of the Philippines’ declaration of independence. After all this time, does he have a favorite dish from the menu? He says it’s more about the sequence of the meal for him. “I like the sequence of the dishes for the nostalgia of knowing what other people ate,” he says.
With his Sulipan heritage and French training, it's no wonder Chef Gene is a leader in his field.
The Malolos Banquet was a political affair — a deliberate attempt by the ilustrado members of the revolution to show Spain and the rest of the world that the Philippines was capable of the European brand of culture. They imported canned salmon, truffles, and even a massive block of ice from Boston to make ice cream.
It's a team effort at Cafe Ysabel--many chefs were involved in preparing the recreated Malolos Banquet.
Some historians criticize the extravagant French-Mediterranean menu (“It had a slew of hors d’oeuvres,” says Chef Gene) and fancy dress as incomplete independence; however, others see it as a strategy to beat the colonizers at their own game. Whatever you choose to read into the Malolos Banquet, the battle today is to reclaim our cultural heritage in a hyper-Westernized world. According to Chef Gene, food plays an integral part in our heritage.
Local learning
“What I would really like to see is the government really putting effort into promoting Filipino food,” he says. “If you look at our tourism ads, it’s usually about the destinations. But if you look at the tourism campaigns of our Asian neighbors like Thailand, Vietnam, the food is always there.”
A personal favorite of Chef Gene is kilawin prepared with native vinegar and coconut cream. It’s simple, authentic and most of all, tasty. “If we know how to look back, we can move forward. We don’t need to go fusion,” Chef Gene says.
Ice cream made with carabao milk is one of Chef Gene's refreshing creations to cap off a meal.
Rather than water down our local dishes to fit a single palate, Chef Gene says we must see the archipelagic nature of the Philippines as an asset: each region has its specialties and each island has a different method of preparing dishes we may think we already know.
It’s these regional dishes and methods that Chef Gene hopes to preserve. “[We can] use the separation as our main strength in having a variety of cuisines," he says. "We can’t stay in the stereotype of kare-kare and pork adobo. Growth only comes by exploring in depth.”
It appears there is always more to discover about our Philippine heritage. Even Chef Gene, the founder of a leading culinary institute and one of the country’s most established chefs, goes around the country to study the food of our regions. As he puts it: “I’m still learning.” — CM, GMA News
Catch “Sa Hapag ng mga Bayani,” a GMA News TV National Heroes’ Day Special, on
August 26 (Part I) and September 2 (Part II), 8:45 PM on News TV Channel 11.
