Regina Troy Barrios

Erwan Heussaff MaryKay Carlsson California Raisins

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Last week, I attended an event billed as “Reimagining Filipino Heirloom Dishes with California Raisins,” which sounds like a polite, well-behaved culinary demo. But in reality, it was something more curious: a culinary what-if, a cultural moment disguised as a four-course lunch. The question at the heart of it was this: Can something as innocuous as a raisin tell a Filipino story?<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752388956511Group photo .jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Baldosano, Heussaff, Ambassador Carlson, Comsti, and California Raisins&#x27; Thomas Wee | Photo: California Raisins</div><h2>A foreign ingredient with familiar roots</h2>Held at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/offbeatbistroph/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Offbeat Bistro</a>, the newly opened restaurant by chefs <a href="https://www.instagram.com/donbaldosano/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Don Baldosano</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/fooddudeph/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Angelo Comsti</a>, the event brought together an unexpected mix: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/erwan/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Erwan Heussaff</a>—James Beard awardee, founder of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/featrmedia/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FEATR</a>, and a leading voice in the Filipino food movement; Baldosano and Comsti, two of the country’s most compelling chefs; and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, who gamely donned an apron to help plate the steak.Supported by the <a href="https://www.raisins.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Raisin Administrative Committee</a>, the <a href="https://www.fas.usda.gov/regions/philippines" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila</a>, and the <a href="https://ph.usembassy.gov" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">U.S. Embassy in Manila</a>, it was part culinary showcase, part cultural exchange—and all delicious.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752389287597Erwan Heusaff with Ambassador Carlson.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Erwan Heussaff and U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Carlson plate steak at this raisin-powered Filipino lunch | Photo: California Raisins</div>On the surface, the raisin seems like a foreign element in Filipino cuisine—an interloper. But in truth, it has quietly embedded itself into our culinary landscape for generations. You’ll find it in menudo, embutido, mechado, even picadillo. There’s the iconic <a href="https://www.instagram.com/baguiocountryclub/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Baguio Country Club</a> raisin bread, a pasalubong classic with roots in American recipes from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/campjohnhayph/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Camp John Hay</a>. And for many of us, it was a childhood snack—remember those red boxes of Sun-Maid raisins, sweet and sticky, tucked into lunchboxes and school bags?It turns out, we’ve been eating more raisins than we realize. In 2024, the Philippines was the fifth-largest global market for California Raisins, importing over Php 522.5 million worth. That’s not just a fun fact—it’s a reminder of how food connects us. As Ambassador MaryKay Carlson noted, culinary ties between Filipinos and Americans run deep, from post-war GI recipes to today’s playful, unexpected collabs.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752389457942White Fish and Coconut Crudo with California Raisin Tapenade by Erwan Heussaff.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Erwan Heussaff’s sea bream kinilaw with coconut leche de tigre and raisin tapenade | Photo: California Raisins</div><h2>The menu: where raisins sneak, shine, and stir the pot</h2>And still, raisins are divisive. Some people love them. Others tolerate them at best. That chewy little surprise in an otherwise savory bite often sparks passionate opinion—and that’s what made this menu fun.Our first dish, the appetizer by Erwan Heussaff, was a kinilaw of sea bream in a coconut crudo, paired with coconut leche de tigre and a tapenade made not with olives, but with sun-dried tomatoes, mustard seeds, and California raisins. Bits of pinipig added crunch. Elegant, bright and briny, with a quiet sweetness that lingered—it set the tone for the rest of the meal.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752389511823Pan-fried Bacoco (Sea Bream) with California Raisins Kusido Sauce and Bulgur Salad by Chef Angelo Comsti.