A comparison in tastes

Another year, another trip to Café Ysabel for a multi-course degustation with Chef Gene Gonzalez for Professor Fernando Zialcita's "Exploring Filipino Taste Through Comparisons" course. Many of the items in the menu were changed this year, and one was changed somewhere between the announcement and the day of the dinner. Since the pair that was removed was one which we compared last year, my husband and I didn't mind the change at all. Instead of comparing two kinds of dishes, one dish—pochero, a stew with a tomato-based sauce—was to be tried with four kinds of dipping sauces. As Chef Gene pointed out, in Asia especially, the use of additional sauces and condiments does not necessarily mean that the dish is bland; nor is it an insult to the cook. So we tried two kinds of vinaigrette, a tomato salsa, and an eggplant chutney. With no exception, everyone at our table liked the eggplant and red onion chutney the best.