Mestizo cooking style master, Chef Ed Quimson, dies age 48

(Updated 7:38 a.m., March 11) - Chef Ed Quimson, renowned for his "mestizo" cooking style and passion in the kitchen, passed away on Sunday morning from heart complications. He was 48. Quimson's death was confirmed to GMA News Online on Sunday by his nephew, Azkals football player Armand del Rosario. Quimson was a slow food advocate who incorporated traditional Filipino cooking with Spanish influences, Mandarin Oriental's Paseo Uno said in a 2011 press release on "Paskuhan sa Paseo Uno," a holiday feast prepared by the master chef. "Chef Ed Quimson made his name with Filipino-crossover dishes such as beef-caldereta paella and blue-cheese wonton soup," said Travel and Leisure Asia, where Quimson was featured as the executive chef of carinderia-inspired Petra & Pilar in Makati. Quimson learned to cook at home, according to a 2004 article by Julie Cabatit-Alegre in the Philippine Star. As a child, he would visit his mother's best friend's house, where he would watch her mother, Rosario Wolff, at work in her kitchen. He also learned from his own mother, Betty Gonzalez Quimson, who showed him how to chop without looking, the article said. His lola, Consuelo Tuason de Casas, sent him money to enroll in a culinary school. But, instead, he chose to learn his craft hands-on, by working in the kitchens of Europe, the article said. "It is with deep gratitude and respect that I dedicate my career and restaurant to the four women in my life. Rosario Wolff, for exciting my taste buds at a very young age, Betty Gonzalez Quimson, for teaching me cooking styles and techniques, Consuelo Tuason de Casas, for showing me the world, and Doreen Fernandez, for sheer inspiration," Quimson was quoted in the article, which was written after he had just opened Chef Ed's in Makati City. That restaurant's unusual fusion menu featured dishes like lamb caldereta samosas, fresh Norwegian salmon marinated tocino-style on a bed of vegetable sinigang, and deep-fried baked suckling pig. 'It’s got to have love and libog' "To me, he was one of the friendliest and most jolly persons I will ever meet on this planet. I will miss his table side banter on all things edible, life as we know it and the excellent creations he dished out from the kitchen," said Sigfred Sanchez Catalan on Facebook. "He didn't know I knew of him and his prodigious culinary skills. Yes he was big, big in everything important; culinary talent, heart and soul," said Catalan, who wrote for a food magazine when he met Quimson years ago. "Chef Ed, who is always caring to me as a big small brother I never had, is equally intimate & loving in the way he meticulously cooks his exquisite versions of both traditional & sophisticated dishes, to the delight & awe of his loyal customers and students," described the Heny Sison Culinary School, where he was an instructor. Quimson's passion for food was visceral, a tangible object that you could almost hold in your hand. "All I know is that when you prepare a dish, it’s got to have love and libog (lust)! You need both of these things to come up with something that’s really, really orgasmic," Quimson said when asked how he prepares a lip-smacking dish in a 2011 interview with RJ Ledesma, published in The Philippine Star. Despite his accomplishments, having been a chef for restaurants such as La Tasca; Via Mare; The Nielsen Tower; the Member’s Lounge of the Phil. Stock Exchange; Giraffe; and Rastro Bistro, Quimson was far from aloof, and was generous with his expertise, inspiring and influencing other chefs in his wake. "He was an influence to me, as a sorbetero, to be more adventurous and creative. And more importantly, he was a dear, dear friend," Ian Carandang of Sebastian's Ice Cream said on Facebook. The Green Mango and Bagoong Sorbet, a favorite of adventurous foodies, would not be if not for Quimson. "When I made the Green Mango Sorbet and bemoaned about how expensive it was to buy the sweetened bagoong that paired with it, without hesitation, he stood up and made a recipe for Sweet Bagoong that was even BETTER than what we were using, without expecting anything in return. He was like that, always ready to share his knowledge and experience with anyone who wanted it," Carandang said. After his passing, Quimson lives on in the dishes he pioneered, Carandang said. "Everyone who enjoys the Green Mango & Bagoong pays tribute to him in our own little way. And as long as people remember him and enjoy his dishes, he will never be forgotten," he said. — DVM/KG, GMA News

Chef Ed Quimson's remains will be at the Santuario de San Antonio by 11 a.m. Monday.