Inspired by the sea, Your Local’s Chef Patrick Go serves up a seafood-forward tasting menu as an ode to sustainability and protecting Philippine marine biodiversity.
Fun fact: The Philippines is the center of marine biodiversity in the world, located within the Coral Triangle. Being an archipelago, the country has a total of 36,289 kilometers of coastline, the fifth longest in the world. The wealth of fish, crustaceans, and other marine wildlife is both a source of livelihood for local fishermen, and an essential food source for Filipinos.
This was the impetus for GenSea, a sustainability campaign that aims to protect this valuable resource for future generations. Getting the ball rolling on the project is “The Local’s Catch,” a fundraising dinner featuring a seafood-forward tasting menu, held on October 24 and 25, at Your Local, one of Makati’s hip watering holes.
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GenSea is a collaborative partnership between Cold Storage Seafood and Save Philippine Seas (SPS), which aims to “…work with groups across the country to increase knowledge and deepen appreciation for our seas,” says Anna Oposa, SPS’s chief mermaid. A portion of the proceeds from the dinner will go “towards ongoing education programs on climate change, conservation leadership, and marine litter,” she adds.
Imagining this specially-crafted tasting menu is Your Local head chef Patrick Go, or just Chef Pat to his peers. For him, these dinners were a chance to explore new ways to work with flavors, and add another layer to Your Local’s repertoire, “where the menu still represents what we stand for, but also tells the stories of the ingredients we are using.” He also relished the chance to break away from their usual à la carte dinner service. “This set menu event allowed us to show our fun, experimental side. To step out of our daily rhythm and offer something special,” he adds.
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Snow Crab Aligue and Corn on Kropeck, and Salmon on Shokupan Toast
Chef Pat’s starting point was Cold Storage’s sustainably sourced seafood, which he married with Your Local’s signature Asian flavors and Filipino-inspired touches. As a chef, and a fan of cooking with seafood, sustainability efforts are integral to his ethos, and he wanted to showcase them through this meal.
A good example of this was his second dessert course—Shokupan Bread Ice Cream—which he made using the trimmings of the Shokupan bread he used for the Salmon and Fish Roe Toast starter. As some tasting menus tend to either leave diners looking for a midnight snack after, or just a way to feel stuffed, he kept mindful of portion-size so everyone left dinner on the right side of satisfied.
Each dish on the eight-course menu was thoughtful and tasty, with interesting flavor notes, complementing the freshness of the ingredients. Among the highlights of the meal were the light and delicate Bisugo in Coconut Broth, the bones of which became the base for a fragrant bowl of Apahap in Bisugo Broth with Kaffir Lime. The Halibut course was a revelation with the fish bathed in a bright (in color and flavor) carrot curry. Scallops took on comfort food atop a ‘three cup’ congee with a nice citrus punch.
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As there’s always room for dessert, this meal came with two! The Chrysanthemum Cream with guava, passion fruit and mango being light and fresh, balancing out the Shokupan bread ice cream with a drizzle of Tinapa Butterscotch. All it needed was a cup of coffee or maybe even a glass of bubbly to close out the meal.
Delicious food paired with a great cause is always a good idea. “The Local’s Catch” captures the spirit of the shared vision of a sustainable future for the Philippines’ marine resources. “Our collaboration with Save Philippine Seas and Your Local is a demonstration of our commitment to sustainability. Real change happens when we work together,” says Cold Storage president Marco Qua.
Chef Pat chimes in, saying “It’s about sparking those conversations, and showing how we, as chefs, restaurants, and consumers, can do our part in protecting our marine resources.”
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