WHAT’S COOKING?
With Chiz Escudero
There is never a dull moment in Chef Reggie’s class. “Anyone who cannot do this had better go into gardening, or play cards, or watch movies,” Chef Reggie would tell her students, who always laugh, never mind that they often hear that funny statement.
They’re almost always the same students, with a new tag-along now and then or a daughter who is beginning to enjoy what her Mom had been attending for the last 10 or 20 years. Now, she understands why on certain days of the week, and the day could vary from Wednesday to Friday to Tuesday, her Mom is driven off to far La Vista in Quezon City from their Pasay or Makati home.
To Chef Reggie, taste is what matters. A food has to be delicious. “It cannot be anything else,” she says. “It all boils down to the taste. One can have a beautiful dish visually, but if the taste does not make you happy, everything else that went into making it look beautiful and inviting is useless.”
It is a dictum that she keeps repeating in class - taste, taste, taste is what matters. It is how to create delicious food that she teaches them.
REGGIE’S CALENDAR
Chef Reggie’s calendar of events from March to May 2020
March 6 Friday - Happy Birthday to Me with Oriental Merchants & Aguila Meats - Mixed Aguila Sausages Drizzled with Honey and Chilies (perfect with Cocktails), Birthday Spaghetti Salad, Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek & Truffle, Best Ever Lamb Tagine with Couscous, Succulent Salmon Brined and Baked in Gallo Olive Oil, Most Aromatic and Flavorful Whole "Porcheta" Lechon, Croissant Pudding. Set-up Your Own Bar & Learn to Mix Perfect Vodka Tonic, Gin and Tonic & Rum Based Cocktails with Carmencita Botanicals. Fine Spanish Ingredients and Products will be for sale on that day. Shop! Shop! Shop! Surprises Await You!
March 13 Friday - Cheeeeessseee In THe Year of the Rat! Featuring Naturasi and Oriental Murchants, Mutti and Devela - Cream of Tomato Soup with Mozzarella Ball Croutons, Burrata Salad Dressed with Basil Olive Oil, Pizza 2 Ways - Burrata pizza, 4 Cheese Pizza with Blue Cheese, Honey Balsamic and Herb Dipping Sauce and Rucola Salad, Pasta Strascinati with Straciatella Sauce with Mushrooms and Foie Gras, Roasted Prawn enne with 4 Cheese Sauce, Short Ribs Stewed in Port with Mushroom Gorgonzola Risotto, Baked TIramisu "Cake."
March 18 Wednesday - "Chimaek" - Open Your Own Korean Chicken House with Korean Food Expert Chef Lily Min - Fried Chicken, Padak Fried Chicken (Fried Chicken with Leeks), Chicken with Soy Sauce, Cheese Dak Galbi (Marinated Spicy Chicken with Mozzarella Cheese), Poktan Jomeokbap (Bomb RIce Ball), Pickled Radish
March 20 Friday - Pinoy Grill My Way - Best Ihaw-Ihaw Class - Smoked Liempo, Inihaw na Sinampalukang Manok, Tanglad Spareribs, Grilled Rellenong Pusit, Salmon Inasal with Enselada, Lamb Shank Barbecue, Grilled Eggplant Enselada, Ginataang Pinakbet, Kamote Tops Salad, Salted Fish Sinangag, Dipping Sauces, Chef Reggie's Pinoy Sangria
March 25 Wednesday - Some of My Best Pancit Recipes with Excellent Noodles - Crispy Lobster Pancit Canton, Pancit Alanganin My Way (Mixed Panci with a Splash of Evap), Pancit Ube with Lapchong & Taro, Angus Short-rib & Home Made Wanton Mami, Pancit Malabon with Crabs, Shrimps and Scallops, Pancit Marilao a Palabok Variant, Sate CHami Noodles
March 27 Friday - Merienda Badjao Style - Pancit Molo, Salted Egg Ginataan, Best Ever Palitaw with Sauces, Dinuguan sa Sampalok with Morilla (Spanish Blood Sausage) Served with Steamed cake, Lychee Chicken Barbecue, Kanto Salted Caramel Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Chef Reggie's Dalamansi Punch
March 30 Monday - Save the Date - The Launch of Kitchens of the World "Wanton Abandon" - Sight see, eat and shop till you drop! Details to follow.
