Pinoy chefs make history at Madrid food summit with kinilaw

With three versions of kinilaw, Filipino chefs made history in the Philippines’ first-ever participation in Madrid Fusión, the 13th International Gastronomic Summit held earlier this month in Madrid.

In her version of kinilaw, a Filipino method of cooking through citric acid, Batangas resident Chef Myrna Seguismundo used lobsters, shrimps, and oysters as main ingredients, according to a news release from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

She seasoned the dish with fresh kalamansi juice, ginger, chopped onions, chopped ginger and fermented fish-paste, and garnished her dish with fresh mango and avocado.

For the Visayas way, Chef Margarita Fores of Negros used fresh Spanish sea bass as her main ingredient. Her version of kinilaw includes kalamansi, chopped onions, ginger, red bell peppers and toppings of crushed crispy pork skin and chopped black olives.

Both teamed up to make sinuglaw, Mindanao's version of kinilaw, which used grilled pork belly and fresh tuna with sua, tabon-tabon, chopped onions, ginger, and pepper. The word is a combination of sinugba and kinilaw.

The DFA said the Philippines’ presence in Madrid Fusión 2015 “allowed for the promotion of Philippine cuisine in the international scene.”

Outside the demonstration, the Philippine booth offered various Filipino kakanins, samples, and sorbetes to those who stopped by to sample the cuisine.

The 13th International Gastronomic Summit was held last February 2 to 4 at the Palacio Municipal de los Congresos de Madrid. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News