(NOTE: This interview was done about one month after Anthony Bourdain shot an episode of No Reservations in the Philippines. Below are the clips of Bourdain's visit with Claude in Pampanga, followed by an excerpt from the Filgolf interview with Claude.) For The Talented Mr. Tayag, all creativity is the same. Only the medium changes. At his Bale Dutung (house of wood) in Angeles City, all the world’s a stage; paint, wood, and food are its players. They have their exits and their entrances, they play many parts. And at the center is the force that holds everything in orbit, the self-taught-therefore-freewheeling Claude, and his darleng Mary Ann.
NO STARVING ARTIST
By Stephanie Dychiu
Painter-sculptor-chef Claude Tayag talks about celebrity chefs, the painting he’ll never sell, and what he wants for his last meal.
Maybe I’m not ready, or maybe that’s one of my long-term . . . I’m happy where I am. It’s tempting. I’m not keeping it closed. But not now. Dami kong offers sa mga mall, pero di ko pa kaya.
It’s not just about restaurants anymore. It’s all about chef branding now—books, newspaper columns, TV segments, product endorsements. So many people going to culinary school. Chefs are the new artistas. Artistas are becoming chefs.
Being a chef now is a respectable profession. Noong araw, kusinero ka lang. Now, there’s no longer a social barrier. Inumpisahan din nila Margarita Fores. It’s also all these food shows on cable TV. It’s gotten glamorous. What people don’t realize is, just because you graduated from . . .
. . . a French-sounding school?
You still have to work hard. Young chefs don’t have that panlasa yet. They have learned the technique, but they have not yet learned the art. But over time, if they are really into it . . .
What is art and what is technique, when it comes to cooking?
Technique is the physical aspect. The cutting, the preparation, the sauté, the steaming. The art is the creation, the alchemy. What is a good combination with what? Yung timpla. Hindi mo naaaral yun sa cookbook. If you can follow a recipe, you are a cook. But you are not an artist.
When can you call yourself an artist?
When you create your own dish. When you’re no longer just following. Anthony Bourdain, who was here, admits that he was never an artist. He was just a cook, doing line work. Line work is assembling the salad, making the sauces.
Anthony Bourdain hates celebrity chefs and the Food Network. Rachael Ray and Rocco Di Spirito especially. He doesn’t see himself as one of them.
The problem is when you spend more time facing the cameras than working in the kitchen. Hindi ka nahahasa. To develop the art, you have to experiment. And if you’re working in a restaurant, you cannot do that, unless you are the owner. In an established restaurant, people go for consistency, because they have a favorite dish, and you cannot change it. It can be frustrating. If you want to be an artist, you experiment at home. People get to know you, maybe through catering, they invite you to do this or that.
There’s this book called My Last Supper. Fifty famous chefs talking about what they would eat if it was their last meal. What would be yours and where would you eat it?
Parang sa ano yan, sa Bilibid, nasa Death Row na.
Sabi ng warden pwede ka pumili kung saan ka kakain, basta bigyan mo siya.
Maybe in Baguio, in the middle of John Hay, para malamig. No, wait, magsesebo ang pagkain. Ayoko. By the beach na lang. A lot of sinugba, but lechon is number one. Not just any lechon. The one stuffed with lemongrass. Not Cebu lechon, I find that too salty. The one with tanglad, lemongrass, leeks, garlic, sampaloc leaves. Very aromatic.
Plain rice or garlic rice?
Lechon lang. With sinamak. Not the liver sauce. But I want to have control over the fire. ‘Pag tinanggal mo na ang balat, you grill it again. Para masunog ang taba, ma-tusta. Then, maybe a bottle of red wine, hangga’t sa malasing ako. Then, I will pass out. Yun na. I die happy.
Pinoy food pa rin, up to your last meal. A lot of the chefs in My Last Supper also chose their native food. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for Gordon Ramsay. Pasta and bruschetta for Mario Batali. Sushi for Nobu Matsuhisa. Blowfish for Masa Takayama.
