Oink, oink, hooray!
Another Guinness World Record for the Philippines! The National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. hosted a five-day Hog Festival from March 1-5, featuring a series of events including the much-awaited attempt for a Guinness World Record. History was made last March 1 at the Gateway Mall in Araneta City.
I was invited to be one of the food-expert witnesses on behalf of the Guinness World Records. With me were chefs Kai Ancheta, EJ Buenaflor, Reinhold Cerillo, Heinz Pelayo, and Edilberto Tawagon. Part of our duties was to verify that the participants conformed to the minimum requirements, such as using pork as the main viand, that each dish had a minimum of three kilograms of pork, and to certify based on our knowledge that the dishes were indeed prepared uniquely.
Chef Jeremiah Elloso was our food sanitation inspector, who had to check and double-check that all dishes were handled and stored properly and that it was still safe to eat right before serving.
Prior to our arrival, chef Neptune Rocamora, our witness coordinator, first had to ensure that the dishes were ready for the adjudicator and the witnesses. He meticulously checked that each dish matched the dish code entered, ensured they were in the right zone before the countdown and before turning over the floor to the witnesses.
It was an overwhelming task since there were so many dishes in different parts of the venue. We divided and conquered judging over 341 entries of pork dishes. The variety spanned from traditional Filipino dishes to creative and modern dishes, other cuisines such as Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and more. Since I knew some of the chefs and restaurateur participants, I was assigned to verify the entries by schools and students to be sure there was no bias in judging.
The participants were divided into categories: restaurants, individual chefs, food establishments and food-manufacturing companies, home-based cooks, home-based sellers, and culinary schools. Spotted personally manning their stations were chef Mike Santos of the Vikings group and chef Ivan Mamita of Brotzeit. The Vikings Group gave four entries. Their first entry was a slow-braised pork belly in sweet soy glaze, burnt leeks with a coffee BBQ sauce using Vikings coffee blend; the second was a pan de porchetta with kalamansi aioli; the third was a deconstructed sinigang using sous-vide pork ribs with tamarind jelly; and the fourth dish, a sesame-crusted pork chashu.
Chef Ivan Mamita showcased Brotzeit specialties such as schweinhaxn or roasted pork knuckle, honey-glazed Bavarian ribs called ripperl, and one of my favorites, kasekrainer, which are pork-cheese sausages.
Restaurant group Cabalen came up with 20 entries, with both Filipino specialties and Thai dishes from Soi.
Representing the home-based cooks was the Lechon Diva, Dedet dela Fuente, showcasing her lechon stuffed with truffle rice and pansit Parañaque. For entries from individuals, chef Nathaniel Uy served pork belly adobo in orange and tablea, Karambuaya-stuffed Japanese-style char siu, and pork rib sinigang sa ube.
This entire experience was really “bayanihan” in action as all sectors were coming together to help attain this record. One of the major sponsors, Premium Choice Meatshop, sent 50 kilos of pork all the way to Lucena City to sponsor the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation (MSEUF - Lucena), which produced 35 dishes!
It was interesting to see how versatile Purefoods pork tocino can be, as students demonstrated their creativity. Some examples are the tocino in creamy mushroom sauce, tocino salpicao, pinyahang tocino and tocino con ampalaya from Perpetual Help College of Manila. I also have to mention the tocino embutido, tocino aglio olio, tocino sweet chili kebabs, and tocino sweet chili satay from Olivares College.
The other schools that participated were Lyceum of the Philippines University Manila, Southville International School, National University Manila, Perpetual Help System DALTA Las Piñas, and Perpetual Help College of Manila.
When we were done checking, all the expert witnesses led by the official adjudicator of Guinness World Records, Sonia Ushirogochi, went into a quiet room for deliberations. We went over the numbers multiple times to make sure that we got everything right and that the numbers added up. We had to identify which dishes were no-show and which did not meet the uniqueness and volume requirements. This was the nerve-wracking part for maybe the participants, but the most exciting part for me, even more than taste testing. Being in that room behind the scenes and measuring the output was my favorite part.
According to an article published by The Economic Times in 2016, there are about 50,000 applications annually to attempt a Guinness World Record, and only 1,000, or two percent, make the cut. This record is surely something to be proud of.
The Hog Festival aims to promote the use of local pork, increase awareness to promote Pinoy pork dishes and directly translate to the increase in per capita consumption of pork, link institutional markets with producer farmers to encourage the use of local pork, promote the Philippines as a food tourism destination by highlighting the different varieties of pork dishes we offer and most especially to encourage our farmers in repopulating their livestock.
Congratulations again to all the participants, sponsors, organizing team, and of course the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. for this amazing achievement highlighting Filipino cuisine!