Meat-Free Filipino Dishes Made From Quorn In This Year’s Madrid Fusion

Quorn, a deliciously healthy meat alternative, proved that eating healthy does not need to entail sacrificing taste at the recently concluded Madrid Fusion Manila 2016.

The first and only Asian edition of Madrid Fusion, the biggest and most important international gastronomy congress in the world brought together the most acclaimed avant-garde chefs from across the globe last April 7 to 9, 2016 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City.

This year’s theme was coined as ‘The Manila Galleon: East Meets West’, expanding the gastronomic conversation between two very diverse parts of the world.

The international gathering was the perfect setting for Quorn to showcase its versatility and its wide range of products with the help of two of Manila’s top chefs, Florabel Co-Yatco, multi-awarded Filipino chef and owner of her own chain of restaurants; and Robby Goco, Director for Research and Development and Managing Partner of Cyma Restaurants and Green Pastures. The two chefs, who collaborated for the first time, created delicious and healthier versions of Filipinos’ favourite dishes using Quorn.

The three-day festivity celebrated with meaty fares such as tapa, adobo, longaniza (the list goes on, really), Spanish and Filipino food, sans the pork, beef, and chicken might sound like a big joke to some. But the two top chefs have proven to everyone that yes, we can enjoy healthy, meat-free dishes without sacrificing their taste—a fact that is sure to convince even the firmest carnivores.

The dishes prepared by Chef Florabel and Chef Robby enriched this conversation even further, as they perfectly brought together Eastern and Western culinary cultures featuring Quorn. This meat alternative is made of ‘mycoprotein’ — a naturally healthy protein that is high in fiber, 85% less saturated fat than lean beef, and has zero cholesterol.

Making use of Mince, Quorn’s flagship product, Chef Robby prepared Bolognese, and Imam Bayildi, a dish similar to Tortang Talong, that showcases both Greek and Filipino cuisines.

“Bolognese was the first dish I cooked with Quorn Mince. At first, I was cynical on whether a meat alternative could really taste like meat, but when I actually tried Mince, I was amazed because it does taste exactly like meat – I had to remind myself that I was eating fungus based protein, and not real meat,” says Chef Robby.

Chef Florabel, on the other hand, opted to use Chicken Pieces, another Quorn bestseller, in making her version of classic Filipino dishes, Tinola and Adobo.

“What I love about Quorn is its versatility. Just recently, I’ve already cooked a full course meal using it as the main ingredient. From appetizers to the main course, I was able to make dishes that taste as good as real meat. It’s incredible how identical it tastes like to a lot of typical Filipino favorites!” says chef Florabel.

To make it more exciting, Chef Florabel and Robby collaborated for the first time ever to create a dish that stayed true to Madrid Fusion’s theme this year. Their choice of dish – Tapas & Pintxos, with a twist. The collaborated dish is a classic Spanish tapas made with Quorn chicken pieces and nuggets on top of bread, capped of with aioli and roasted peppers. How does that sound? Appetizing right?

Other scrumptious Quorn dishes prepared by none other than Chef Florabel herself were sampled during the three-day gastronomy congress.