(Second attempt at using WordPress’ newest interface. I have found a work around – Compose some here and then all further revisions to the post, I’ll do on the Classic Editor. Yes, I found the button that shifts me to the old interface. Thank, heavens.
On with the feature!)
The bag contains a set meal from the budding chefs at Ausphin International Institute. (These batches of students would have graduated by now. We wish them well. <3) It’s to fulfill a school project called ‘Pinas Sarap’ which has the goal of giving students experience in the catering and business side of the craft as well as the opportunity to showcase the culinary skills they learned in their time at Aii by recreating and putting their own twist into classic Filipino dishes. ^^,
Las Islas Filipinas set meal =)
From Batch 7, Las Islas Filipinas, the mealbox contained pancit fish humba flakes with chili nuts in green mango glaze and la paz batchoy roll in a fried egg wrapper with chicharon bits for appetizer. For the main course, it was grilled pork belly blended with dinakdakan-kiniing sauce served on coconut bagoong rice with a side of ensaladang gulay in strawberry vinaigrette. Of course, there’s dessert, and Batch 7 went with a halo halo trifle.
My thoughts on the Las Islas Filipinas selection
How I missed proper plating of food at restaurants and these quarantine surprises sent to me by Chef Cris of Bay Leaf Restaurant (Their mentor =D) was pretty enough to look at to comfort me in my (what now seems like over extended) eatsplorations at home.
Pine Diner set meal ^^,
A few days later, it was Batches 5 and 6’s time to shine. The spread by Batch 5 and 6, Pine Diner consists of appetizer: Pinalutong na malabar with mango calamansi dressing, mains: Pork barbeque na nilasing sa tapuy, and dessert: Cassava and ube delight nilupak. (Did the word ‘malabar’ throw you out for a loop? It did me. *hihi That’s alugbati to us simple folk. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever had alugbati in my life … or just it never introduced itself to me, or I didn’t give it time before I took a bite out of it. =b)
What I thought of the Pine Diner munchables. “Slices too thiCk for me”; didn’t notice that I typed ‘think’ then on screencap today. *hee
Overall, everything laid out in the meal boxes from both Las Islas Filipinas and Pine Diner gave the feeling of hotel/resto quality; premiumy tastes in every facet of their dishes … and not a morsel was left when I was done with them. *harhar
Thank you so much, Chef Cris for dedicating slots to me to try your students’ meal trays. =)
Do follow the Ausphin International Institute page on Facebook to get a heads up on upcoming projects like this where foodies like us can order their creations. Or if you’d like to try your hand at culinary arts just to up your skillset or to make a career out of it in the future, enrollment is ongoing for their August 2021 Intake.
“License to cook anywhere in the world in just 12 months”, wow. =]
As what is now our regular parting word, my foodie friends, “Let’s protect each other” by wearing our facemasks and face shields properly, keeping away from crowds, and getting vaccinated whenever it is that our schedule comes – for both doses.
The more the virus is passed around, the more opportunity we give it to mutate. As of today, there are the delta and lambda variants making waves. It’s all up to us if we’re going to go through the whole Greek alphabet for coronavirus variants before we end it completely. That’s going to take our collective action of following health protocols, being good fellow soldiers in this world war versus COVID. \m/
