Sans rival with calamansi and jelly with locusts at the BGC Eats tour

This is one tour you shouldn’t miss: Bonifacio Global City's annual BGC Eats, currently being held every Saturday until August 16.

Each tour will have a different theme and a different tour leader. The theme of the July 26 tour was "Science," and it was led by Artha Ting, a biologist and resident scientist of the Mind Museum.

The upcoming ones and their themes are:

August 2: Photography – led by photographer Mylene Chung. All participants are required to bring cameras, even just cell phone cameras;

August 9: Drink Pairings – led by beverage expert Bel Castro. All participants must be at least 18 years old; and

August 16: Healthy Eats – led by Denise Celdran, owner of Edgy Veggie Café.

“We want to promote our city and all the dining options that we have here,” said chef and tour curator JJ Yulo during a special preview for the media last week. “It’s a really cool modern-day city with something for everyone, not just food but also entertainment, culture and what-have-you.”

Yulo was one of the three experts who led the media food tour. The others were Ting and Monica Llamas, BGC’s art program manager.

Asked by GMA News Online what she thought was the healthiest way of cooking, Ting said all types of cooking such as frying, steaming, baking, or grilling have their own health benefits. The key to healthy eating, she said, was moderate portions.

There were three stops during the food tour: Gustare, a restaurant owned by Ginny Roces de Guzman, former owner of Sugarhouse; Prost, a German pub; and the Mind Museum, where members of the media had a chance to preview their “Future Feast” activity.

Future Feast

Future Feast presented renowned Filipino chefs and their culinary adaptations to climate change.

These included jelly with locusts by “Adobo Queen” chef Nancy Reyes Lumen; banana bread with earthworms by chefs Claudette Dy and Eric Cepaque; seaweed crackers with cassava starch by Junior MasterChef Kyle Imao; malunggay panna cotta by chef Sau del Rosario, and ice cream made from nut milk by Ian Carandang.

Del Rosario told GMA News Online that he chose malunggay because it is considered a “miracle tree,” used as herbal medicine for skin disorders, hypertension, and other diseases.

“Even a hundred years from now, I think kasama sa matitirang halaman yung malunggay tree and acai tree,” Del Rosario said.

He noted that in the Philippines, malunggay can be found almost anywhere. “Even in the harshest soil, the malunggay tree can grow,” he said, adding that another benefit of malunggay is that it can absorb carbon dioxide in the environment and help combat desertification of the land.

Imao, only 15 and a third year high school student, told GMA News Online that he chose to make seaweed tempura crackers with cassava starch because it is more sustainable than flour.

Imao also made a variation of the kwek kwek: a “kwek croquette,” made from quail eggs, chicken sausage, and potato.

Asked how he gets ideas for his unique recipes, Imao said he does a lot of research and also looks for inspiration when their family dines out.

Almond milk gave Carandang the idea of producing milk from cashews. He also tried producing milk from other kinds of nuts such as pistachio and hazelnut, but, he told GMA News Online, “I purposely went with cashew nuts because they have a nice, clean flavor and it goes well with bananas. I love cashews and bananas.”

He said he did not have any formal culinary training but that he studied for years on his own to make good ice cream.

Carandang said he looked around but there weren’t schools teaching the art of ice-cream-making. He depended on “books and trial and error,” adding that “once you get the fundamentals, then you can play around.”

“I could probably teach a course now,” he quipped.

Getting tickets to BGC Eats

There are three ways to get tickets to the BGC Eats tour:

1. Go shopping. A shopper will be given two tickets for every single receipt purchase worth a minimum of P2,000 from participating BGC stores. These include stores in Bonifacio High Street, Crossroads, The Fort Entertainment Center, Bonifacio Stopover, One and Two Parkade, and the Mind Museum.

The receipts must be from July 21 to August 16.

2. Be a resident, worker or student in BGC. “BGCitizens”—those who reside, work, or study in BGC—are entitled to one ticket each. They just have to present any valid proof of residence or employment or enrolment.

Tickets can be claimed at the Bonifacio High Street Central Concierge from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily until August 16.

3. Buy tickets. Tickets can be purchased at P1,500 each, 15 minutes before the start of the tour at the Hop On Hop Off bus on 9th Avenue near Krispy Kreme. There will be a maximum of 34 tickets per tour. — BM, GMA News