18 November 2005 --  The Philippine Embassy in Moscow reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that residents of Russia's cultural capital were recently given an unusual culinary treat when  Filipino chef Geronimo Reduta held a master class of Philippine cuisine and presented a full-course Philippine menu at the Expo Vitrina Professional Assembly held on 10 November 2005 at the Corinthia Nevsky Palace Hotel along the world-famous Nevsky Prospekt avenue in St Petersburg, Russia's former imperial capital.

The culinary event was co-sponsored by Sergey Alexeev, Philippine Honorary Consul to St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region.

Mr. Reduta, who started his career in 1980 as a cook in Saudi Arabia and Aristocrat Family Restaurant in Manila, whipped up tinolang manok (ginger chicken soup) as soup, lumpiang sariwa (fresh vegetable rolls) as appetizer, ginataang sugpo (prawns in coconut milk) as main dish served with rice and halo-halo (fruity ice mix) as dessert. For drinks, he prepared papaya shake and barako coffee using mascovado brown sugar.

While Mr. Reduta, who once single-handedly prepared a banquet for 600 guests at the reception celebrating the 25lh anniversary of Philippine-Russian ties in 2001, demonstrated his skill before an audience of 50 exhibition participants and guests. Ms. Natalia Zabolotnaya, a Philippine specialist and one of the Embassy's staff interpreters presented aspects of Philippine culture linked to food and culinary practices through a presentation of slides and traditional ethnic music.

In introducing the 90-minute Philippine segment to the audience, Ms. Tatiana Zlodoreva, director general of the US-owned Publishing House, the organizers of the thrice-annual exhibition, said “I've seen this presentation before and I can assure you that it is not only a master class, it is a veritable trip to the Philippines and a wonderful culinary show."

Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Ernesto Llamas said the Embassy organized the second Philippine cooking demonstration, billed as "The Exotica of Philippine Cuisine".   The first was held at the Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya Hotel in Moscow on 25-26 April 2005. Just as in St Petersburg, the Philippines represented the Asian region in the maiden version of the national cuisine master classes at the Moscow Assembly.

Ambassador Llamas said that as a direct result of the Vitrina master class, Manana Kandareli, owner and franchiser of the Porto Maltese chain of upscale seafood restaurants in Moscow and Kiev, decided to request Reduta to design a special Philippine menu for the first branch she is planning to open in the Northern Capital at the end of November.

If the plan pushes through, it will be the first authentic Philippine food to be served in a restaurant in Russia since 1994, when The Manila restaurant closed.  Mr. Reduta, a Moscow resident for 15 years, was one of the former chefs of the Filipino restaurant before becoming a cook and eventually executive chef for the US Embassy cafeteria.

The St Petersburg branch of Porto Maltese, named by The Moscow Times Best Seafood Restaurant of 2004, is located at the Lenexpo Exhibition Centre, the city's biggest exhibition company, which is operated and managed by Mr. Alexeev. Mr. Alexeev himself is studying a plan to establish a Philippine-themed bistro in his exhibition complex for next year.

Aside from Moscow and St Petersburg, Vitrina organizes the third industry trade assembly in Ekaterinburg, Russia's third largest city located in the Ural Mountains. It gathers industry journalists, owners, directors, top managers and buyers of food retail outlets, manufacturers, distribution and wholesale companies, as well as from restaurants and food service companies, to market research companies and advertising agencies.

Vitrina publishes monthly professional trade magazines that are the Russian food and restaurant industry's source of reliable and objective trade information about the Russian food, drink, restaurant and luxury markets: "Vitrina Supermarket's World", "Vitrina Restaurant Business", "BioVitrina" and "Wine Menu" (Vinnaya Karta).

Ambassador Llamas said the Philippine presentation, which also received the assistance of Emirates airlines in the transport of Philippine ingredients to Moscow, has proven itself to be one of the most popular and applauded seminars by exhibition participants and organizers. Immediately after the presentation in Moscow, the Embassy was approached by several food business entrepreneurs and restaurateurs from different regions in Russia and from Kharkov, Ukraine.

The Ambassador added that this effort led directly to an agreement on a project to demonstrate Philippine cuisine at the State Duma (lower chamber of the Russian bicameral parliament) next year in collaboration with group The Best Restaurants of the 21st Century, known for the annual Golden Crane award for the year's best restaurants and the Golden Crane Guide, the Russian equivalent to the famous Michelirt Guide of France. The Embassy is also engaging in talks over the possibility to open a Philippine restaurant in Moscow. END