Stephanie Zubiri, executive Chef of the Modern Epicurean Kitchen.

Food food recipes. It is no doubt the Filipinos’ most favored topic. Food preparation and eating has been the heart of any family get together. Whether in a classy restaurant or perhaps at our own grandparent’s house, we enjoy our meal with gusto. Our preferred meals are usually those made by our mothers or fathers, with no other dish capable to compete with it. Nevertheless, an often recurring topic is, “The key reason why no Filipino food crafted its recognition in the international scene?”

Stephanie Zubiri, head chef of The (MEK) Modern Epicurean Kitchen, believes how the strength of Filipino recipes, which lies in its informal and communal sense, will also be its Waterloo. “Filipino cuisine isn’t worried about preparing courses-everything is brought to the family table at the same time. It’s served without having fresh new herbs to flush the palate or even to top the dish as a garnish.”

Standard Filipino food additionally falls short in fancy delivery. “The trouble in marketing is due to the fact that our recipes seem like basic. Keep in mind, you eat with your eyes!” This kind of trait can be related to our country’s absence of royal history, claims Stephanie, a History and Geography graduate student from the Universite de Paris-Sorbonne. “Until the Spaniards came, what we had were minor kingdoms. If you have a royal family, your dishes grow to delight the king and queen.” As an example, Thai dishes always has pretty carvings in their food of flowers and animals. Japanese food is recognized for outstanding display with fanned cuts, molded fruit and vegetables, using the plate to be a frame of a fantastic picture.

Expertly trained at Le Cordon Bleu Paris in oenological and culinary arts, Stephanie treats this as a test in her business, the MPK or Modern Epicurean Kitchen. “We must open our delicacies to become more appetizing and interesting. This enables us to get inventive and deconstruct the conventional dishes and merge it with different flavors to complement its classic taste.”

In the Modern Epicurean Kitchen Active demonstration class titled Updating Filipino Classics, she cooked chicken thighs marinated from the flavours of the Southern Tagalog classic Bicol Express.

Home chefs may start doing so simply by introducing fresh new herbs to brighten the flavor. “I recommend all of you to try in your kitchen. Offer all these new dishes as inspired new versions of the Filipino timeless classics.”