Palm Grill and Cabel chef-restaurateur Miguel Cabel Moreno personally handles the plating of his Amor del Mar seafood courseFilipino chef-restaurateur Miguel Cabel Moreno continued to advocate for the gastronomic culture of Mindanao at two four-hands culinary events staged at Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay.
Held on the evenings of 14th and 15th November, From Shore to South featured collaborations between Cabel Moreno and Crimson Boracay executive chef Nickolai Stoyanov and Philip Arroza, chef de cuisine at the resort’s Azure Beach Club.
Wines for the initial event at the resort’s Mosaic Latin American Grill on the 14th were provided by AWC Philippines.
The chef’s two restaurants in the Greater Manila Area, Cabel in Manila Proper and his flagship Palm Grill in Quezon City, were named among the establishments meriting the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand appellation in its initial foray into the Philippines in late October.
Cabel Moreno said of the event: “I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be able to showcase the cuisines from where I come from, and I hope it translated in the plates that we put out. I also hope that, when diners step out of these beautiful restaurants, they will have a more positive and better view of Mindanao as a whole. Hopefully, they’ll want to try and visit Mindanao themselves.”
Cabel Moreno's pianggang na manuk [chicken in a blackened coconut sauce] calls to mind the flavours beloved by the Philippines' Pan-Malayan neighbours
Celebrating the unsung side of Philippine heritage
Proudly of the Tausug people of Southern Mindanao, born and raised in the province of Sulu, Cabel Moreno has long championed the cause for promoting Mindanaoan cuisine in the northern and central parts of the country, seeing how culinary culture in these areas skews more towards western influence as opposed to delving into the Philippines’ roots as part of the Pan-Malayan Peninsula.
Indeed, he has pointed out that his food reflects the cornerstone flavour profiles of the country’s peninsular neighbours Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei: richness and depth, piquant heat, a subtle sweetness, and acidity built more with natural ingredients like citrus as opposed to the chemical tang of vinegar.
As a result, Cabel Moreno integrates ingredients endemic to his home region into his cookery, as seen in the addition of a fiery Tausug sambal to a canape of baby squid served prior to the Mosaic dinner.
His seafood course Amor del Mar, which paired crisp-skinned grouper with grilled giant prawns, called to mind the Indonesian kari udang and the sweeter Balinese kari ikan, only with a more refined sweetness built with coconut milk peppered with Cabel Moreno’s own proprietary spice mix.
But it is the pianggang from the Azure dinner, Cabel Moreno’s signature dish from Palm Grill which is blackened chicken served with an unctuous burnt coconut sauce, that captures the region on a plate: Minadanaoan soul food for body and soul, served with a smoky mashed eggplant salad and golden rice cooked the Tausug way and reminiscent of nasi lemak - essentially Filipino pride unbowed by the conqueror’s blade, a missing link between a storied past and a present heavily influenced by foreign concepts.
The Amor del Mar is an homage to the wealth of seafood available in Mindanaoan waters
Quo vadis?
With the Philippines hosting the UN Tourism World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism next year, Cabel Moreno is one of the chefs who is working with the country’s Department of Tourism (DOT) to move the Filipino culinary heritage agenda towards the global stage.
In a separate interview with us, he said: “The DOT has long said that we have beautiful islands and beaches, but it's the gastronomy that we need to promote and highlight this time. I agree with them on that because Thailand has been really successful [with regard to tourism promotion], not only because of their beautiful islands and beaches but because of their food.”
For this reason, he sees the arrival of the Michelin Guide in the country as a game-changer for the country, as well as a boost for culinary advocates like himself.
Indeed, as he looks towards the UN Tourism forum and other events wherein he can further push for his advocacy, Cabel Moreno says: “This is actually wonderful for me because it will again give foreigners more opportunities to discover us.”
Photos and Interview: Marga Manlapig