April 01 Wednesday - Lenten Special - Mom's Bacalao, Salt Roasted Crab, Crab Rice, Sinigang na Alimango, Best Calamares En Su Tinta, Different Ways of Baking FIsh Cod, Bass, Halibut with Lemon Butter Cream, Baked Fish Drizzled with Honey, Baked Seafood Rice
April 03 Friday - Pistahan - My Fave Angus Short Rib Almond Butter Kare-Kare, To Die or to Live for Bulalo - My Most Flavorful Bulalo Yet with Condiments, Crispy Liempo with GInataang Santol Sauce, Binagoongan sa Kalamansi, Ginataang Tinolang Manok, Suman Sa Latik
April 08 Wednesday - Old Fashoned But Still Delicious Party Dishes - Salisbury Steak, Layered Beef Macaroni in Rich Creamy Sauce, Mushroom Canneloni, Luxurious Meatloaf, Chicken Relleno Served with Cranberry and Giblet Gravy, Badjao's Luxurious Meat Sauce for Pasta (Italian Sausage Meat Ball, Ribs, Oxtail), Crema de Fruta
April 15 Wednesday - Healthier Meal In One Options - Delicious Beef Stuffed Cabbage with Cauliflower Rice, Tequila Marinated Prawn Salad with Avocados, Gyros Salad with Adlai, Beet Hummus Salad, To Die For Salmon Poached in Galloe Late Harvest Olive Oil, Best Ever Roast Chicken Salad Platter (Tentative - To be confirmed)
April 17 Friday - Cafe Fare - Salmon Terrine, Vegetable Terrine, Baked Chicken and Mushroom Crepes, Perfect Pork Wellington, Duck Ragu Pasta, Garlic Beef TIps & Baked Scallops Served with Rice, Potatoes or Noodles, How To Make Perfect Frappuccinos (Tentative - To be confirmed)
April 22 Wednesday - Pinoy Breakfast - Home Made Skinless Charsiu Longanissa, Wagyu Bulgogi Tapa, Fresh Smoked Salmon TInapa, Caramelized Spam, Bangus Sardines, Pinoy Scrambled Eggs, Avocado Salad, My Furikake RIce, Chef Reggie's Flavored Cold Brew Coffees
April 24 Friday - Viva España with Oriental Merchants - Lengua with Bone Marrow Mushroom Sauce, Roasted SPanish Lamb Stew, Cochinillo Relleno, 3 Effortless Paellas (Chicken & Spanish Cured Meats Adlai Paella, Chinese Chorizo Paella Negra with Asian Herbs, Prawn, Scallop Artichoke & Mixed Vegetable Paella), Canonigo
April 29 Wednesday - Chinese Brasserie - Mushroom Truffle Lumpiang Shanghai, My Chinese Soy Chicken, Delectable Chinese Style Callos, Beef, Foie Gras and Mushroom Ho Fan, Steamed Rice Capped with Pork Tenderloin and Gravy, Steamed Stuffed Prawns Taro Stuffed Fried Chicken with Buko Lychee Sauce, Almond with Longgan
May 01 Friday - Japanese My Way - California Maki Cake, Shabu-Shabu Salad, Donburi of Pan Fried Foie Gras Over Truffle Rice, Best Ever Chicken Karaage, Chicken Kuwayaki, Japanese Beef Tendon Stew, Japanese Baked Salmon
May 06 Wednesday - My Absolute Favorite Korean Dishes Cooked by Korean Food Expert Chef Lily Min - Haemul (Seafood Chapchae Noodle), Budae Jjigae (Army Stew), Dduk baegi Bulgogi (Delicious Bulgogi Stew in Claypot), Doenjang-jjigae (My Favorite Soy Bean Stew), Jjajangmyeon (Noodle with Black Bean Sauce)
May 08 Friday - Ultimate Pasta Bar with Devela - Sauces: Roast Chicken & Sun-dried Tomato Cream, Seafood Arrabiata, Mixed Wild Mushrooms, Truffle Best Ever Puttanesca, Parmesan and Roasted Garlic Cream, Perfect Bolognese, Sausage Pasta, Garlic and Mushroom in Olive Oil, Squid Ink Sauce, Tuscan Smoked Salmon, Bread Dip.
May 13 Wednesday - Rice Meals 2020 - To Die For Roasted Guava Pork SInigang with Gabi Rice, Slow SImmered Minced Pork with Soy & Asian Spices with Sous Vide Egg & Truffle Drizzle, Fall Off the Bone Aromatic Indonesian Inspired Pork Rib Adobo Binalot, Lamb Pilaf with Dried Fruits, Melt in Your Mouth Beef Pot Roast & Porcini Truffle Rice, Delicious Baked Mushroom Chicken Rice
KITCHENS OF THE WORLD FRANCE - Join me in October in Alsace, Champagne and Paris for Kitchens of the World France. Kitchens of the World are my one of a kind Culinary Tours, carefully curated for those who wish to savor the world through food. For information, call Fritzie of Rajah Travel at +63 917 562 9370
For Reservations Call +63920 9 REGGIE (Smart)/ +63917 5543700 (Globe)
Student’s Stories
“I have not stopped attending because right in the first class, I saw that Chef Reggie had a unique approach to sharing her knowledge. She teaches and cooks with love and passion, something that is missing in a number of chefs who try to teach. She could also teach without a ‘codigo’ (teacher’s cheat reference sheet), which only confirms her knowledge of her craft is very keen. As I love listening to her, including her jokes, I do not only learn new recipes, I also get to relax. Chef Reggie’s classes the best stress relievers for me."-- Melanie Chua
“I love the way Chef conducts her classes. She makes food magically. I mean no matter what dish she teaches us, the outcome is always super delicious. Chef could concoct a dish right before our eyes as she picks ingredients here and there. The result is always perfect. She really does wonders in the kitchen. As a young housewife, I used to try and do some standard dishes but they somehow didn’t turn out right, but after I began attending her classes, I learned how to do them correctly, like the way I cook my steaks and salads. Believe it or not, I also can make ice cream now.” -- Abby Dichaves
“Chef Reggie is a bottomless pit of new ideas, new recipes and information. She is brilliant. She is a genius. Her creativity surpasses anyone I know. Everything is in her head. In fact, she does not need recipes to guide her in teaching us. We had to bring notebooks to class and wrote the recipes as the class proceeded. I did not think that was unfair because she did not have notes too. Everything she said and taught came straight from her head and heart. There is always a new recipe to be learned. It is not like her to repeat her lessons so if you miss it, it is your loss. While Chef Reggie has taught the class recipes from various countries, she adjusts to local taste and the availability of ingredients, and the results are always better than the original.” -- Imelda Tan
“Chef Reggie's teaching method is not just limited to the cooking procedure or the steps. She also tells us about how we should choose our pots and pans, our knives and ladles. And then, she shares where to buy the best ingredients in the city. She is not just a good teacher, she is a great friend.” -- Judy Uy