We have so many choices here now. Every ethnic cuisine. But there’s also a revival of interest in Filipino regional cuisine. Have you ever heard anyone say ‘I’m craving for fusion food’? What kind of food is that? It’s nice to eat, but at the end of the meal, you don’t remember what you ate. So, it goes back to ethnic. Kanya-kanya. ‘Pag Chinese, ganyan. ‘Pag Japanese, ganyan. That’s the mission of the Kulinarya book, to set the standard for Filipino cuisine. In the end, lahat tayo, we crave for our own.
(End of excerpt. For full story, read the May-June 2009 issue of Filgolf magazine.)
It’s not just about restaurants anymore. It’s all about chef branding now—books, newspaper columns, TV segments, product endorsements. So many people going to culinary school. Chefs are the new artistas. Artistas are becoming chefs.
Being a chef now is a respectable profession. Noong araw, kusinero ka lang. Now, there’s no longer a social barrier. Inumpisahan din nila Margarita Fores. It’s also all these food shows on cable TV. It’s gotten glamorous. What people don’t realize is, just because you graduated from . . .
. . . a French-sounding school?
You still have to work hard. Young chefs don’t have that panlasa yet. They have learned the technique, but they have not yet learned the art. But over time, if they are really into it . . .
What is art and what is technique, when it comes to cooking?
Technique is the physical aspect. The cutting, the preparation, the sauté, the steaming. The art is the creation, the alchemy. What is a good combination with what? Yung timpla. Hindi mo naaaral yun sa cookbook. If you can follow a recipe, you are a cook. But you are not an artist.
When can you call yourself an artist?
When you create your own dish. When you’re no longer just following. Anthony Bourdain, who was here, admits that he was never an artist. He was just a cook, doing line work. Line work is assembling the salad, making the sauces.
Anthony Bourdain hates celebrity chefs and the Food Network. Rachael Ray and Rocco Di Spirito especially. He doesn’t see himself as one of them.
The problem is when you spend more time facing the cameras than working in the kitchen. Hindi ka nahahasa. To develop the art, you have to experiment. And if you’re working in a restaurant, you cannot do that, unless you are the owner. In an established restaurant, people go for consistency, because they have a favorite dish, and you cannot change it. It can be frustrating. If you want to be an artist, you experiment at home. People get to know you, maybe through catering, they invite you to do this or that.
There’s this book called My Last Supper. Fifty famous chefs talking about what they would eat if it was their last meal. What would be yours and where would you eat it?
Parang sa ano yan, sa Bilibid, nasa Death Row na.
Sabi ng warden pwede ka pumili kung saan ka kakain, basta bigyan mo siya.
Maybe in Baguio, in the middle of John Hay, para malamig. No, wait, magsesebo ang pagkain. Ayoko. By the beach na lang. A lot of sinugba, but lechon is number one. Not just any lechon. The one stuffed with lemongrass. Not Cebu lechon, I find that too salty. The one with tanglad, lemongrass, leeks, garlic, sampaloc leaves. Very aromatic.
Plain rice or garlic rice?
Lechon lang. With sinamak. Not the liver sauce. But I want to have control over the fire. ‘Pag tinanggal mo na ang balat, you grill it again. Para masunog ang taba, ma-tusta. Then, maybe a bottle of red wine, hangga’t sa malasing ako. Then, I will pass out. Yun na. I die happy.
Pinoy food pa rin, up to your last meal. A lot of the chefs in My Last Supper also chose their native food. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for Gordon Ramsay. Pasta and bruschetta for Mario Batali. Sushi for Nobu Matsuhisa. Blowfish for Masa Takayama.
We have so many choices here now. Every ethnic cuisine. But there’s also a revival of interest in Filipino regional cuisine. Have you ever heard anyone say ‘I’m craving for fusion food’? What kind of food is that? It’s nice to eat, but at the end of the meal, you don’t remember what you ate. So, it goes back to ethnic. Kanya-kanya. ‘Pag Chinese, ganyan. ‘Pag Japanese, ganyan. That’s the mission of the Kulinarya book, to set the standard for Filipino cuisine. In the end, lahat tayo, we crave for our own.
(End of excerpt. For full story, read the May-June 2009 issue of Filgolf magazine.)
