Pinoy Christmas Recipes with Chef Jessie Sincioco at The Maya Kitchen

Chef Jessie Sincioco is coming back to The Maya Kitchen! This event will be the last event for Maya Kitchen’s Culinary Elite Series this year. Today she’s preparing Pinoy Christmas Recipes titled The Flavors of an Elegant Filipino Christmas.

I can tell that The Maya Kitchen went all out with the preparation for this event. The band was playing Pinoy classic Christmas songs when we we entered The Maya Kitchen. There were people mingling and laughing and I couldn’t help but smile myself. There were Christmas decorations and a drool worthy Christmas table setup by Rustan’s. The event felt like a family party!

 

It was a indeed a homecoming and Chef Jessie told us about how she started her cooking and baking career at The Maya Kitchen. She was the winner of The Great Maya Cookfest in 1983.

Winning the contest, she added was her ticket to the food world. And what a journey it was! Under her sleeve are 3 owned restaurants under her own corporation -JCS Gastronomie Inc. As president and CEO of her own company, she is running her three outlets completely hands-on.  And to top it off, a dream job where she cooked for Pope Francis himself on his 2015 visit to the Philippines.  Stitched to her Chef Uniform are the words I Heart Pope Francis.

Everything was distinctively Pinoy and Chef Jessie said that she took the effort to show that Pinoy Christmas Recipes can be elegant and festive for your Noche buena menu! We started with the Smoked Milkfish & Bihod Pie with Croutons Recipe because it needed to be chilled. Then the Cochinillo (which is baby lechon) Stuffed with Atchara Rice because it needs to be baked. Then the Tiger Prawns with Laing, and Kinulob na Manok. Needless to say, we we’re feeling so hungry by the second dish.

The smoked milkfish tasted superb with bits of the Bangus and bihod. The bihod tasted earthy and different.  I was surprised with how I liked the combination of cream, smoked fish, and bihod. We also got a taste of Chef Jessie’s famous artisan bread (not in this picture) and it was so good , even without the dip!

 

The Cochinillo Stuffed with Atchara Rice was understandably the star of the show. It came with a special fruity sauce that I liked. Chef Jessie mentioned that they source their young suckling pig from my Island Province of Marinduque -ehem, hashtag #ProudMarinduquenio.

 

Which segue’s to the Tiger Prawns with Laing, ang pinasosyal na Laing. Growing up in Marinduque, under the coconut trees made me specially demanding with my ginataan dishes. Chef Jessie’s Laing was just how we make it with the oil almost separating from the coconut milk. I just wish it was a bit more spicy!

 

The Kinulob na Manok, which, according to her is a Patis Tesoro original recipe had Chorizo and Bacon. Yumm! I liked this one as a soup and I’m thinking if I can create a slow cooked version later.

 

The dessert finale was the best part of the whole ensemble. The Dark Chocolate Fudge Orange Cupcake was spine tingling! Made with 80/20 Cocoa by the Cocoa Queen of Cebu, the cupcake was one of those desserts that you have to eat slowly to savor the flavor. It is smooth and velvety, and totally not over sweet at all! I loved the chocolate’s bitterness plus the tartness of the candied orange zest. I think I’m going to have to drop by at Chef Jessie’s restaurant just to have another taste of this chocolate cupcake!

 

Disclosure. This post was #commissioned. All the ideas, views, and input was mine.