by Lorie Ann A. Cascaro
In the modern world of business, competition takes place everywhere, even in the kitchen. That is why in the culinary industry, chefs are becoming competitive not only in cooking contests but also in the everyday true-to-life competition to win over consumers’ taste.
Even multi-awarded chef Eugene Guevarra never stops competing.
A gold and silver medalist in various competitions in food showpiece, sculpture and carving here and abroad since 1998, Eugene finds himself competing in every hotel he has worked for. “‘Yun lang ang paraan para maging iba ka sa lahat (That’s the only way to be different from the rest),” the new executive chef of Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao said.
He entered the hotel industry as a commis 1, assisting the chef in planning and preparing all the food in the Manila Galleria Suites where he worked for four years since 1993. It was in 1997 that he became garde manger, a French term for pantry supervisor, assigned in preparing and presenting cold foods at the Mandarin Hotel Manila. Since then, he has been a member of the Philippine team competing in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. Chef Eugene eventually focused on international culinary competitions representing the country until 2000. Later, he became the junior sous chef, a position next to the head chef, at the Manila Shangri-La Hotel for quite some time until Mandarin Hotel Manila welcomed him back as chef de partie, also known as station chef or line cook, in the cold kitchen. Cold kitchen is a designation where dishes are served in cold plates like salads, appetizers and starters.
In 2004, he took the position of sous chef, both in hot and cold kitchen, in Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort in Cebu City. In 2006, he was the executive chef at the Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino, then a year later at the Tinder Box in Cebu.
Chef Eugene is noted for food carvings, a craft he perfected from his skill in wood carving. But, he was also considered as the ‘iron chef’ of the country when he won as overall champion in Cebu Goes Culinary in 2006, representing Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort in Cebu city. It was participated in by 10 hotels, including participants from Manila and Davao. One of the categories was the market basket competition which is similar to the Japanese cooking contest shown on TV, the Iron Chef. The contestants were given a variety of ingredients and required to create recipes out of them within a period of time. What made it challenging, as Chef Eugene narrated, was the secret ingredient that the chef should create. “For example, he would make a salad or a soup out of ube (native root crop),” he said.
Mastering the techniques to win the market basket is Chef Eugene’s secret in becoming one of the best chefs in the country today. He said in this contest, the ingredients are not known beforehand, so chefs would not know what to cook in a given short time. “You cannot directly apply what you’ve practiced before the contest. You might have some recipes in your mind before the game starts but you may not find the ingredients you need,” he added.
In the same manner, for this 35 year-old chef, working in a hotel is also like playing in a market basket competition. He said a chef should be creative. Based on his experiences in the hotel industry, he said a chef has to adjust and substitute ingredients depending on their availability and affordability. “Mapapalitan mo yung ingredients na hindi masisira ang lasa (You can substitute the ingredients without altering the taste.).”
Secret sauce
Traveling was not part of his plan, according to Chef Eugene. He first worked in Manila, joined contests in different countries, then transferred to Cebu along with his family. Today, he is in Davao after receiving a better offer, leaving his family behind in Cebur. “Pag tumataas kasi ang posisyon mo, may darating na opportunities (As you attain a higher position new opportunities come your way),” he said. Thanks to his traveling. He has become more adept in cheffing. He said a chef excels when he or she knows how to create his own blend of tastes.
Fusion of tastes has become the trend in the global kitchens. As for Chef Eugene, combining Asian and European styles in food preparation makes for an authentic taste. For example, instead of the usual carbonara sauce for pasta, he would use Japanese mayonnaise, sesame oil and Kikkoman soy sauce. He said even European chefs do not just concentrate on their own taste. In his recipe of kilawin (Filipino salad of vegetables and meat), he combined the styles of Manila, Cebu and Davao with a twist of the international taste by using imported fish, for example. He said it was highly appreciated by foreigners.
Creating an original secret ingredient makes one a better chef. This is what Chef Eugene suggests to aspiring kitchen masters. The basic methods one learns in culinary school or informal training would not satiate palates without the chef’s own dash of magic. He said his secret sauce maintains Waterfront Insular Hotel’s reputation for its pizzas. Pizza Milano and Filipino pizza are the most saleable, he notes. A lover of pizza and pasta himself, Chef Eugene said he uses special salami (pork), mozzarella cheese, fresh herbs (instead of dried ones that are normally used), and his secret sauce for Pizza Milano. Also, in Filipino pizza, he uses local sausages, Davao longanisa, Spanish sardines, smoked fish (to enhance the smoke flavor) and fresh herbs with his secret sauce. He said the existing recipes for pizzas in the hotel have been initiated by different chefs before his time. Today, he is perfecting them in order to capture Dabawenyos’ and tourists’ tastes.
Winning the real contest
Chef Eugene admitted that he developed a competitive attitude which brought him to Davao to earn such a high position as executive chef. But, for him, the real contest is to win Dabawenyos’ palate. He said “Hindi naman mahirap pakainin ang Dabawenyo, lalo pa’t na-introduce na sa kanila ang internasyonal na panlasa. (Dabawenyos are not difficult to feed, especially after the international taste was introduced to them earlier).”
Guevarra said that, although he is not joining cooking contests anymore, he treats the real world as a larger competition, adding that a chef cannot rate his or her recipe as the finest without undergoing comparison with those of others. To try what other restaurants and hotels serve has been practiced by chefs, he said “Kahit sinong magaling na chef (any excellent chef),” he emphasized, “would really do it to discover if others were able to reproduce their own taste.
But, being a champion in this contest does not rely on the chef’s choices of taste. He said it is not enough to discover that his recipes are at par with those in top-rated hotels in the city. He continuously studies how to please the gustatory sense of the people in Davao by being familiar with the ingredients of the dishes they mainly eat. Using such ingredients, he will create his own recipes for Dabawenyos to indulge in and eventually love, thereby declaring his own victory.