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Angelo Comsti’s Bicol-inspired dish layers pan-fried sea bream with puréed and whole raisins | Photo: California Raisins</div>Angelo Comsti followed with a dish inspired by Bicol’s kusido, though not strictly a version of it. A pan-fried sea bream fillet sat on a sauce thickened and sweetened with puréed raisins, with a protein-rich bulgur salad tossed with cucumber, kesong puti, and whole raisins. The dish cleverly played with contrast: raisins blended in and raisins boldly on display.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752389591285Steak “Frites” and Potato Pave with California Raisins and Roasted Eggplant Sauce by Erwan Heussaff.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Erwan&#x27;s flank steak with potato pavé and tortang talong-inspired raisin sauce | Photo: California Raisins</div>Then came a flank steak, also by Erwan. It was served with a golden potato pavé, in homage to his French father, and topped with a deeply savory sauce made from roasted eggplant, reduced beef broth, and California raisins. He chose eggplant as the base to spotlight a widely used Filipino ingredient that appears in dishes like kulawo in Laguna, poque poque in Ilocos, and grilled or mashed preparations in Bicol. The sauce was inspired by tortang talong, a humble but beloved dish that he said reflects how eggplant is prepared in homes across the country.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752389676827California Raisins Milk Ice Cream with Milk Tuile and Burnt California Raisin Paste Oil by Chef Don Baldosano.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Don Baldosano’s milk ice cream with grilled raisins, burnt raisin oil, tuile, and smoky jam | Photo: California Raisins</div>Dessert was Don Baldosano’s layered and luxurious finale: milk ice cream infused with grilled California raisins, a burnt raisin oil, a delicate tuile, and a smoky raisin jam. A technical feat and artistic statement rolled into one—raisin, raisin, raisin, executed in three forms and a single voice.<div> </div><h2>What belongs—and who gets to decide?</h2>The raisin conversation, which at first glance appears to be about Filipinos looking outward at a foreign ingredient, turns out to be an invitation to look more deeply inward. It pushes us to reexamine the flavors and dishes that define us.“Much of what we know about Filipino food is Manila-centric or Tagalog-centric,” Erwan said. That’s why it matters when Comsti brings in a dish rooted in Bicol, or when Erwan explains to Ambassador Carlson that kinilaw may actually predate ceviche, based on academic research he’d been reading.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752389799149Chef Angelo Comsti.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Angelo Comsti explores Filipino roots and global ingredients—this time, with raisins | Photo: California Raisins</div>When asked how to balance tradition with innovation, Erwan added, “Filipino food is a spectrum. It’s very inconvenient to try to box it in. We should be able to use all the Filipino flavors like paint, and explore the roots. As long as you understand the classics, you’re free to do anything.”Both Baldosano and Comsti agreed. “Innovation should always lift up your tradition,” said Baldosano. “You can use your tradition to inspire new things.”<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752389841068Chef Don Baldosano.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Don Baldosano gets technical with dessert: one fruit, three techniques, pure flair | Photo: California Raisins</div><h2>Not just about raisins</h2>So maybe raisin is an interloper, but it’s also  intermarried into our cuisine for decades. A guest who’s stayed so long it’s earned a seat at the table.Maybe in the end, the conversation isn’t about raisins at all. It’s about memory, creativity, and the subtle cultural exchanges that happen when chefs come together in a kitchen with an unexpected ingredient and ask: what can we make of this?And about how, sometimes, it’s those quiet, sticky little surprises that tell the biggest stories.

In a four-course lunch that reimagines Filipino heirloom dishes with California raisins, Erwan Heussaff, Don Baldosano, and Angelo Comsti spark a deeper conversation about tradition, innovation, and what truly belongs on the Filipino plate.

In a four-course lunch that reimagines Filipino heirloom dishes with California raisins, Erwan Heussaff, Don Baldosano, and Angelo Comsti spark a deeper conversation about tradition, innovation, and what truly belongs on the Filipino plate.

Erwan Heussaff, Don Baldosano & Angelo Comsti Want You to Try Raisins in Kinilaw—and Ice Cream

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Erwan Heussaff, Don Baldosano & Angelo Comsti Want You to Try Raisins in Kinilaw—and Ice Cream

Troy Barrios

Published Jul 13, 2025 03:10 PM PHT

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Updated Jul 17, 2025 03:57 PM PHT

Read More:

erwan heussaff

don baldosano

angelo comsti

filipino food

california raisins

filipino heirloom recipes

modern filipino cuisine

offbeat bistro manila

us-philippines food diplomacy

reimagined filipino dishes

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