Michelin Bib Gourmand chef Miguel Cabel Moreno champions Southern Mindanao cuisine at Crimson Boracay

Filipino chef-restaurateur Miguel Cabel Moreno continued to advocate for the gastronomic tradition of Mindanao at two four-hands culinary occasions staged at Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay.

Held on the evenings of 14th and fifteenth November, From Shore to South featured collaborations between Cabel Moreno and Crimson Boracay government chef Nickolai Stoyanov and Philip Arroza, chef de cuisine at the resort’s Azure Beach Club.

Wines for the preliminary occasion at the resort’s Mosaic Latin American Grill on the 14th have been offered by AWC Philippines.

The chef’s two eating places within the Greater Manila Area, Cabel in Manila Proper and his flagship Palm Grill in Quezon City, have been named among the many institutions meriting the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand appellation in its preliminary foray into the Philippines in late October.

Cabel Moreno stated of the occasion: “I’m so grateful for this opportunity to be able to showcase the cuisines from where I come from, and I hope it translated in the plates that we put out. I also hope that, when diners step out of these beautiful restaurants, they will have a more positive and better view of Mindanao as a whole. Hopefully, they’ll want to try and visit Mindanao themselves.”

Cabel Moreno’s pianggang na manuk [chicken in a blackened coconut sauce] calls to thoughts the flavours beloved by the Philippines’ Pan-Malayan neighbours

Celebrating the unsung aspect of Philippine heritage

Proudly of the Tausug folks of Southern Mindanao, born and raised within the province of Sulu, Cabel Moreno has lengthy championed the trigger for selling Mindanaoan cuisine within the northern and central elements of the nation, seeing how culinary tradition in these areas skews extra in the direction of western affect versus delving into the Philippines’ roots as a part of the Pan-Malayan Peninsula.

Indeed, he has identified that his meals displays the cornerstone flavour profiles of the nation’s peninsular neighbours Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei: richness and depth, piquant warmth, a refined sweetness, and acidity constructed extra with pure components like citrus versus the chemical tang of vinegar.

As a consequence, Cabel Moreno integrates components endemic to his residence area into his cookery, as seen within the addition of a fiery Tausug sambal to a canape of child squid served previous to the Mosaic dinner.

His seafood course Amor del Mar, which paired crisp-skinned grouper with grilled big prawns, referred to as to thoughts the Indonesian kari udang and the sweeter Balinese kari ikan, solely with a extra refined sweetness constructed with coconut milk peppered with Cabel Moreno’s personal proprietary spice combine.

But it’s the pianggang from the Azure dinner, Cabel Moreno’s signature dish from Palm Grill which is blackened hen served with an unctuous burnt coconut sauce, that captures the area on a plate: Minadanaoan soul meals for physique and soul, served with a smoky mashed eggplant salad and golden rice cooked the Tausug approach and harking back to nasi lemak – basically Filipino pleasure unbowed by the conqueror’s blade, a lacking hyperlink between a storied previous and a gift closely influenced by overseas ideas.

The Amor del Mar is an homage to the wealth of seafood accessible in Mindanaoan waters

Quo vadis?

With the Philippines internet hosting the UN Tourism World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism subsequent yr, Cabel Moreno is without doubt one of the cooks who’s working with the nation’s Department of Tourism (DOT) to maneuver the Filipino culinary heritage agenda in the direction of the worldwide stage.

In a separate interview with us, he stated: “The DOT has long said that we have beautiful islands and beaches, but it’s the gastronomy that we need to promote and highlight this time. I agree with them on that because Thailand has been really successful [with regard to tourism promotion], not only because of their beautiful islands and beaches but because of their food.”

For this cause, he sees the arrival of the Michelin Guide within the nation as a game-changer for the nation, in addition to a lift for culinary advocates like himself.

Indeed, as he appears to be like in the direction of the UN Tourism discussion board and different occasions whereby he can additional push for his advocacy, Cabel Moreno says: “This is actually wonderful for me because it will again give foreigners more opportunities to discover us.”

Photos and Interview: Marga Manlapig