Spain Fusion: The Premium Experience, the event organized by Vocento Gastronomía and Foods and Wines from Spain to promote the best Spanish products worldwide with the most prestigious chefs and culinary experts, had a stellar premiere in Manila. From early morning, importers, distributors, retailers, chefs, and restaurateurs filled the ballroom of The Westin Manila Hotel with life and curiosity.
Chefs Albert Adrià of two-star Enigma, Ricard Camarena of two-star Ricard Camarena, and Chele González of one-star Gallery by Chele explained the importance of ingredients, seasonality, and the application of new techniques to traditional dishes in Spanish cuisine. Above all, attendees were able to experience each explanation firsthand by tasting dishes prepared by the chefs and some of the finest wines, olive oils, cheeses, and Iberian cured meats, because, as Spain Fusion: The Premium Experience aims to demonstrate, a bite can be worth a thousand words.
The promotional strategy for the food industry, spearheaded by Foods and Wines From Spain, focuses on the image of excellence and diversity of Spanish ingredients and the springboard for their international expansion offered by gastronomy and renowned chefs. Among them was Albert Adrià, whom journalists asked not only about the cuisine of the two-starred restaurant, Enigma, a highly acclaimed restaurant in Asia, but also about how his time as creative director of El Bulli had influenced his subsequent work. “On a personal level, I live in the present, but the main impact of avant-garde Spanish cuisine has been the improvement of traditional cooking through the refinement of cooking times, attention to textures, and enhanced presentation,” he reflected.
Adrià focused his presentation on seafood cuisine, the importance of seasonality, and the diversity of Spanish ingredients. “We are a privileged country in that sense,” he said. However, in his case, the tasting for the public was a freeze-dried fried egg—completely crystallized egg white, yolk emulsion, and caviar—that seemed like magic to the attendees.
Meanwhile, Camarena emphasized the importance of ingredients in Spanish cuisine.
“I believe that the larder is what makes the difference in Spanish cuisine and makes it impossible to imitate,” he said. However, his presentation focused on another quality of the country’s culinary traditions, and his own: the culture of resourcefulness.
“Cooking can sometimes transform a humble byproduct into the main ingredient,” he argued.
The tasting he offered the audience was a savory crème brûlée with anchovy colatura, contrasted with an onion demi-glace.
“I used anchovy colatura because it connects the Mediterranean culture of garum with the Eastern culture of fish sauces,” he explained.
As mentioned before, a delicious spoonful speaks louder than a thousand words. The audience in Manila, which in the morning session consisted mainly of chefs, journalists, and gourmet food distributors, perfectly understood all the key elements, not only because of the many commonalities between Spanish and Filipino cuisines—a point highlighted by the CEO of Vocento Gastronomía, Benjamín Lana, at the opening—but also because, as Silvia Torices, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Spanish Embassy in the Philippines, emphasized at the opening, “in the Philippines, Spanish cuisine is in vogue; it’s a very strong trend.”
Cantabrian chef Chele González, with a Michelin star and a green star at his Manila restaurant Gallery, where he organically fuses both culinary cultures, said that, “Spain and the Philippines are two seemingly distant cultures, but very close. I have found many references here to flavors from my memories and my childhood.”
The tastings he offered as a complement to his presentation reflected precisely that: a fish pil pil with a fresh aromatic touch of Filipino herbs and citrus, and a coconut milk flan with cacao, one of the local Filipino products that González is highlighting in his cooking.
Rosa Vañó, commercial director of Castillo de Canena, whom the master of ceremonies, Alfonso Fernández, introduced as “the first lady of Spanish olive oil” for her important work as a pioneer in the internationalization of premium Spanish extra virgin olive oil, spoke about the journey of extra virgin olive oil in the history of Spanish cuisine, and how in recent years it has also accompanied revolutions and remained at the forefront. The audience reacted with genuine interest to this product, both during Rosa Vañó’s presentation and the subsequent tasting she offered alongside Alfonso Fernández, master of ceremonies but also an international taster and consultant in the olive oil sector.
“I think they’ve created a need for me. I need to have many varieties of extra virgin olive oils in my kitchen,” said Meggie Ong, commercial director of Terry’s, one of the most important importers of wines, oils, and premium foods in Spain, as well as the owner of a Spanish restaurant.
In the Philippines, with its increasingly young and food-conscious population, wine preferences lean towards fresh, well-crafted, light, and vibrant wines with moderate alcohol content. Master of Wine Fernando Mora delighted the audience by highlighting the diversity of white and red wines that Spain boasts as a wine-producing country, and the abundance of light, mineral, and fresh reds that pair beautifully with a wide range of foods and dishes.
“Spain is a kaleidoscope of wines,” Mora remarked.
The day of masterclasses, tastings, and demonstrations concluded with a meeting with representatives of Restaurants from Spain in Manila, a brand with significant growth potential in a city where Spanish cuisine is fashionable. “We need more events like this,” emphasized the embassy’s commercial delegate.
The day culminated in a gala dinner for importers, business representatives, authorities, and VIP journalists, hosted in collaboration with the Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy in the Philippines and presided over by the Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines, Miguel Utray. With a special menu designed for the occasion by Camarena, Adrià, and González, sprinkled with nods to the relationship between Spanish and Filipino cuisines, paired with great wines from the country selected by Mora, and served with meticulous care by the team from González’s restaurant, Gallery By Chele, the dinner was a true spectacle. Mastery in the dishes, living heritage in the glasses, professionalism in the dining room, and an exquisite presentation, meticulously crafted down to the last detail, paid homage to the painting, crafts, memory, flowers, and colors of Spain.
