For most cases, hotel food is something of a mirage for us Filipinos — the hotels are there, proximate and within reach. Unfortunately, the cost of hotel food is anything but. And so while Filipinos are natural suckers for any kind of gastronomic delight, the prohibitive costs of hotel food and restaurants make them inaccessible for most of us. And so when this food-lover was offered a seat in QTV’s Secrets of the Masters show, it was just too good to pass up – Makati Shangri-La’s Executive Chef Karl Krautler was on show.

This is my first Tsibog.com post, so might as well do a bit of groundwork. I’m not usually a “hotel food” kind of guy – I’m just a FOOD kind of guy. And so, I wanted to branch out into something more “classy” and sosi. This opportunity would probably not show itself again in a long time, and so I felt had to go, even if it meant a late night for me.

If you’ve seen the show on QTV, you know that Secrets of the Masters (hosted by the very classy but also now very pregnant Issa Litton) usually features renowned Philippine chefs – or in this case, chefs in the Philippines – by having them come to the show and cook, while the audience gets fed the sumptuous fare that they prepare. With a view of writing this article, I planned the visit, but also because I get a free dinner out of it. Honestly, how is that a bad deal?

So I present to you two of the recipes that I got to try that night. First up, Soya Jelly with Grated Tuna and Wasabi Mayonnaise and Microgreens.

Ok, what? Soya Jelly? You mean toyo that’s gelatinized? Exactly. Let me attempt to describe this one to you. It’s obviously a starter dish – the nature of it is Japanese inspired, with the frozen tuna and wasabi-flavored mayonnaise. But it’s more than that. The gelatinized toyo, or soy sauce gives the taste which more Pinoys are accustomed to – fish on toyo. But the fresh uncooked fish taste needs to be balanced out, and that’s exactly what the wasabi mayo and the microgreens (salad greens to you) does. Undoubtedly Japanese, but Chef Krautler put in a taste of seeming unpredictability to it that just about intrigues you. I actually enjoyed this one.

Preparing this is probably what would take the most amount of time. Aside from mixing the gelatin with the soy sauce and chilling it down, you have to freeze the fresh tuna to where you can actually grate it. Obviously, you can’t use canned tuna here. Both are healthy food in their own right, whether eaten fresh or the canned tuna variety. But the fresh tuna gives the dish its Japanese look and feel (and taste, obviously).

Anyways, back to business. The main course sounded very interesting: Sumac Spice Lamb Cutlets in Grenadine Syrup and Feta Cheese Salad.

So first things first, what the heck is Sumac? Why would I even eat it? With a little web research, I found out what it was. And if not for the amazing taste of the recipe, from the web definition alone, I would not have eaten anything with Sumac on it. As it turns out, there are some varieties of this spice that is toxic and poisonous — most common of which is what we commonly know as Poison Ivy. But the edible variety is a spice used prominently in the Middle East, very red in color, and used primarily in meats to which it gives a salty-lemony taste to. This is why Issa Litton jokingly commented, after tasting the wonderful dish, that there was a bit of kiamoy taste going on there. That was, now I understand, from the Sumac.

The dish itself was very Mediterranean/Middle Eastern in taste. You can’t go wrong with roast lamb (yum), but there was also Babaganoush (roast eggplant salad) and a feta (kind of cheese) salad as well to make things interesting. Then you get a very nice sweet finish with the grenadine syrup, and even just the little amount chases away whatever oily or cholesterol-y feeling you might have gotten from the meat and the salads. It all mixed up great – it went down as a heavy meat dish with very interesting flavors going on on the side.

Of course, preparing the dish was a joy to watch, as Chef Krautler proved his mastery around the kitchen. He showed how to prepare and roast the lamb, and even had a leaning towards how we Pinoys roast our eggplants for a salad. He likes it the same way, roasted over charcoal for that smoky flavor to it. This dish actually takes a while to prep, and it’s really not for beginners, but then again, that’s why they call it Secrets of the Masters.

Chef Krautler was fun to watch, as it is always fun to watch a master doing what he does best. Always with a joke, he ended by saying that if we liked the dishes, we always knew where to find more of it. Again, that is if Makati Shangri-La is the type of place you hang out in.

Hopefully, I get another chance to get on the show, and take better pictures this time. This episode will air on Sunday, September 27, 2009, if I’m not mistaken, on QTV of course.