Chefs Rolando, Jacqueline Laudico showcase the best of Pinoy food in PH Culinary Week in Brussels

Filipino chefs Rolando and Jacqueline Laudico concluded the Philippine Culinary Week by showcasing the best of Philippine cuisine in Brussels, Belgium.

The Philippine Embassy in Brussels invited the celebrity chefs, believing that a regular showcase of Philippine cuisine in a mainstream outlet generates heightened interest in our culinary heritage.

Held earlier this month at the 1040 Restaurant of the Sofitel Hotel in Brussels, the Philippine Culinary Week at Sofitel featured a four-course menu which reflected the originality and the varied international influences in Philippine cuisine.

The menu started with an appetizer, the kinilaw, a fresh tuna on top of ginger and coconut milk emulsion.

The first course was Inasal or traditional Ilonggo grilled chicken, marinated in annatto seeds and lemongrass, accompanied by a cold salad with pickled papaya shreds, followed by the main dish, which was kare-kare, comprised of oxtail and tripes in peanut sauce and shrimp paste-flavored rice.

For dessert, Jacqueline who has won awards for her pralines and truffles, opted to use Philippine tablea in a brownie/lava cake with cashew mousse and Philippine chocolate nibbles.

Rolando and Jacqueline have been at the forefront of Filipino cuisine since they started their food business 23 years ago. Their advocacy runs from promoting Philippine cuisine worldwide to charity projects such as "Action Against Hunger."

The couple also runs the Filipino restaurant Guevarra's, set in a beautiful 1920s heritage house in San Juan.

—Hermes Joy Tunac/MGP, GMA Integrated News