Gaggan In Manila Day 1: A Cooking Demo At Gaggenau (October 2015)
My new events platform Cross Cultures was so privileged to have hosted Asia’s #1 restaurant Gaggan for their first time in the Philippines. I first met Gaggan Anand in 2014 at the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards in Singapore. While the invitation to come to the Philippines was always loosely there, it was only last month– through back and forth messages on Whatsapp– that we settled and agreed on the date! Gaggan said they were only available on the first week of October, and I was just about to get into my first Cross Cultures event with Eat Ethio and wasn’t completely sure if I could wing it in such little time– but I figured, these guys are too busy, it’s now or never. So we worked double time and made it happen! It’s absolute proof that if you want something really bad to happen, you will MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Anyway, what initially started out as a one-night-only event (dinner) turned out to be two and then three! Please do follow our succeeding posts for a photogenic recap on the full #GAGGANINMANILA #GAGGANCROSSCULTURES experience!
The Gaggan cooking demo was a media-exclusive experience so it was by-invitation only. It was held at the Gaggenau Kitchen, but they are opening up their new showroom at the Living Innovations Building at Units 106 & 107 Fort Victoria 5th Ave., Corner 23rd Street, Fort Bonifacio.. do check them out! (Invitation designed by Kevin Conopio)Still and sparkling water, and juices were courtesy of San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, exclusively distributed in the Philippines by Werdenberg International Corp. Our Cross Cultures x Gaggan dinner is part of the Fine Dining Lovers series of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants dinners happening around the region. That’s Edwin Perea the manager of Vask manning the booth! (Photo by Norman Lleses)Early birds Alicia Sy of Town & Country Philippines, Jin Perez of Jin Loves To Eat and Manilla Bulletin, and the social media elusive Erwin Romulo of Esquire Philippines (Photo by Norman Lleses)Our lovely guests of food enthusiasts are complete 🙂 (Photo by Norman Lleses)Ferdie Ong, general manager of Living Innovations, which distributes Gaggenau to the Philippines, welcomes guests to his home! He shares with us more about the leading German brand for professional-grade domestic appliances, and how they are thrilled to have Gaggan as their culinary ambassador and chef partner for Thailand. (Photo by Norman Lleses)The Yogurt Explosion is a signature starter at Gaggan Bangkok. The perfect egg yolk-shaped “explosion” was made possible by carrageenan extracted from red edible seaweeds, which Gaggan says is quite abundant in the Philippines. (Photo by Norman Lleses)The Nut Bag. When Gaggan told guests to put everything in the mouth– the reaction was, “Even the plastic?!” Yes, it melts in the mouth just like White Rabbit candy wrapper, revealing crushed nuts that hint of wasabi. (Photo by Norman Lleses)When Gaggan presented this dish, he asked the guests to take a bite and guess what it is. It is basically ground maya-maya stuffed in batter infused with brick charcoal– inspired from the Japanese technique of cooking tempura. (Photo by Norman Lleses)Rica de Jesus of Heart to Heart Online and Anna Sobrepena of Lifestyle Asia intrigued by the CharcoalGaggan interspersed the cooking demo with engaging stories and anecdotes, and gamely answered all questions. This guy is hilarious! (Photo by Norman Lleses)Now it’s time for the Mango Snowball, one of their most iconic desserts! How to make a Mango Snowball Step 1: Combine cream, white chocolate, and Philippine mangoes– and inject into a balloon (aha, now that’s how they get the perfect shape!) (Photo by Norman Lleses)Step 2: Dip the balloon into the liquid nitrogen which freezes it instantly. (Photo by Norman Lleses)Step 3: Use a knife to scrape off the balloon skin.. (Photo by Norman Lleses)Voila! You have the Mango Snowball! This was my birthday cake at Gaggan last year, and now I know how they get that perfect ball shape 🙂 (Photo by Norman Lleses)
*The Mango Snowball was my birthday cake last year when I celebrated at Gaggan! Click HERE for more on it 🙂
When Tessa Prieto-Valdes aka Sea Princess walked in, Gaggan was instantly fascinated by her towering hat! Their exchanges were hilarious! (Photo by Norman Lleses)When Gaggan asked the audience to guess what was the Charcoal, Pepper Teehankee of Philippine Star replied, “Fish!” To which Gaggan responded “You’re a real foodie!”Selfie time! Master selfie JJ Yulo of Rogue and Claude Tayag of Philippine Star with Chele and Gaggan. (Photo by Norman Lleses)Apparently, Gaggan is just as into selfies! Here he is with Yummy Magazine’s Regine Rafael. (Photo by Norman Lleses)
By the end of this afternoon, we decided to make a surprise announcement… due to popular demand, we are opening for BRUNCH!!!! (Notice that invite was made within minutes as we are all wearing the same clothes that afternoon! Both chefs decided they wanted to use this photo on the dot, and bravo Kevin Conopio for the swift design and edits!)
We announced this at 6PM just right before we wrapped up the cooking demo, and likewise on social media! Surprise!!And once again from all of us, thank you very much for coming and celebrating Day 1 of Gaggan in Manila with us! 🙂 (Back Row) Gallery Vask head chef Carlos Villaflor, Gaggan R&D chef Sergi Martinez, Gaggan Anand, Chele Gonzalez; (Front Row) Ferdie Ong, Cheryl Tiu (Photo by Jin Perez)
For more information on Gaggenau or Living Innovations, visit their website here. Their new showroom is located at Units 106 & 107 Fort Victoria 5th Ave., Corner 23rd Street, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.
To read about the Gaggan x Gallery Vask 15-course dinner, click here.
To read about the Gaggan x Vask surprise brunch, click here.
