In celebration of their 20 years in the culinary industry, Barcino invited five Michelin star chef Paco Perez as the great navigator of a gastronomic expedition—12 courses that put the flavors of the sea at the forefront
The waters of the seas and oceans are often depicted as divisions between lands, but it is also the same current that bridges one nation to another. In the 16th century, the Spain conquest into the Philippines involved ships; today, in the 21st century and in celebration of Barcino’s two decades since its beginning, the two countries traded their familiar stories with the sea through the plate. This exploration needed a great navigator, and we found it in Chef Paco Perez—the man behind Tradition Reimagined: La Mar d’Amunt, the special 12-course dinner from October 18 to 20 at Barcino in S Maison.
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Settling into Spain’s Seas
“It’s a menu created in Miramar,” Perez explained in an exclusive interview with the press before the dinner commenced. “In order to understand it, you need to know a little bit about our tradition, our Spanish cuisine, to understand how it begins from there to our menu.”
Backed by three centuries of Spanish rule in the Philippines, the Filipino tongue already knows the taste of Western flavors by heart. The first plunge into the tasting menu—called the Abalón—was an inviting splash of the sea, saltiness and freshness in one plate. The “sea ear” underwent 12 hours of sous vide technique, then shaved into a soft, sand-like texture with juices from five different seaweeds oozing into the taster’s tongue—Codium, Mother of Pearl, Salicornia, Kombu, and Sorrel.
Once the taste buds had dipped into the Marimar’s wonders, the Cangreo Azúl, Buey de Mar was a short break from the strong saltiness of the first dish. Still playing with the sea’s wonders, the crab meat rested atop a crispy tempera-like surface balanced by the creaminess of the mayonnaise made from corals. The finishing touches? More sea, of course—Kombu seaweed and nitrogenated mushrooms with olive oil.
Wrapping up the appetizers was Chef Paco’s reimagination of the taco, this time called Vieira Capuccina. Cured in Koji and Codium seaweed oil, the scallop was wrapped in the fresh bite of the nasturtium leaf and seasoned with garum.
An Palate Expedition of Marine Life
Rich in flavors and textures, the seven dishes for the main course explored the depths of what the waters could offer. With an attempt to cleanse the palette as well as reintroduce another level of the sea, the Vacío Caviar commenced the next phase of the dinner—the smooth, buttery texture of the caviar paired well with the chalky collapse of the almond dome, all eaten in one bite for the full splash.
Still swimming in the pool of creaminess, the Lomo y Ventresca de Atún was an elevated take on the sushi—the tuna nigiri cut from the loin and belly had a treasure trove of crunch courtesy of rice cured in Koji and caramelized with butter; along with the garum from the tuna roe.
Reinventing the preconceived notions of the curry and bolognese, Perez presented the Langostina Curry and Langosta Boloñesa, respectively. The former was a play on the chef’s memories in Asia which was anything but boring as the dish suggested. The Langostina Curry burst with an array of elements—coconut water jelly, textured coconut milk, shrimp head essence, and Coriander hints enveloped the grilled King Prawn in its delicate, sweet glory.
In one of his interviews, Perez offered advice to younger chefs—never stop being kids.“Much of it is in the point of view, of not putting limits to yourself,” he explained. “You have to be strong, be creative, and still learn the concepts.” Chef Paco brought this childlike wonder into the Langosta Boloñesa, with the use of the bubbly texture of the sauce—a reminder of child’s play with bursting bubbles. The airy texture had a lightness that married well with the lobster meat and the tomato-based sauce—an experience that only an innovative chef could provide.
With the sea as the instrument of his craft, Perez was on a roll with his next dishes. After the bolognese came the Sobre Arroz, Pulpo—a reinvention of the risotto. Think of the dish as the beginning towards the end of the main dishes, with the creamy sea of rice like the pillow paired with the blanket of octopus slices. Capping the dish off was the seasoning—squid ink oil, Nora—a dry pepper—oil, and the powdered laurencia seaweed. The said dry pepper had always been a staple in Spanish cuisine, a flavoring for rice and stews.
The Espardenya, shredded grilled sea cucumber generously coated with pilpil sauce—a combination of Espardenya, fermented hazelnut, and truffle miso. The crispy side snack—made from the skin of the Espardenya—was the right contrast to the slippery texture of the meat, a two-technique-in-one-ingredient goodness.
To cap off the savory taste of the sea, the Portobello served as both the palate cleanser and last main course. A detour to the forest of Costa Brava, the portobello millefeuille gave the palate a breather from the saltwater taste. Think of it as a short walk before the waters called on you again, with the smoothness of the truffle yolk, almost portobello butter, and portobello layers and shots complemented by the green pinecone honey and syrup sap, laurencia, and Codium powers.
Food as the Lingua Franca
Beyond the barriers of spoken languages and traditions, food could find a way to bring them together—salu-salo, call it if you will. With no words uttered but with a plate on the table, two cultures could meet again and again and find common ground. As the dinner neared its culmination, guests were coming home even before leaving their seats courtesy of the coconut and the cacao.
Regarded by the country as the “Tree of Life,” the fruit proved its versatility to Chef Perez through Coco—it’s coconut in different iterations as a foam, ice cream, and toffee; even as the serving bowl for the first dessert. Chocolate shots and basil sprouts elevated the coldness of the dish, a prelude to the final dessert of the night—the Todo Cacao. Light and airy as the gastronomic expedition came to a close, the fake meringue made with cocoa bean skin topped the chocolate ice cream bloated rock with chocolate ganache.
In his last few words during the interview, the Michelin-awarded chef expressed what he wanted his Filipino guests to get from the 12-course menu. “Wow,” he paused, smiling. “It’s to give possibilities on how they can expand their cuisine and way of cooking. That’s very important. You need to grow. Everything changes.”
Photographed by: ED SIMON
