Reimagining Davao’s fruits for tourism promotion

DAVAO CITY — Durian-camote rolls. Mangosteen panacotta with pomelo bits. Marang puffs.

These are some of the “innovative dishes” that will be featured in a coffeetable book being conceptualized by the Davao Tourism Association (DATA) as part of its marketing campaign for a region known for its bounty of fresh fruits.

“I am so happy to help promote Davao tourism through these innovative dishes,” Chef Clinton Verdaguer Gregorio, who is now part of the Institute of International Culinary and Hospitality Entrepreneurship (IChef) in Davao City, said in an interview.

Mr. Gregorio’s more than two-decade career has brought him around the world, working in kitchens or teaching, including at The Tower Club in Makati City, The Peninsula Manila Hotel, the Holland America Line cruise company, Warwick International, and Warrington in Cheshire, England.

Despite his experience, he said he still gets nervous at every service, like during DATA’s One Culinary Night event which marked its 45th anniversary earlier this year, where new concoctions using local ingredients and traditional dishes were presented by the DATA Chefs’ Club. He was the only invited chef from the academe.

The main challenge for this project, he said, was keeping the distinct flavors of the fruits as he turned them into desserts.

“It’s a bit more challenging… When you taste it, it should be the taste of durian or mangosteen or pomelo to really identify Davao,” he said.

Then there’s the challenge of differing tastes, like for the strong-flavored durian.

“You get nervous because it is always open to criticism. Even though your dishes are perfect, but for some guests it’s not because we have different tastebuds. One of my mentors told me to always put a big question mark even though your dish is perfect because you cannot please everyone,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

His camote-durian roll, for example, was conceived to give a hint and appreciation of durian flavor, especially for those who are not too keen on the fruit’s strong taste and smell.

His pastries, along with other dishes, will again be featured during the city’s hosting of MICE Con 2020 in October, the country’s biggest gathering for the

Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions sector.

“It is an honor and quite exciting to be part of the culinary chefs in Davao. We (IChef) are the only culinary school in Davao City that is being tapped,” he said. — Maya M. Padillo