CRAFT by Under My Host® Issue No. 18 Made in America: Part III | Page 42

W W W. C R A F T BY U M H . C O M
Pulutan!, the latest cookbook from Marvin Gapultos, is one part Filipino
culinary manual and one part guide to a good time. Gaplutos, the food
blogger http://burntlumpiablog.com turned ridiculously popular food
truck owner, turned cookbook author is an authority on Filipino cuisine.
His recipes range from the authentic to the not terribly traditional, as
he has shown himself an expert in fusing Filipino ingredients and meth-
ods with other cuisines. His Ube Gnocchi and Adobo Confit are brilliant,
and Pinkabet is ridiculously good. I’ve been cooking Gapultos’s recipes
for years and can tell you without hesitation that they work and his un-
derstanding of what it takes to make food good sets him apart.
After all of that praise, you can probably guess what I think of Gapul-
tos’ new book, Pulutan!. It’s fantastic. From Dried Shrimp on Avocado
Toast to Barbecued Bacon with Pineapple Glaze, this is a cookbook that
shouldn’t be missed.
Gapultos did a little Q&A with me to celebrate his new book. We’ve also
got a few recipes from Pulutan! that will be perfect for your fall football
shindigs, or if you’re like me, make them for any random day you feel
like drinkies and nosh with friends.
What one word describes why you decided to deep dive into Filipino cuisine?
Culture.
What was your coolest food moment ever?
Every year, Jonathan Gold (a Pulitzer prize-winning restaurant critic in Los Angeles)
hosts a food festival of sorts where some of the city’s best chefs and cooks each
prepare a dish or two to serve the hundreds and hundreds of people that attend this
event. Those chosen to cook range from prime time, super-power celebrity chefs to
owners of mom and pop restaurants, and everything in between. In 2011, back when
I ran a food truck, I was lucky enough to be selected to cook at this event, and it still
blows my mind that I was actually there. I served Pork Belly and Pineapple Adobo
and Lumpia. It was awesome to serve Filipino food on such a grand stage to such a
diverse crowd.
What are three kitchen tools that you can’t live without?
Chef’s knife. Carbon steel pan. Cold beer.
If I’m cooking in the kitchen, there’s a good chance that I’ve got one of those three
things in my hand. A good chef’s knife should go without saying. Cast iron pans are
great, and I have a few, but I prefer my carbon steel pan because it’s just as versatile
as cast iron but lighter in weight. I reach for my carbon steel pan for everything from
frying eggs, to getting a great sear on a steak, to making grilled cheese sandwiches
for my kids. As for the beer? Well, you might argue that it’s not an actual kitchen
“tool”, but it sure helps me out when I’ve got three hungry kids running around the
house screaming for a grilled cheese.
What are your favorite things happening in Filipino cuisine in the US right
now?
In general, I just love the attention Filipino cuisine is finally receiving. A lot of great
Filipino restaurants with really skilled chefs have opened up across the country. And
what we’re seeing is that these classically trained chefs are preparing Filipino food
with French techniques. This isn’t anything new--Chef Romy Dorotan of Purple Yam
in Brooklyn has been doing this exact thing for decades. However, it seems that now
there is an influx of young Filipino chefs who have taken this concept and made it
their own. All of these chefs are still maintaining and staying true to Filipino flavors
withouth watering down or dumbing down the cuisine, and they are serving the food
from a new perspective.
What is a preparation that is specific to Filipino foodways? What makes it
unique?
Adobo is the Filipino method of cooking something (i.e. fish, poultry, meat, fruits,
veggies) in a mixture containing the following five ingredients: 1. Vinegar, 2. black
pepper, 3. bay leaf, 4. garlic, and 5. soy sauce and/or salt. You can definitely add
more ingredients beyond those five ingredients, but for me, a Filipino adobo must
have those five ingredients at minimum. You can braise some chicken thighs in that
mixture, and it becomes Chicken Adobo. Because everyone has their own ratio of
these base five ingredients, and because someone can add, for example, a bottle of
beer to the mix, or some onions, or some brown sugar, or some pineapple juice, etc.
no two adobos are the same.
What are your current 5 favorite cookbooks?
The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
Memories of Philippine Kitchens by Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa
Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge by Grace Young
Sippin’ Safari by Beach Bum Berry
Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher
What are the five ingredients that every Filipino kitchen should have?
Filipino vinegar (palm, sugarcane, or coconut). Calamansi limes. Patis (fish sauce).
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