When you think of Filipino Christmas food, what comes into your mind? Chef Myrna Segismundo whips up Filipino flavors for a special Christmas at the Maya Kitchen. Check out her Christmas menu!
Christmas Menu
I was glad I was able to catch this years’ Christmas Culinary Elite schedule at the Maya Kitchen. Last year, it was Chef Jessie Sincioco who shared her Christmas Table. This year, Chef Myrna shares her Filipino Christmas menu and recipes, cooking tips and techniques for the most busy season in the kitchen.
Chef Myrna is a passionate Filipino cuisine advocate and I was inspired by how she transformed Filipino food into an international brand that is fit to be set side by side with other famous international cuisines. According to her, Filipino cuisine deserves to be celebrated— not limited as our comfort food favorite at home, but as something to be proud of and shared to the world.
Chef Myrna has been perfecting and promoting our local cuisine, from working the kitchens of the finest hotels in the Philippines and New York City, serving food and teaching classes in her restaurant New Manila: A Private Kitchen. She has also helped aspiring chefs as the organizer and chair for The National Food Showdown, holding Filipino Food Festivals all around the world. She takes pride in serving as editor-in-chief of a food magazine and host of two cooking shows, and authoring two books—Chef Myrna is always bringing the discussion of Filipino food at the forefront of her work.
Now, she is bringing her expertise and passion to The Maya Kitchen Culinary Elite Series Cooking Class.
She’s really funny. She poked fun at our tendency to label our food as gourmet. “Filipino food does not need to be made gourmet or fused with other cuisines to be good. For people who didn’t grow up with it, they will appreciate its sheer deliciousness and uniqueness. But for us Filipinos, our cuisine holds a special place in our hearts. It’s special because of the memories and emotions we have attached to it. It reminds us of home, of family, and of comfort.”
That’s why, for a holiday that’s so meaningful to us, she decided to whip up something that is reminiscent of family traditions. I loved her Filipino Flavors of Christmas!
Chef Myrna taught the Culinary Elite Series participants how they can whip up a special Christmas menu feast for family and friends for this season. We learned how to make a delectable appetizer of Adobo Pate, a fresh Salad of Ubod and Pomelos with honeyed-patis dressing, a hearty and filling Morcon a la Emilia, a perfect Filipino Christmas food, and a sweet ending of the Turones de Manila with a bit of whiskey and ice cream.
By keeping the flavors and ingredients local, traditional dishes such as adobo and turon can be made with a twist. Yet, they still give us the familiar and cherished memories we have of our Filipino food favorites. And because Chef Myrna’s dishes highlight the tastes we’ve grown up with, cooking these holiday dishes will bring a renewed appreciation for Filipino food. She has specially chosen easy dishes too!
Missed the Maya Kitchen cooking class?
Anyone with a passion for food, cooking, and learning can join. The best chefs and restaurateurs in the country share their skills and knowledge in the Culinary Elite Series and other cooking class designed for every level of expertise, new cooks or old.
For more information on this and on other cooking class and baking class, log on to www.themayakitchen.com. You can also e-mail [email protected]. To visit personally, The Maya Kitchen Culinary Center is open every Tuesday to Saturday at 8F Liberty Building, 835 A. Arnaiz Avenue (Pasay Road), Makati City. You may also call us 8921185 or 892-5011 local 108 or +63929 679 6102.
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