World Class Chefs
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Ramilo (Ram) Villaluna
Ram is a budding chef from Iloilo City (Molo). He gained his training in Culinary Arts at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies under food guru Gene Gonzalez, Institute of Culinary Education (formerly Peter Kumpps) in New York. He took up bread making, and he studied food styling under Delores Custer of the Culinary Institute of America. It all started in Antique where his father owned a restaurant many Antiquenos learned to love. He continued the culinary legacy of his father and now, Ram owns a catering business, Cindy\'s Catering. Food is Ram\'s life, seriously speaking. I am short in saying that he is married to the food industry that, he spends most of his time teaching and mentoring at the Department of Culinary Arts at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo. If one cannot find him in the classroom, Ram will be on the road crisscrossing Iloilo and Antique having first hand in the management of his thriving businesses from both provinces. He also has a once-a-week TV show in GMA 7 \"Food Trip\". I met with Ram once before and he exudes perfectionism, the character that will beam him up to the limelight of culinary arts. At present time, Ram is extremely busy in Manila. I believe he is one of the finalists in The National Food Showdown 2010 sponsored by ABS-CBN. We wish you all the luck, Ram! Maybe, after this showdown, Ram will have the opportunity share favorite recipe here at ILONGGO LIVING.
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Gulai Paku
May 29, 2010
Since fresh fiddleheads are abundant only in spring, I decided to prepare a special dish of Indonesian origin. Such an exotic name Gulai Paku is basically cooking fiddleheads or paku in a conundrum of Asian spices laden with creamy coconut milk. Some of the spices I have no idea where to get it from so, I have to modify the recipe a little bit. Incidentally, I found out the difference between East Indian way of preparing the spicy paste versus Thai-Indonesian. The former uses the distinct cardamom & anise, whereas, the latter utilizes its signature kaffir leaves & lemongrass. Each of these spices have their own distinct aroma and flavor but, basically, the paste is the same. Let us check out this spicy dish.
The interplay of various spices in conjunction with coconut milk makes Gulai Paku very appetizing. This can be eaten solo or as side dish with rice and grilled fish or meat. The coconut milk was cooked until it becomes oily in consistency.
Preparing the paste requires various spices or condiments. One has to prepare in advance the necessary ingredients before attempting to prepare this wonderful dish.
From left to right: lemongrass, galangal root, turmeric root, ginger root, Red Thai chiles. At the back is the Kaffir lime leaves. Wash them thoroughly with water and peel off skin of tubers.
All of the tubers were grated finely. Dare to guess which one is which now that they are all grated up? Starting at the bottom left to right: ginger, lemongrass, turmeric roots, garlic and galingal. At the center : Kaffir lime leaves and, behind it is the Thai red chili.
A parade of other ingredients such as Thai shrimp paste, tamarind paste, coconut cream, cumin and coriander seeds. The latter is grounded finely in a mortar and pestle. I enjoyed the aroma of freshly grounded coriander!
And of course, the last but definitely not the least, the main character of the show... fiddleheads or paku. They SHOULD be washed a couple times to remove dirt and scales. A kitchen spray will simplify the task.
For the rest of the procedure on how to prepare Gulai Paku, follow the link below: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10091-gulai-pakis.
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