PAST, PRESENT, PERFECT DINNER AT LEON GALLERY
What happens when you mix extraordinary art, antiques, food and Manila’s top 75 collectors for all things antiquarian? A big blast, that’s what!
A six-course formal dinner billed “A Kapampangan Feast Past Perfect” is an unusual event these days. Well, if you don’t count the pay-through-your-nose 12-course degustation. But, unusual is the usual for the folks at León Gallery who wanted to put together an elegant dinner in honor of Ma. Cristina “Kit” Ongpin Roxas. The invitation described her as “the
grande doyenne of Philippine antiques” and that is an understatement for someone whose career has spanned some of the most exciting decades of Filipino culture. Jaime Ponce de Leon, León Gallery’s director, correctly described the Ongpins as our equivalent of the Wildensteins (some of the most successful and influential art dealers of the 20th century) and gave homage to her discerning eye for all things beautiful.
Because the dinner would be served on the historic Arnedo table of La Sulipeña, Pampanga, the meal had to be prepared by a Kapampangan. That’s how I got into the picture, so to speak. Jaime tasked me to curate the dinner, being familiar with my cooking, having dined several times in my home/restaurant Bale Dutung in the past.
After much thought and consultation with him, we came up with a six-course menu. It wasn’t an attempt to recreate those fabulous Arnedo banquets, because that would entail at least three days of non-stop eating, to say the least. Rather, our aim was to capture the luxury, elegance and most of all the exuberance of Kapampangan hospitality.
La Sulipeña, the legendary mansion of the Sioco-Arnedos of Sulipan, Pampanga, sits at the fluvial trifecta of three rivers: the Rio Grande de Pampanga, the Calumpit, as well as the Baliwag rivers. It had its own pier. Thus, visiting dignitaries, the archbishops and governors-general of two empires (Spanish and American), princes (of Russia, England, Cambodia and Japan), as well as heroes such as Jose Rizal and General Antonio Luna, would have to travel on boats from Manila. Because the journey was a bit arduous, they would stay two or even three nights, there to be feted with nonstop feasts, 24/7. The table used in those banquets is one of the highlights of the upcoming León Gallery Spectacular Mid-Year Auction this Saturday, June 9.
Surrounding the table was a superb spectacle of the finest Filipino art. Hanging on the walls were several Amorsolos, Manansalas, Bencabs, as well as other masters such as Macario Vitalis, Zalameda, Ronald Ventura, and John Santos, from such impeccable provenance as the families of Ynchausti, MelianZobel, and Pedrosa, to name a few.
Also under a spotlight was a fantastic wooden bas-relief by no less than Jose P. Rizal, created while he was in exile in Dapitan.
A string quartet played Filipino classics, a nice counterpoint to the other national treasures at the upcoming auction, including letters from Gregoria de Jesus, Teodora Alonso Rizal and M.H. del Pilar.
Conspiring with me on this gastronomic feast was La Tasca, which provided the catering expertise needed to put together a dinner for Manila’s discerning cognoscenti. Art directing the tables was Liliane “Tats” Manahan, who selected the table settings and flowers, antique silver candelabras and religious ivories from Jaime’s collection, and even hand-writing the place cards herself.
As the guests arrived, bowls of pititian (Kapampangan bite-size chicharon) served with pickled cherry tomatoes and bangus paté were passed around. Free-flowing champagne set the convivial mood for the evening. To somehow lower the searing outside temperature, decisively served as a first course was a chilled soup of Bulanglang na ulang, a guava gazpacho with freshwater prawns from the Pampanga River. The second course was a tale of two
sisigs: Marimla (or a chilled terrine) and Mapali (hot and served on bone marrow.) The third courses were a mini
Bringhe, which is perhaps the only savory rice cake in the country, laced with that Kapampangan crown jewel taba ng
talangka (crab fat,) topped with a crispy crablet. This came with another quintessential Pampango dish of crisp fried tilapia fillets, balo-balo (fermented rice with shrimps) and fresh mustard leaves. A glass of salabat sorbetes or ginger-lemongrass sorbet came next as a prelude to the main course.
Finally, the Menudo Sulipeña, which is not the commonplace menudo, but an astonishing oxtail stew, so tender and buttery melt-in-the-mouth that it had become practically reduced to a tender, gelatinous delight. Rosé, white and red wines were all carefully selected to bring out the dishes’ flavors. To cap the evening’s feast were Canonigo (otherwise known as “Ile flottante” in Paris,) Heny Sison’s decadent tocino del
cielo (each bite-size serving contains one egg yolk), a strawberry overload shortcake, and turrones de casuy from Sta. Rita, Pampanga.
Not to be outdone, Jaime requested “provisions” for some of the guests who stayed on until midnight. A post-dinner snack of ensaimada with hot chocolate de batirol, pan de sal with baked ham and
kesong puti was prepared by La Tasca. The world simply cannot end.